Photo by ISIphotos.com
In one of the easier results to see coming, Seattle Sounders striker Fredy Montero was named MLS Newcomer of the Year. He beat out Sounders teammates Kasey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg for the honor.
Montero scored 12 goals and added seven assists in helping lead the Sounders to the playoffs.
Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton added to his awards haul with MLS Comeback Player of the Year honors. The recently-named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year battled back from two seasons as a reserve to establish himself as the league's best goalkeeper.
What's our take? Montero was the easy pick for Newcomer of the Year, but our vote for Comeback Player of the Year went to Ben Olsen, who overcame a career-threatening injury to post a strong season for D.C. United.
What do you think of these selections? Agree that Montero was the clear-cut Newcomer of the Year?
Share your thoughts below.
No-brainer here but he needs to improve his conditioning to last a full MLS season.
heh, heh, heh…read the papers once in a while.
I was just making a joke, everyone knows Montero is extremely gifted and is moving on to bigger things; gotta get in some jabs while we can.. And its a comment board on a blog, not like Monteros mom is reading it, just US soccer heads that should be able to chuckle at little jokes.
wow who passed out the HATERADE today – geez everyone is slamming these two great players. MLS produces quality players, and in Montero they found a goldmine of talent. everyone should be happy about that. Thornton was solid.
just give peeps props where its due. MLS is getting better every year!
Word. Montero is awesome. and to say he has room to grow is… well, wow! great can get greater! i wonder if he will go to L.A. when Donovan leaves…
no, josh wicks is a punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZb9bjff9fc
Montero is a young hot shot, of course, he has to be – he is a forward for crying out loud! thats what they do (disclaimer: i was a sweeper). plus you gotta remember Montero is a young dude in a foreign land, and seattle at that (not very diverse).
besides, cunningham is a known how do you say, -punk-, but no one is calling him out…
No idea what you are talking about. Clearly.
Truth is either an idiot, or a DCU fan. I’m opting for the latter. Anyone who fancies themself a soccer fan who cannot recognize the gift that Montero possesses is an idiot. MLS got one right.
Portland blows twice.. stay thirsty mi Amigos..
Yeah, that makes sense, I would gladly see both of them ride the pine or off the team so Le Toux could miss wide open shots as well without actually putting in 12, and maybe Nyassi could run really fast until he actually got on ball, then just cough it up. Plus we’d lose 12 goals that I’m not sure we would have got back with their replacements. But your idea sounds good, the front office should definitely get rid of them. I’m sorry I was so illogical.
Room to improve? That’s what the reserve matches are for.
And yeah, there’s only one person in Seattle who hates Montero. That’s logical.
Rich has it 100% correct.
I would definitely put Olsen ahead of Thornton…what did Thornton come back from?
Oh yeah, going from being a fat, crappy ‘keeper to a slightly less fat good one!
Ughh, are you the guy that sits below me? If so you need to shave your gross mustache and shut up. Your comment shows a huge lack of understanding regarding the college game (in the case of Zakuani), and a ton of “poor fitness” comes down to mental, not physical issues. Montero and Zakuani definitely have tons of room to improve, but wishing for he or Zakuani to get shipped away is laughable, unless of course you really are a philidelphia fan, then it would make sense that you’d want them to be left unprotected.
Lol loving the comments guys…especially MVKs… I agree, both guys did not deserve to win. My man Kovalenko deserved to win. JK but hes had a pretty good year. Just saying.
Montero, even after your award, no still means no.
The zach thorton belly flopwas well demonstrated during Lando’s penalty attempt. Heck, old fatboy was already hitting the dirt well before Lando was striding toward the penalty spot. Now thats the Zach I remember. Now if only Zach could somehow get a new MLS contract for 250k/year? POlitics and kickback to the manager my friends.
After getting word of the honor, Montero became very confused as to how he was rewarded something he didnt dive for…
Newcomer of the Year? How funny. About 65% of Sounders fans wish he’d get benched.
A 20-year-old kid who can’t play a full game due to poor fitness? I hope both Montero AND Zakuani are left unprotected in the expansion draft.
You can have them both.
I actually think Tony sanneh should get the “comeback player of the year”. His first 3 seasons he played 7 games while earning 1.5million US$’s. Last year he played zero. But…this year he played 3 games while earning 167k/season. Folks that is 55,000US$’s per game. Player or “playah” ? Now thats some comeback. Better than old cheesbeurger hustlin thorton.
Well then how about Come back player of the Year?
You mean he turned it on after he found out he was suffering from hypoglycemia which resulted in blurred vision, and severe migraine headaches?
(SBI-The award is for the full season produced, not for what might have been under different circumstances. Ljungberg played great down the stretch and gets credit for that, but for the season, Montero was higher impact newcomer and won the award for it.)
Sorry, but as good a story as Olsen was this year, it’s not as impressive as what Thornton did to somehow resurrect his career. After a few years where it looked like his career as a starter was over, this year he not only got Chivas into the playoffs, but he was the best goalkeeper in the league. Had DC had a better season, maybe Olsen would have had a chance, but I suspect Thornton won this one in a landslide.
(SBI-I suppose it boils down to your definition of Comeback. Going from bench scrub to all-star is a nice story, but what are you coming back from? My idea of coming back is coming back from an injury or some sort of drama in your life, like say a death in your family or who knows what. Simply going from being on the bench to being a star isn’t a comeback in my book. Maybe it’s just me.)
Last year’s Defender of the Year (Marshall), MVP (GBS), Coach of the Year (Schmid) all won the MLS Cup. The keeper of the year (Busch) made it to the Conference Final. I’d say that’s pretty decent playoff production.
No. His acting ability is far short of oscar material. Mind you, I’m a Seattle season ticket holder, so I’ve seen him fall quite a few times. I would prefer to see him, and everyone else, ditch the diving.
montero had unfair expectations to live up to after the fisrt two games. he’ll be great soon though.
that being said, Freddie > Fredy this year.
I’m just happy and proud of Zach. Great guy and showing he’s still good after a rough spell the past few years. A Fire original.
Montero should also earn some type of Academy Award for his acting abilities……
Montero is a punk.
Anyone else notice that winning one of the annual MLS awards seems to be a surefire ticket out of the playoffs before the MLS cup? Does that hold true in previous seasons? Let’s examine this year:
Newcomer-Montero=bounced 1st round
Goalkeeper-Big ‘ol Zach= 1st round
Comeback- Zach part deux= 1st round
Defender-Marshall= 1st round
I think Ljungberg deserved newcomer of the year more, he held Seattle Sounders together
(SBI-I think the edge goes to Montero for producing throughout the season, where Ljungberg really turned it on later in the year.)