The end of Philadelphia Union’s 2014 season means it’s the time of the year for season reviews.
But before we begin with those, we’d like to know who PSP’s readers consider to be the Union’s season MVP.
Below is a list of Union players, each of whom has a minimum of 16 starts. (After Danny Cruz’s 16 starts, the next closest players below him are Ethan White with 12 starts, Aaron Wheeler with 8 starts in 15 appearances, and Leo Fernandes with 7 starts in 13 appearances. White did not make an appearance until the 19th game of the season; Wheeler made no appearances over the last 14 games of the season, Fernandes played 2 minutes over the final 20 games of the season.)
So, who do you have?
The poll closes on Sunday, Nov. 2 at midnight.
[poll id=”6″]
Clearly, it’s not so clear.
It has to be Le Toux. Lead the team in goals scored, second in assists. Only got two yellow cards all season. This team might have been lucky to win 5 games without him this year.
Agreed. Nogueira is our best player overall, but Le Toux contributed more to the team’s success, such as it was.
Only got two yellow cards all season? That’s two more than in the five prior years combined!
Agreed, Pete. If you track LeToux’s performance this season (good and bad), it mirrored the Union’s.
I agree. Le Toux is the clear choice for MVP.
.
It’s a shame that Fernandes didn’t get more playing time during the second half of the season. He and Le Toux worked well together.
I chose Macmath and here is why.
.
In my mind the most valuable player is the player who not only dose it individually but makes the entire team better. A player who clutch he also rallies the team and make them collectively be the best team possible.
.
Well that player didn’t appear consistently this year so I picked the player who individually kept the season from being even worse.
.
Other tiebreakers I would have been Quotability: Either Nowakesque misanthropy or Jose Mourinho assholishnes.
Also Soccer hair is a good tiebreaker.
Gonna be tough to see Droopy Dog playing for another city next season.
.
http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120304193456/cartoonnetwork/images/thumb/0/08/Droopy-002.jpg/300px-Droopy-002.jpg
Also, the one single game highlight (at least IMHO) was the US Open Cup win in Dallas and his PK saves were a major part in that.
Gotta be Le Toux for me. Maidana would be my runner up. Nogueira makes a few of those close shots into goals (Especially in the Open Cup Final), I’d consider him.
Definitely. I voted Le Toux. If Nogs had scored in the USOC final, I’d have voted for him.
Easy answer who my MVP of the season is….course, you all know who got that vote. #14.
This is a little eerie…I also picked Okugo…
For me it’s a toss up… LeToux or Macmath…both we’re a positive force and both had games where their individual efforts lifted the team to secure wins. In the end I voted for Zac on the stopped PK shots in Dallas…I watched the game with friends and we all jumped out of our seats! That win tipped the scales!
The Union – or perhaps the SOBs – should create a fan awards ceremony, where the fans can vote and present season awards to the players at a dinner, with proceeds going to charity. With all the crap this team has put us through since 2012, they owe us a night to show our appreciation to the players. They’d get some big brownie points.
Great idea, Steve.
An open letter to Kenny Hanson:
Please, SoBs, take this to management on terms you support. If you can’t persuade them, go for it. Great service to the Union, the fans & a worthy charity. I’d buy tickets even if I couldn’t attend.
Can someone explain the logic behind the votes for Ray Gaddis? he did his job well but MVP?
Most Very Popular
.
Taking nothing away from Ray, he is clearly a HUGE part of the team’s successes, but I agree there are a couple ahead of him in the MVP race.
It depends on your definition of MVP. Nogueira and Le Toux were great this year, but the French men were very streaky.
.
Additionally, we wouldn’t have been able to make that cup run without Ray. He played over 300 minutes over that 5 day span during the Dallas cup game. He started every single regular season game this year. He played over 550 minutes more than Nogueira and 1000 minutes more than Le Toux (and that’s only taking into account regular season games).
.
So I voted for Gaddis because I think >3000 minutes of solid, consistent play is better than 2000 minutes of hot and cold performances. Le Toux and Nogueira definitely contributed more per minute played, but not on the whole.
Well said.
Wow. I was pretty surprised after I voted and saw the results. Gaddis was unquestionably the MVP for me. He was the only player to play and start in 34 games. Logged more than 250 more minutes than the next guy. He was our safety net on defense and caused a few teams trouble going forward. By far the most consistent and reliable player on the field this year. 2nd and 3rd place would be tough to choose though.
So hard to choose an MVP in a team sport. Each player is so dependent on the many factors around him.
.
For me, there are two aspects I look at. 1) Whose play contributed to the most number of points, and 2) whose play was most impressive/entertaining to watch.
.
That guy is Noguiera in my book. He is the only player that other teams consistently had a difficult time planning against. He affected our style of play dramatically and was the key in giving LeToux, Maidana and others quality opportunities.
Sebastian LeToux is the heart and soul of the Philadelphia Union. From day one. (We won’t discuss “the lost weekend ” with Vancouver and NYRB.)
That being said, I can’t argue with those who picked Zac McMath. Honorable Mention goes to Okugo.
Come on, who voted for fabinho?
haha.. I noticed that. Sad that Conor Casey has the same number of votes so far. If he could have maintained his best 10 games through the whole season, he could clearly be the MVP.
My MVP is Edu. He stepped in to strengthen a very leaky back line and assited in making Ethan White a serviceable defender. He showed his worth and in my opinion is one of the best CB in the league. I’m hoping the Union buy him and he agrees to be a permanent CB.
He was our only All Star, too. And wore the captain’s band whenever BC (!) didn’t.
For me, Nogueira is probably our most talented player (Edu & Okugo in the conversation), but Maidana and LeToux probably had the most direct impact on wins and losses. LeToux with clutch scoring for a while and Maidana as a playmaker with 13 assists. There’s no clear cut choice – tough year to pick.
Most Valuable Player (MVP) is not the most entertaining player. Its a player whose presence and contribution on the pitch makes the team better. When he is not playing the team doesn’t do very well. He is a 90 minutes player and plays through pain and injury . He is usually the last man standing after roughing up the opponents. These are some of the reasons the Union MVP is my favorite player Amobi Okugo. (Sorry Joel I love him more). The U went downhill after that ill informed benching of our best player Amobi Okugo in the Open Cup championship. In the last few games after Houston match, Okugo have carried the team scoring or assisting or making the build up play in almost all the goals we scored.
I just checked the current standings and noticed the Danny Cruz has 0 votes but that is worth 1%. I’m guessing the poll is setup so that the percentages add up to 100% (rather than leave a rounding difference) but I think it’s funny that 0 votes gives a higher percentage than the people with 1 vote 🙂
Can’t decide between DC & BC because the drop off in talent when either played was so obvious that their service to management in highlighting the need to upgrade their positions in the off season could not be more valuable.
My top 5 in order:
Le Toux
MacMath
Nogs
Edu
Chaco
It’s Nogueira lets be real…..