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SBI MLS Mid-Season Most Valuable Player: Bradley Wright-Phillips

Bradley Wright-Phillips

By IVES GALARCEP 

When the 2014 season began, the New York Red Bulls were well aware they needed someone to step up and take some of the scoring burden off French star Thierry Henry. Little did they know that a player on their roster was capable of a monster season that could trump every other player in the league.

Bradley Wright-Phillips has stepped up in a stunning way, delivering 18 goals before the All-Star break to help the Red Bulls avoid falling out of the playoff picture. The result has been a half-season worthy of SBI’s Mid-Season MVP honors as the top player in the league through the first half of the 2014 campaign.

Chosen as SBI MLS Mid-Season MVP by SBI editorial staff, Wright-Phillips beat out a field that included Sporting KC striker Dom Dwyer, Los Angeles Galaxy star Robbie Keane and teammate Thierry Henry.

Here is a closer look at the Mid-Season MVP finalists, as well as your chance to vote for the award:

SBI MLS MID-SEASON MVP CANDIDATES

1. BRADLEY WRIGHT-PHILLIPS

His 18 goals has him on pace to shatter his club’s record for goals in a season, and he currently has four goals more than the next-highest scoring player in the league.

2. DOM DWYER

Tied for second in MLS with 14 goals, Dwyer has stepped up and become Sporting KC’s go-to scorer, and has played a major role in his team’s ability to maintain first place in the East despite a plethora of injuries.

3. ROBBIE KEANE

The Galaxy are surging back toward the top of the Western Conference standings, and Keane has played a major part in that. His 12 goals and seven assists have him among the league leaders, making him the only player in MLS in the top 10 in both goals and assists.

4. THIERRY HENRY

Wright-Phillips gets the attention for his goal total, but those who watch the Red Bulls regularly will tell you Henry is the team’s real MVP, helping orchestrate the attack as its key playmaker. He leads MLS in assists with 10, and could have close to 10 goals, instead of five, if he took penalties for the Red Bulls.

5. ERICK TORRES

It is rare when a player on such a bad team generates MVP consideration, but Torres has been the lone bright spot on an awful  Chivas USA team. He is tied for second in MLS with 14 goals despite Chivas USA having only scored a league-low 21 goals this season.

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Now it’s your turn to cast your vote for MLS Mid-Season MVP:

  • Bradley Wright-Phillips
  • Dom Dwyer
  • Robbie Keane
  • Erick Torres
  • Thierry Henry
  • Benny Feilhaber
  • Diego Valeri
  • Javier Morales
  • Fabian Espindola
  • Jermain Defoe

 

Who did you vote for? Who do you think should have made the ballot that didn’t?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. When a team has 2 players in contention for mid season MVP (NYRB) and are barely in the playoff race you would think the rest of that squad has to be pretty terrible. Yet that doesn’t seem to be he case w/NY, something just isn’t right with that squad. On paper they look like a solid contender with Olave, Cahill, Dax, Robles, Sam and several of he younger guys stepping up. I don’t get it.

    Reply
    • And here is a perfect example of the team being more important then the players. To be fair Cahill and Dax have been injured, Cahill was away on WC duty, Olave & Henry on turf suspension, Olave on dunce suspension. The bright spot is Duval and Oyongo. I also agree Petke is also having a rough season.

      Reply
  2. Cubo Torres has really scored 67% of his team’s goals?

    In-con-ceivable!

    Seriously, that is crazy. (Just looked it up, the all-time MLS record for striker % of his team’s goals is Carlos Ruiz in 2002 at 55% of his team’s goals, followed by Wondo’s record-breaking season at 53%).

    Torres is crushing that. Chivas stinks – get that man on a quality club.

    Reply
    • If you are looking at the MVP of a team – I always like to measure it by if that person wouldn’t be playing how well would that team do – therefore proving who is the most valuable player. If that is the terms of the award then surely Torres would win. However – usually MVP is mistakenly thought of as Best Player – If that is the case then BWP wins the award.

      Reply
  3. Not to take away from BWP but….

    Henry, You the real MVP.

    Every scrub that plays along side him scores buckets of goals. Why?….cuz henry is the real mvp.

    Reply
  4. Seems like it was this year when we were laughing at how many goals BWP scored every season on FIFA.
    Seemed like such a joke.

    Wait….that WAS this year.

    Reply
  5. He’s definitely not, Thierry Henry has more reason to be MVP than him… His goals are a product of the team and mostly Henry freeing him up to score goals. BWP has done a great job finishing and i’ll be the first to admit that. Remember how Kenny Cooper looked while playing alongside TH?

    Reply
      • That criticism has been true in year’s past of the striker in front of TH, but BWP has progressed beyond a tap in finisher.

    • I was in full agreement with you up until a month ago. Cooper, Espindola, Rodgers.. you’re right. But watching him this last month, he’s seemed to raise his level up a notch to be the man even without Henry’s help. Clearly, the Henry effect still exists. But it’s fair to begin to recognize BWP’s performance are coming more and more in addition to the Henry effect as opposed to because of the Henry effect.

      Reply

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