Updated MLS awards tracking
by Steve Davis on Oct 2, 2010 2:38 PM EDT
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PrintI wish I could say that removing Dwayne De Rosario from my latest list of MLS awards tracking wasn’t motivated by last week’s selfish and ridiculous stunt. But that would be a big ol’ honkin’ lie. (For more on that, and what it might signal in the bigger picture, check this out.)
He was third on my list at the last award tracker version. The truth is, I just couldn’t vote for a guy as MVP whose entire scope of motivation can be fairly called into question after last week’s shenanigan. Besides that, it’s going to be difficult to vote for someone for MVP whose team didn’t make the playoffs. That’s a banner we’ve run up the old flagpole before – and I think it’s still flying.
So, here are my current choices for MVP and other league awards. (With apologies to my fellow SB Nation bloggers; I got busy and stiffed ‘em on my choices when the were looking to compile them during the week. Bad blogger! Bad!)
MLS MVP
1. Fredy Montero, Seattle
2. David Ferreira, FC Dallas
3. Landon Donovan,
(Guys who could still sneak in late:
For updated lists on the other awards, click forward...)
Defender of the Year:
1. Jamison Olave,
2.
3. Omar Gonzalez,
(Guys who could sneak in late:
Goalkeeper of the Year
1. Nick Rimando,
2. Kevin Hartma, Dallas
3.
(A guy who could still sneak in late:
Coach of the Year:
1. Schellas Hyndman, FC Dallas
2.
3. Jason Kreis,
Rookie of the Year:
1.
2.
3. Danny Mwanga,
(A guy who could still sneak in late:
Newcomer of the Year
1. Alvaro Saborio,
2.
3.
(A guy who could still sneak in late: Thierry Henry.)
Comeback Player of the Year
1. Sebastien Le Toux,
2. Bobby Convey,
3.
(A guy who could still sneak in late:
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Le Toux should be considered for MVP
Double digits in goals and assists no one else is even close on both those fronts to matching Le Toux. Those are just come back numbers, they are MVP numbers.
Yup
Only thing that would keep Le Toux from MVP is if voters require MVP’s team to make the playoffs.
Also, you have to take their defense into account. Mids who put up gawdy offensive numbers but play poor defense like Le Toux and DeRo. TFC and Philly score a lot but concede a lot b/c of guys like that. They aren’t as good as their offensive #’s suggest. Gotta look at tackles and passes numbers for the total picture. Guys who track back well like Convey, Donovan, etc. should get their defense taken into account in these type of votes.
Win or lose, we will always be here for you.
by johnjahafanclub on Oct 3, 2010 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
You don't watch a lot of Union matches do you?
LeToux is a very willing runner and defender. The guy’s work rate is second to none, he’s all action, never stops running and always plays 90.
BTW, Convey has been playing a lot of left back lately so that would skew his defensive stats.
by Phil McCrack'n on Oct 3, 2010 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Even though he didn't score much in Seattle
tracking back and defending was one of Le Toux’s strong points. He just never stops going. He hasn’t lost it from what I’ve seen despite scoring more in Philly.
Another thing that might hurt Le Toux, though, is that he’ll almost certainly win Comeback Player and the voters might not want to give him 2 awards. He’s had a great season, but is a long-shot for MVP.
Give it a rest. Le Toux plays for a bad team. Yes, he makes them significantly better, but I can’t think of an MVP in any professional sports that played for a team as close to the bottom of the standings as Philadelphia is now.
Besides, though he has had a lot of impressive moments this year, does he dominate games anywhere the level that Ferreira or Donovan do?
Lets look closer at the stats you are harping about.. Here are goals / assists / shots attempted / shots on goal for the real candidates plus your guy.
Montero: 10 / 5 / 70 / 31
Ferriera: 7 / 12 / 46 / 23
Donovan: 15 / 7 / 44 / 21
Le Toux: 12 / 9 / 68 / 37
In total points, he is slightly ahead of Ferreira and behind Donovan, despite having far more opportunities to shoot than either (68 vs. 46 and 44 respectively). Goalies have saved his shots 25 times, as opposed to 16 for Ferriera and only 6 for Donovan. Montero certainly comes off the worst when comparing the stats.
I’ve seen Ferriera play more than the others this year, and he has a profound effect on every game from start to finish. That makes him my number 1 pick for MVP.
MVP on a bad team
Andre Dawson won it in ’87 while playing for the Cubs who finished last in their division, nine games below 500.
I think when you lay out the numbers and the quality of the teams that each candidate plays for, you actually make the case that it should be LeToux. He has to do everything for that team and he still produces despite having most teams keying on him as they know he’s their main threat without much support. Plus, he’s been extremely consistent all season which, aside from Ferriera, you can’t say the same about the other two.
by Phil McCrack'n on Oct 3, 2010 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Le Toux hasn't been Dawson-level dominant
In ‘87 had 49 hr and 137 RBI. In the pre-roid era, those are historically great numbers.
IMO, a player on a losing team shouldn’t be MVP unless they are truly dominant individually. Sebastian’s 12 goals and 9 assists are good, but not dominant.
LeToux has 13 goals and 10 assists. Only Ferriera comes close to those two stats when comparing attacking players. He also leads the league in Shots and Shots on Goal which further outlines how hard he works.
I admit that I’m biased as a Union supporter as I see him play every week, but I also watch a lot of other MLS matches on DK and I haven’t seen a better player than him this season.
How do we judge dominance in a sport? How the athlete performs against his peers and LeToux has passed that test when you look at his body of work this year.
by Phil McCrack'n on Oct 3, 2010 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Le Toux is good but there are better players in the league IMO
I think you have your argument backwards – Le Toux’s #s are inflated because he’s on a bad team. Besides Mwanga, who else is going to score? Anytime the Union does anything it has to come through Le Toux, as goal or assist. That inflates his #s. If he had a better offensive team around him, like several other MVP candidates do, his #s wouldn’t be as good as they are because other players would be scoring/assisting instead of him.
It's not like LeToux is padding his stats
If everything has to go through him, wouldn’t defenses be geared towards stopping him rather than anyof his teammates?
And even with all of the extra attention, he’s still putting up the best numbers in the league.
by Phil McCrack'n on Oct 3, 2010 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
To some extent, sure
and Le Toux is a quality player, no question. But it’s not like he’s being man-marked every week or something – he’s not seeing significantly more attention than other top goal scorers. If you took away some of the complementary scoring threats on a lot of teams, I’d bet their top scorer’s goal totals would go up over time, but that doesn’t mean he’s suddenly a better player than he was.
Basically, I guess I’m saying if you put Le Toux on most of the other teams in the league (excepting a couple of the bottom-dwellers like DC United), he wouldn’t put up those kinds of #s. If you put those other candidates, like Fereira, Montero, Donovan, even Cummings, on another team in the league, they’d probably put up similar #s.
Montero?
He’s got better numbers than Ferriera
If you don’t use ESPN’s stats and stick with the league numbers which include secondary assists.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Dawson was anything but dominant in 1987
He hit a lot of HRs and a had a good BA in Wrigley, but when he wasn’t homering he was a completely useless out machine. Look at Dawson compared to the other MVP candidates that year. The dude put up a WAR of 2.7 — that’s ridiculously bad for an MVP. And RBIs are a terrible, terrible stat.
As for his HRs, Mark McGwire hit 49 that season, and the AL MVP that season was George Bell, who hit 47 HRs and had no business being MVP given the season that Alan Trammell had.
Shockingly, the BBWAA made some really stupid choices that year.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Actually the stats are (from mlssoccer.com Oct 3)
Montero 10 / 9 / 86 / 34
Ferriera 7 / 13 / 50 / 23
Donovan 7 / 14 / 41 / 19
Le Toux 13 / 10 / 81 /41
De Rosario 13 / 3 / 62 /32
Listen I am not saying Le Toux is the MVP for the whole the league (though he is for the Union). But he should be in the MVP running for top 3-5.
Didn’t realize that ESPN’s stats were so inaccurate. That kinda blows, since navigation between the players is easier than on mlssoccer.com
In the end, we do agree. He’s deserving of consideration, but if I were choosing any player in the league to put on my team based on this year’s form, it would be Ferreira, then probably Donovan. Third place is a close competition between Le Toux, Montero, and De D-bag.
ESPN just doesn't use secondary assists
As MOST soccer leagues don’t.
But MLS does.
I can’t see DeRo being in the conversation. His team’s awful and he doesn’t have the numbers
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Reactions
At one point, when Philly was competitive on the road with no home games, I’d have picked Le Toux as well. But when his team needed to step up (in a weak East where teams like chicago are giving away playoff chances), when they had a string of home games….well, Philly didn’t get it done. I don’t put all of that on Le Toux’ shoulders. But on the flipside, when Seattle needed to put the petal to the metal, Montero started scoring and suddenly they were back in the playoff race. As for Ferriera…FCD just tied a records for undefeated streak in MLS and they could set it with another match—it’s really hard to argue with that. And Donovan more than any other player I’ve seen in MLS (with possibly Wondo) has decided matches at key moments. It’s like he decides “okay, time to run into that phone booth and put on my costume and come out to save the day” and then does. No negative to Le Toux—he’s had a great season. But you’re comparing him to 2 players who have had demonstrably huge impacts in how their respective teams play and a third (Ferriera) on a team with an amazing streak. Frankly, De Rosario has a better case than Le Toux.
As for coach, I’d go with Hans Backe. I"m not a NY/NJ fan—I loathe that team. But objectively I can say that the Ny/NJ franchise (first MetroStars, than Metros, now RedBulls) had become an incompetent, dysfunctional franchise. Backe didn’t do it all by himself. But he had so much more to overcome. It’s not the worst to almost first syndrome. It’s about going from completely dysfunctional to highly competent, well-organized, professional, and tactically astute—in one freaking season. Backe is the poster-child for what every foreign coach to this league SHOULD be (but almost never is). Hyndman has done a terrific job—no complaining from me about him if he gets the award. It’s just that I think Backe had a higher mountain to climb.
For Defender of the Year, for me Gonzalez’ candidacy has declined preciptiously with the team’s play when Berhalter is out. Omar has impressed individually. But it’s pretty clear now that if Berhalter is out, LAG isn’t a strong team. I think LAG at this point (if they were forced to choose) would conclude that they’d rather have Berhalter in uniform and Gonzalez missing than the reverse.
A couple of things
You can’t see Morales sneaking in on the MVP race? I’d rate him in 4th in the race at least, but I can see how Cummings or Wondo could make more of a difference in the run-in, seeing as RSL have already qualified for the playoffs.
As for defender of the year, technically Ozzie Alonso is a midfielder; albeit a great defensive mid, but a midfielder all the same.
I don't believe that MLS requires the player to be listed as a Defender
Just to be a great Defensive Player.
But I can’t recall last year’s ballot
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Fundamental errors equal zero credibility.
I’m not exactly sure of the rules on MLS Comeback Player of the Year, but I imagine that it probably WON’T be given to a rookie in his first year in the league. (Teal Bunbury)
What exactly does he have to come back from?
yeah was wondering that myself
unless definition of comeback player of the year is someone who wasn’t playing that much early and has come on to be a real good player. I don’t think that is the definition, though. Bunbury is exciting to watch for the Wiz.
by I need more Esteban on Oct 4, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Mehdi
Where did he come back from? What’s so different this season that last? Nada. Maybe it’s because he’s in a NY now and nobody knew him in CO…that’s gotta be it.
by Craig_de_Aragon on Oct 4, 2010 11:46 AM EDT reply actions
