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Awards Season

Nguyen, Martins, or Keane: Who is the 2014 MLS MVP?

Major League Soccer has three—at least three—worthy candidates for its 2014 MVP award. But who deserves the honor? Here, ASN's Blake Thomsen examines the résumés and comes up with a winner.
BY Blake Thomsen Posted
November 23, 2014
9:44 AM
ON THURSDAY MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER released its three finalists for the 2014 MVP award, with Los Angeles striker Robbie Keane, Seattle forward Obafemi Martins, and New England midfielder Lee Nguyen making the proverbial medal stand. The common denominator among the finalists: lots of goals, a healthy dose of assists, and a place on a top four regular season—and for what it’s worth, top four postseason—team in MLS.

The lack of assists and non-elite status of their respective clubs explains why the league’s two leading scorers, New York’s Bradley Wright-Phillips and Kansas City’s Dom Dwyer, didn’t make the final three. Meanwhile, sentimental favorite Landon Donovan also missed the cut. His 19 assists comfortably led MLS, but his relatively low goal tally of 10 kept him out of the running.

Keane, Martins, and Nguyen had the most well-rounded seasons, and that's why those three are up for MLS’s highest individual honor. Here's my assessment of the strength of the three finalists’ résumés.

3. Lee Nguyen

New England Revolution; 18 goals and 5 assists
Like Mike Magee a season ago, Nguyen came out of nowhere to make the final three for MLS MVP. The 28-year-old Texan was the steadying force in a wildly up and down season for the Revolution, which somehow fit a five-game losing streak in the middle of a second place finish in the Eastern Conference.

His 18 goals from midfield represent the highest total for a true midfielder in a long time, and many of his goals were of exceptional quality. This strike against Houston is probably the pick of the bunch, but there's fierce competition for his top goal on the season. In this sense, Nguyen defied the old cliché—not only was he a scorer of great goals, but also a great goal scorer.

MVP MOMENT: Rather than a single goal or assist, Nguyen’s MVP moment is the four-game stretch in October in which he scored five goals—two of them game-winners.

VERDICT: As I see it, two factors harm Nguyen’s candidacy. First, he only managed five assists. As the go-to playmaker on a team with plenty of attacking assets, that’s a pretty low number. Second, there’s a troubling reality looming above all of this—with Jermaine Jones around, Nguyen may not even be the most valuable player on his own team.

That is not at all to say that Nguyen wasn’t excellent all season, but it was Jones’ arrival and ensuing superb form that rocketed New England up the Eastern Conference standings. Nguyen undoubtedly played a huge part in that jump up the table as well, but it’s hard to see how New England would have gotten anywhere near second place in the conference without Jones as a major catalyst. The club was in fifth (and struggling) before Jones arrived.

2. Obafemi Martins

Seattle Sounders; 17 goals and 10 assists
Martins had a brilliant campaign from start to finish, setting club records in both goals and assists for the Supporters’ Shield-winning Sounders. He was a near ever-present for Seattle, terrorizing defenses all season long.

His combination of pace, elite dribbling skills, and clever interplay around the box made him nearly impossible to shut down, and he was something of a human highlight reel for the electric Sounders.

MVP MOMENT: Martins provided plenty of jaw-dropping attacking moments over the course of the season, but this outrageous run and cool finish against Portland back in August takes the cake. It speaks to Martins’ considerable talent (and confidence) that he even tried to take on so many defenders.

VERDICT: Martins misses out here only slightly, and primarily on the basis of his lower goal and assist total than fellow striker Keane. Granted, Martins’ side won the Shield over Keane’s, but it could have been a far different story had Keane been fit to play in that epic showdown at CenturyLink Field on the season’s final day.

1. Robbie Keane

Los Angeles Galaxy; 19 goals and 14 assists
Keane has lit up MLS since his 2011 arrival, but this year marked his finest in a Galaxy uniform. As teammate Donovan struggled at the beginning of the year and Gyasi Zardes had yet to find his feet, it was Keane who carried L.A. on his back through a difficult opening two months.

Then, as L.A. began to absolutely pulverize teams on its way to the second-best goal differential in MLS history, Keane continued to steal the show with his brilliantly creative passing and clinical finishing. That elite mix of unselfish passing and ruthless goal-scoring left him in the top three in the league in both goals and assists, a remarkable achievement for any player.

MVP MOMENT: It may have come against weak opposition, but Keane’s contributions against Chivas USA in a 3-0 romp back in August were nothing short of breathtaking, highlighted by this ridiculous nutmeg and 20-yard chip. VERDICT: On the strength of this 19-goal, 14-assist tour de force, Keane deserves to take home his first MVP trophy. The only blemish on his otherwise sterling résumé is the fact that L.A. failed to take home the Supporters' Shield, but, as mentioned earlier, he missed the Shield-decider via injury. Further, the Galaxy’s 17-goal edge in goal differential shows that L.A. was the most dominant team in MLS this season, regardless of the final point total.

Thanks to L.A.’s dominance and Keane’s huge goal and assist tally, the Irishman is my 2014 MVP, narrowly edging out a pair of fine competitors.

Agree? Disagree? Who was your MLS MVP this season, and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

Blake Thomsen is a frequent ASN contributor who probably didn’t manage 19 goals and 14 assists total in his storied AYSO career. Follow him on Twitter and let him know what you think.

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