Ok. For the last couple of years, the Budweiser Scoring Champions have not done anything the season after they win the trophy. Will the Fish follow the trend of Diallo, Pineda Chacon, and Kries (to some extent) of becoming a nobody after winning it once?
Diallo will lead the league again if he ever settles down with one team and builds a chemistry and learns how to stay onside. Twellman will drop off alot but Ruiz will at least be in the Top 3 in scoring.
Ruiz wasn't the scoring champion. Twellman was. Ruiz was the league MVP. Either way, I think Ruiz is the real deal. You never know though, it could just have been that his speed and finish confused the heck out of MLS defenses last year. BTW, rumor has it that Ruiz is getting a training stint with Everton. The debate though is regarding Ruiz's ability to get a work permit. Edit: LDB, Diallo is long gone if you didn't know. He was at a Saudi club for awhile (the league sold his contract for somewhere around $500,000.) Now he's linked to a club team in China.
Did I miss something? Did Diallo come back? I don't think so.. EDIT: Oh .. I did miss something.. The previous post..oops..
Diallo left for about $300,000, not 500k. Ruiz powered the Galaxy through the season and the playoffs. Nobody helped him. Chacon certainly will help him a lot. Chacons success came with Hudsons coaching and the pairing with Serna. Ruiz scored more goals than Twellman. It's an idiotic technicality for the assists to count for the scoring champion.
Ruiz is the real deal. He is better than Chacon and Kries and has a better attitude than Diallo. He may not repeat as the scoring champ, but he will be in the top three...
My mistake Why would you say it's an "idiotic technicality," as without assists, there essentially would be no points to begin with? EDIT: Forgot a "g"
Because a goal is a score, not an assist. An assist leads up to a goal, but it isn't the finish. Twellman was the offensive champion, Ruiz was the scoring champion. Ruiz put more goals in the net than Twellman did, simple as that. Give an award for most assists and for most goals. If memory serves correct, this was the first time that the total points from goals and assists was more more than the points from the goal leader.
One exception in 1997: LEADING SCORERS ---NAME-------TEAM-GAMES-GOALS-ASSISTS-PTS #1-Preki---------KC----27-----12------17-----41 #2-Jaime Moreno-DC----20-----16------8------40