Well justice has never been the top priority in MLS Award season and clearly with the first set of announcements:
NEW YORK (Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010) - Major League Soccer today announced the 2010 Goalkeeper of the Year, Rookie of the Year, as well as the Xbox 360 Individual and Team Fair Play Awards.
2010 Goalkeeper of the Year: Donovan Ricketts, LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts earned the 2010 Goalkeeper of the Year award after posting a career high 11 shutouts and allowing just 26 goals through 29 games this season. Ricketts finished the regular season with a goals-against average of 0.90 and currently holds the top spot in the all-time MLS standings with an all-time goals-against average of 0.96. The Jamaican International also helped lead the Galaxy to a record of 18-7-5 and 59 points to capture the coveted Supporters' Shield.
2010 Rookie of the Year: Andy Najar, D.C. United
Midfielder Andy Najar, signed as a Home Grown Player at age 17, wasted no time making an impact for D.C. United this season. Appearing in 26 games during his rookie year, Najar recorded five goals and an assist in league play, earning the team's Golden Boot award. Najar was also honored as the D.C. United Volkswagen MVP for the 2010 season. At 17, he is the youngest MLS Rookie of the Year and the first Home Grown Player to win the award.
2010 Xbox 360 Individual Fair Play Award: Sebastien Le Toux, Philadelphia Union
Sebastien Le Toux started 28 games for Philadelphia Union this year and recorded 14 goals and 11 assists. Through his 2,520 minutes this season, Le Toux committed only 10 fouls and received no cards, cautions, or action from the MLS Disciplinary Committee.
2010 Xbox 360 Team Fair Play Award: San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes claimed the Team Fair Play award for accumulating the fewest disciplinary points of any team during the 2010 regular season. Disciplinary points are assigned as follow: 4 points for each caution received, 10 points for each red card, 0.50 points for each foul committed and a reduction of 15 points for each game that a team completes without receiving any cards or action from the MLS Disciplinary Committee.
There are a number of people including myself who are left scratching my head about the choices, and I join soccerinsider in calling for the voting results to be made public. They do this for the All Star match, why not the end of season awards.
more after the jump:
We all know that the Keeper of the year award to Ricketts is a bit of a joke, he allowed twice as many goals to be scored on him than did Hartman, his GAA is higher than both Rimando and Hartman, Rimando has more clean sheets despite playing fewer matches. Here are the official stat's:
|
PLAYER |
TEAM |
GP |
MIN |
SHTS |
SVS |
GA |
W-L-T |
SHO |
|
Kevin Hartman |
DAL |
20 |
1755 |
68 |
56 |
12 |
10-1-8 |
9 |
|
Nick Rimando |
RSL |
27 |
2430 |
96 |
78 |
18 |
15-4-8 |
14 |
|
Donovan Ricketts |
LA |
29 |
2610 |
105 |
79 |
26 |
18-7-4 |
11 |
|
Bouna Coundoul |
NY |
27 |
2430 |
133 |
105 |
28 |
14-8-5 |
11 |
|
Jon Busch |
SJ |
18 |
1620 |
100 |
81 |
19 |
7-6-5 |
7 |
I find less controversy in the Rookie of the year voting but I do wonder how the voting went, one can claim that the 5 goals and 1 assist of Andy Najar was the only bright spot on a very bad DC United team, but how do his numbers surpass Danny Mwanga's 7 goals and 4 assists on an expansion team? Then there is the work of Tim Ream,
Danny Mwanga - 24 matches played, 17 starts, 1,461 minutes played - 7 goals, 4 assists
Tim Ream - 30 matches played, 30 starts, 2700 minutes played - 1 goal
Andy Najar - 26 matches played, 22 starts, 1,983 minutes played - 5 goals, 1 assist
I get that you can make a case for any of these guys, I personally would have voted for Tim Ream. Playing every minute of every game as a rookie, playing a critical defensive role, and being on a team that went from worst to the playoffs. Those are enough facts to win my vote.
Anyhow, I am sure there will be even more controversy coming up as soon as they announce the next batch of awards.
OFF MY SOAPBOX