i didn't see this anywhere and the honda award probably comes out soon, so here goes... and as always i'll do my best to get everyone's favorite in, but there are eight choices so someone might get ticked off - actually IMO there are only really five true candidates and i had a very tough time picking them apart bocanegra LD DMB lewis howard
Ummm...since an American was voted EPL GK of the Year, I would think Friedel would be a unanimous hands-down winner. If not him, definately Freddy Adu. LEWIS?! LOL
ummm friedel played exactly 0 matches for the US this year and adu played.... hmmmm.... 0! read again: US PLAYER OF THE YEAR as in while playing for the US national team finally, you lol at lewis... and then vote for hejduk good stuff man
DMB had a nice year in 2003 with the US Nats. But two essentially new Nat's had strong showing and have begun what may be very long Nat careers. Carlos Bocanegra. Tim Howard. Neither was on the 2002 WC squad. Carlos has apparently won himself a spot in the starting back 4. Plus, he scored a couple of goals. Tim is now clearly our #3 keeper and has established himself as a challenger to the big two. Plus, his progress was rewarded by that contract with Man U and the starting job at the start of the Premiership season -- that has to be the top US soccer story of 2003, so far. In the end, Tim Howard wins my vote, just ahead of Boca.
Carlos Bocanegra and I don't think its even close. He turned himself into the best all-player in MLS, and he is the one player that the National team can't afford to lose.
Black-mouth by a landslide. He's scoring, passing (ask Ruiz from All-Star game), and defending like a young Maldini. It's all about 'Los this year.
ralston, hejduk and convey on a player of the year thread? never thought I'd see that. it should be carlos ...... he is without a doubt the biggest bada$$ we have. DMB second, Howard third.
I have to agree with the majority of people on this thread, Boca has played great for the US this year, and has been one of the most consistent players, sure Donovan had his moments (hatrick against Cuba), and DMB has done well, but I think Boca has been the best all-around player for the US this year.
HAHAHAHAHAHA, while Bocanegra is one of the strongest defenders the US has and has played well, comparing him to Maldini is an absolute joke.
Carlos gets my vote, I think the USMNT needs him in the lineup. Tim Howard comes in second, but if he's not in the lineup it's okay because we still have Friedel or Keller.
Do you even read the post or do you just see Maldini in a thread about Americans, and automatically assume that somebody is an idiot?
boca howard donovan ralston hejduk and beasley are crap. Neither can cross, both have explosive speed, thats it. Ralston doesnt have the blazing speed of a Hejduk, but look what he did when he played. Absolutely amazing (even if it was against sub par teams). Get off the Beasley bandwagon! THE KID CAN'T CROSS! Ask yourself one thing, whats the most important skill in an outside midfielder?, Answer - CROSSING! Guess what, neither Hejduk nor beasley can do that. Boca has been fantastic, and the kid is only goin to get better. Same with Howard and Donovan. But with Donovan, he needs to keep focus, not get caught up in Hollywood.
Earlier I posted my choice of Howard, although I think Boca is a close second. Both have had excellent years. Boca is running slightly ahead of Howard in the Poll (30 votes to 23 at the moment). The poll asked for "Player of the Year", so I picked Howard because he has had the most remarkable year of any US player. The fact that the US has superior DEPTH at goalkeeper should have nothing to do with this vote for Player of the Year. Now, if you asked me whether Howard or Boca were more VALUABLE to the US Nats, then I would pick Boca. We don't have as much depth at keeper, so Boca is much more difficult to replace. But that is a different kind of vote. Just my 2 cents on why.
I picked Lewis. Of all the games I've watched this year, his proformances have been the most memorable(in a good way). I agree with the Boca nod, but most of those other options are just there to look like the US has had stellar player contributions. Also, McBride should be up there before a few of those players. For the Gold Cup alone, he deserves more praise than Hejduk, Beas, etc.
Have to go with Bocanegra. Really only played poorly (on defense) in that Costa Rica match but was obviously drained. He's solidified his position in the back.
Here are this year's eligible players: http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/383003.html Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Manchester United-ENG), Kasey Keller (Tottenham Hotspur-ENG) Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Chicago Fire), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus-GER), Dan Califf (Los Angeles Galaxy), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96-GER), Nick Garcia (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (St Pauli-GER), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Greg Vanney (Bastia-FRA) Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire), Bobby Convey (DC United), Chris Klein (Kansas City Wizards), Eddie Lewis (Preston North End-ENG), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Richard Mulrooney (San Jose Earthquakes), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City-ENG) Forwards: Jeff Cunningham (Columbus Crew), Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), Jovan Kirovski (Birmingham City-ENG), Clint Mathis (MetroStars), Brian McBride (Columbus Crew), Earnie Stewart (DC United), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
First of all, Beasely is not crap. Second of all, how can youcompare Hejduk with Beasely? Hejduk just kicks it to the other team, or gets pushed over. Beasely draws a lot of fouls and has scored a few important goals against quality teams like Turkey. Unklike Hejduk, he can dribble, and that combined with his speed leaves many defenders falat footed. Remember that play against Venezuela to set up Donovan's goal? Beasly is thousand times better than Hejduk. He will be in Europe within the next year.