Just looking over the playoff games to this point, and something interesting... Carlos Ruiz has score more goals then every team in the playoffs, save for KC. Carlos Ruiz 7 goals in 5 games. Dallas 5 goals 3 games. Colorado 3 (plus 1 tiebraker) in 5 games. Columus 4 goals 4 games. New England 6 goals 5 games. San Jose 2 goals 2 games. KC 8 goals 3 games. Taylow twellman, the supposed "mvp" because look at how crappy our team would have been without him, has managed 2 goals in 5 games, and yet his team is sitting pretty to advance to the MLS Cup anyway.... I think it's pretty clear Ruiz is the league's mvp no matter how you slice it.
No one player has been more valuable to his team this season. But, because of personal distaste, it might be hard for him to get sufficient votes.
Ruiz should be the playoff MVP, and maybe the Open Cup MVP, but Twellman was better during the regular season.
It's not possible to determine an MVP just by goals scored. If it was, then Mark Chung would not be on the ballot and in his place would be someone like Diallo. I haven't seen a single LA game all season, but from what I've read it sounds to me like Ruiz is a very one-dimensional player. If he doesn't score a goal, then he is invisible for the game. It just seems that someone like Chung would command greater presence on the field. Any, I have a feeling Ruiz will win MVP, but all three of the finalists would have earned it.
Who has three goals nominated for goal of the year and who has only one goal nominated for goal of the year.... Watch the Quicktimes on MLSnet and then come back and tell me who is MVP of the League....
I would even go as far as to say he could be the next mamadu (Ruiz) if not for the fact that it will jinx the revs chances of winning the cup.
I'm no fan of Ruiz...but he has 8 Game Winning goals....compared to Twellman with 3. To say Twellman was better than Ruiz in the regular season is a little bit strange.
It doesn't matter how pretty a goal is. Tino Quaranta had a pretty goal nominated for goal of the year..he should be an MVP nominee now too?
If the Revs defense played all year as well as they played the last 2 months or so, Twellman would have 12-15 game winning goals.
the reason twellman hasnt really scored in the playoffs is that he is marked so tighly, tighter than ruiz because of the rest of their respective teams. twellman has far less of an attacking team around him then ruiz. plus, twellman doesnt get too many open shots inside of the 6. im not saying ruiz isnt good at what he does, but there is no way you should take the mvp away from twellman because he kept new england in playoff contention until the rest of the team started playing together
I guess I just don't understand then. New England is more or less given an entirley new team this year, tons of big name players. They underachieve, rework tehir team after a trade, and pretty much suck for 75% of the season. Then they squeek into the playoffs and somehow this is a great acomplishment? For god's sake, people were CHOOSING THEM to be MLS champions before the season started, then they end up with a losing record, I just don't understand... No it's not just goal scoring that counts, but it's winning games for your team that counts, whether that be scoring goals, saving them or whatever, but I find it laughable that people can say that Ruiz hasn't done more his team then anyone else this season, including playoffs. But to get this thread back on topic, why haven't the other teams been able to score any goals?
Ruiz for Western Division MVP Twellman for Eastern Division MVP No offense to the Crew, but I'd like to see them shoot it out in MLS Cup for the league MVP.
The point I was making was that the amount of game winning goals Twellman scored wasn't related to his play, but to how well the defense played. If you want to argue that Ruiz should be MVP because he had a better defense playing behind him, and not because he was a better player, then go ahead. Looking at it another way, since the Revs spent much more of the season trailing than the gals, Twellman spent much of his season playing against packed in defenses protecting leads, which makes his winning the scoring title that much more impressive. LA fans are making a big deal (as well they should) about Ruiz having 7 playoff goals so far. The Revs made the playoffs (barely, if they'd have lost their last game they'd have stayed home) by going 5-0-1 in their last 6 games. In those games Twellman scored 8 goals with 2 assists. Without him, the Revs would have absolutely missed the playoffs, and would probably be looking at the first pick in the draft.
Completely false. Ruiz is far from a one-dimensional player. He holds up the ball well, is an excellent dribbler of the ball (and one of the best in the league), works tremendously hard 98% of the time, locks up multiple defenders allowing other Galaxians to run free, and his passing has significantly improved as the season has gone on. Personally, I think Ruiz is having the greatest single season year of anyone in the history of MLS - especially if you take into account Open Cup games (spectacular goals v. Earthquakes and Burn). Supposedly if you include exhibition games, Ruiz has significantly more than 40 goals this year (something like 45/46?). He simply can't be stopped. By anyone at anytime. And most of them are game winners, many in the waning moments. Whether you like him or not is another matter. But he's had an unbelievable season.
As a neutral bystander I root for Twellman because he's an American. I have nothing against Ruiz and he's a great player and makes a claim for the MVP award as well as anybody. I'm really glad for New England that they finally have a star and I hope they make the fnal and Revs fans pack the big razor. I do think MLS should do away with the playoffs and just play a final on Labor Day.
He can head the ball pretty well too. The dude can score with every part of his body. Hard to disgree with that either. As for MVP: Flip a coin: Ruiz, Heads. Twellman, Tails. Both are worthy choices and it is tough to find a tangible difference.
well ...... he scores all the time and his team wins all the time and he has 9 game winners this year 9!!!!!!!!!!!! i would not be surprised to find that mark chung doesnt have 9 game winners in his whole career (which by mls standards has been pretty damn good) i think ruiz the definition of mvp -he plays his ass off -he scores tons of goals of every sort -the team wins with a lot of consistently it also seems as that his teamates love him i have watched the galaxy play about 12 times this year and have never seen him dissappear once he is the most fouled player in the league, and a world class diver he has been a busy boy committing more fouls than at least all the other strikers maybe more than most players in the league he is constantly flying around the field making the action come alive i am not a galaxy fan, but if i was a fan of their strongest rivals, then i would hate this guy, he is a major thorn in the side of opponents do i want to see him play for guatemala against the usa ever again? no, i hated him the one time he got action against the usa but is he league mvp, i think so, by a smaller than should be margin over twellman (who happens to dissappear a lot more often for long strectches of games - for example great lengths during this years playoffs)
After seeing LA in New England Ruiz blew at least 6 easy goals I really think the MVP should be (I hate to say it Lalas) he doesn't run around like an idiot anymore and if he wasn't there to control the D would Ruiz even have chance to get winning goals
i dont think its that silly sure goals all count the same on the score board, but some goals have more "intrinsic-value" because of when they happen and what effect they have on the outcome "...... comes through big in crunch time" is a sports cliche we hear all the time