After much thought and analysis, reading up and reviewing, I submitted my votes for the respective league awards.
I expect that not everyone will agree with me, so please feel free to tell me where I let you down. Or let me know how you agree with me.
I had to submit a first-, second- and third-place vote for each category. Some categories only had a select group of players to vote from while others were open to any player in the league. The Best XI was a bit strange. I had penciled Blanco in as a midfielder but he was listed as a forward so that threw me off.
Most Valuable Player: Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Angel, Luciano Emilio.
Coach of the Year: Preki, Tom Soehn, Juan Carlos Osorio
Defender of the Year: Claudio Suarez, Eddie Robinson, Shavar Thomas
Goalkeeper of the Year: Brad Guzan, Pat Onstad, Matt Reis
Rookie of the Year: Maurice Edu, Robbie Findley, Dane Richards
MLS Fair Play Award: Terry Cooke, Eddie Gaven, Todd Dunivant
Comeback Player of the Year: Eddie Johnson, Adrian Serioux, Gavin Glinton
Referee of the Year: Abbey Okulaja, Jair Marrufo, Brian Hall
Newcomer of the Year: Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Angel, Maykel Galindo
Best XI
(3-5-2 formation)
Brad Guzan
Claudio Suarez
Eddie Robinson
Shavar Thomas
Steve Ralston
Juan Carlos Toja
Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Christian Gomez
Sacha Kljestan
Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Juan Pablo Angel
10 comments:
Ur kidding? I think your mexico bias is showing by picking Blanco for any award. He came in half way through the season and hasn't done much to be honest. His team struggled to make the playoffs.
I'm a chiva usa fan and I'm frustrated that Galindo is so overlooked. He has done more than JPA, Blanco,Beckham...Galindo should be newcomer of the year. Period.
Can you at least provide your reasoning/facts behind your Blanco selection?
Ives Galarcep has made good cases for Angel for MVP, Emilio for Newcomer, and Dane Richards for Rookie of the Year. I agree and think those players should walk away with those specific awards.
I wouldnt be suprised if Clint Mathis garners a few Comeback award votes (although he probably wont win).
I'm kinda suprised that Landon and Ante weren't included in your Best XI, especially over guys like Toja, especially since Juan didnt have a very spectacular second half of the season.
I'm also suprised that the name Galindo is nowhere to be found here.
How could you leave out Luciano Emilio from your top 3 for Newcomer of the year and best 11?
He scored more than 20 goals which is the most for a few years.
How do you pick Emilio as third on the MVP list but leave him off Newcomer of the year. It makes no sense.
anon 12:04am,
LB can provide his own justification but I will tell you that there is no way to diminish Blanco's effect on the Fire.
The Fire was struggling well out of the playoff picture and sinking fast when he joined the team. He played less than half the season - yes - only 14 matches with the Fire winning 6, drawing 6, and losing 2.
He was instrumental in getting every one of those results and had Barrett & Wanchope finished just a few of the chances he created for them, that record could easily have been 12 wins, and 2 draws. The effect he had on this team was enormous.
Yes, they struggled to make the playoffs but they were nowhere close without Blanco. Osorio's work with the defense and the addition of Conde helped immensely but make no mistake, if you watched every one of the Fire's matches you would have seen how he carried this team on his odd shoulders.
As for Mexican bias, I'm a Chivas fan and I detested Blanco due to his play with club america all those years. I thought he would blow up with anger at his teammates, the refs, and his opponents. I thought the over/under for red cards for him would be three this season. He held his anger back and continued to contribute putting his frustration aside and putting his team first.
He restored tremendous atmosphere and great attendance to Chicago's home matches. He even brought great atmosphere and higher attendances to the Fire's visits to RSL, NYRB, KC, Chivas, Dallas , and DC. You can't diminish his total package effect on MLS & the Fire in his short half season. Impact my friend. Value and impact.
Man. That Best XI -- four from Chivas, but just two COMBINED from New England and D.C.? No Emilio? No Shalrie Joseph? No Michael Parkhurst? I don't know, man. I guess it just goes to show that we all see the game differently.
Emilio would struggle to get to 10 goals on any other team. NE has a bunch of 2nd or 3rd best players at different positions.
I don't know about Blanco for MVP. But that is based on how much he played not on how good he is. There is no way that "hasn't done much" can be an honest statement when applied to Blanco. Actually I guess you could say that if you were either blind, deaf, or illiterate.
The Claudio Suarez as best defender is definitely the rsult of a Chivas bias.
I love Galindo but his second half was all but dead. Plus he's surpassed for every award he's eligble for by JPA, Emilio, and (arguably) Blanco.
Osorio as third best coach is a bit of a sham. I don't think a coach should not be considered unless they coach the vast majority of the season. Plus his defensive tactics were why they gave up the lead in several draws.
Hmm. I don't really like having two defenders from one team up for a defender of the year award. If both of them are that valuable, doesn't it lend credence to they are a strong unit, rather than both being top defenders. not to mention Thomas didnt even play half the season.
I can see the point in naming Blanco MVP, but I have this thing about naming people who only play half a season as most anything.
I would have to go with Angel, even though in the past I've said that if Chicago makes the playoffs then Blanco should get the award. Now I think playing for more than half a season carries more weight.
I see your choice of Thomas as kind of a monkey-wrench kind of thing. Unrecognized, but solid play, which has been his trademark for his career. But again with the playing less than half the year. Also, no idea how you can leave Parkhurst out of your top 3. No way is Thomas better than Parkhurst. Plus he's not a hack-meister like Robinson.
In the middle, I might drop Toja, who had a crap second half of the season for Joseph, who is consistently top-notch. Might even slip in Jesse Marsch instead.
Harder choices this year because so few people had absolutely stellar years this year.
Referee of the year-- Abbey Okulaja, , Brian Hall. I'd be curious to see your criteria. Even before his "interesting" straight red last week, I've found Hall to be inconsistent and annoying. Abbey is just lousy.
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