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SBI MLS Player of the Week & Best XI (Week 2)

Kenny Mansally (ISIphotos.com)

It may seem odd for a second-half substitute who only played 21 minutes to win an MLS Player of the Week Award, but it is what Kenny Mansally did in this 21 minutes that made all the difference for him and the New England Revolution this week.

The Revs were being dominated by D.C. United at RFK Stadium, but the match remain scoreless when Mansally entered, and the Gambian striker made the home team pay for its inability to score by netting two goals of his own to help New England record a shocking 2-0 triumph.

Mansally's performance was one of several quality efforts this week, from Edson Buddle's brace in Chivas USA's victory, to Tim Ream's rock-solid defensive effort in New York's upset of Seattle, but Mansally's scoring tough, particularly on his brilliant second goal, gave him the edge in my book.

As for the rest of this week's top MLS performers? Here is this week's SBI MLS Best XI:

SBI MLS Best XI (Week Two)

—————-Edson Buddle——–Kenny-Mansally———————

Brad Davis——-Pat Phelan—–Joel Lindpere——-Landon Donovan

—Tim Ream—-Omar Gonzalez—Mike Petke——Sean Franklin—-

—————————–Preston Burpo———————————

HONORABLE MENTION– Bouna Coundoul, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Bobby Boswell, Cory Gibbs, Roy Miller, Kevin Alston, Osvaldo Alonso, Javier Morales, Steve Zakuani, Collins John, Omar Cummings.

Some thoughts on this week's selections:

The Galaxy's domination of Chivas USA is well-represented here, with Gonzalez among the four selections. Gonzalez is looking like an MLS Best XI candidate for the season right now.

Joel Lindpere didn't score a goal this week, but his work in helping the Red Bulls win the battle in midfield against the Sounders was thoroughly impressive.

Mike Petke gets the nod, and while Ream is looking like a Defender of the Year candidate as a rookie, Petke has also put together a pair of strong performances to start the season.

Burpo was brought in as a stop-gap for New England for the injured Matt Reis, but he looked good vs. D.C. United and should help keep the Revs in good shape until Reis returns.

Revs fans had to be disappointed to see Jeff Larentowicz leave, but Pat Phelan showed why he just might be able to fill his shoes.

Osvaldo Alonso's team was on the losing end, but his work was impressive nonetheless and he came very close to making this squad.

————-

What did you think of this week's selections? Who was your player of the week? Which player didn't make this week's Best XI that you thought was deserving?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I think Alonso should have made it over Phelan. Phelan was nondescript at best – in fact, the midfield for the Revs for the first 50 minutes were downright horrible. Alonso, meanwhile, was at his ball hawking best all game and up to the last 10 minutes (when Seattle mistakenly went long ball in panic mode), he distributed and linked with his forwards extremely well to lead the Seattle attack. Overall he had a great game (per usual for him).

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  2. both those were legitimate pks. the ref got both calls right. I like Olave and I like RSL, but even though they were the better team on the night, Olave lost his head and the game for his mates. quit blaming the refs. the ref got both calls right.

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  3. Pat Phelan? I’m a revs fan and i cant stand the guy. he has the reaction speed of an old man with arthritis and seemingly knows how to do nothing else except pass the ball backwards. while retaining possession is good, shalrie and larentowicz are far better at kickstarting the attack and breaking up plays than he ever will be. ives, i’d like to know what you saw in his performance that i’m apparently missing. i admit he was a tad better than usual though.

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  4. Gonzalez will be a great player as soon as he learns to pass out of the backfield. Most of the time he just clears the ball aimlessly. Other than that, like him.

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  5. Dude, you must not watch much MLS soccer, do you? Olave is perhaps the fastest guy in all of MLS. Sometimes he makes boneheaded decisions, but in this game I just think the refs messed up badly. Landin is just a flopper.

    On the first one they are both running in a straight line then Landin just cuts in front of Olave and trips over his own foot. The second one I don’t think he was even touched but you can at least make an argument that it looked like a PK in live action so you can find an excuse for the Ref.

    The shame of it is that Houston was horrible in that game. They did not have a shot on goal the entire game and yet they were handed the game by the ref. It is one of the things that makes it so hard to be an MLS fan.

    But back to my original point, if you think that Olave is slow and a weakness on defense then you do not watch enough soccer or you just don’t know what you are talking about. He is a beast and simply gets the short end from the refs so much because he is so big. He is the best pure defender in MLS. His poor decision making at times is his only weakness.

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  6. Don’t disagree, he got lucky a few times with passes, he wasn’t quite a sharp. Point is, I really doubt Opara would be better through two games…

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  7. Although I agree that Ream played well, there were at least four passes out of the back that were intercepted. Against a more opportunistic team RBNY would have paid for some of those mistakes. I like the confidence, but I am really dreading the pass that costs a goal. Definitely impressive for a rookie, but let’s hold off on defender of the year for now.

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  8. Hey Ives, speaking of Mansally, how about adding a “sub of the week” player to the team of the week?

    Another player who I think really improved his team upon entering as a sub was Pat Noonan…seemed to energize and create some chances which weren’t capitalized on.

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  9. Wow, this has been up for as long as it has an nobody’s nitpicked that Buddle scored his brace for the Galaxy, and not Chivas USA?

    Well, if you guys are ok with it then so am I 😛

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  10. Admittedly not Best-XI-worthy given the limited minutes (Mansally obviously merits an exception), but I was very impressed with Pat Noonan in his 2nd-half appearance for Seattle.

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  11. The Sounders have scored 2 goals in the last 4 games that meant anything.

    Nkufo can be the biggest thing to hit Seattle since Gary Payton…and it will only take 1 or 2 goals to get there.

    RedBulls look like a playoff team.

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  12. How do Roy Miller Not make it he was the best player on the field for the REDBULLS . He should be up there over Omar Gonzalez I guess u didnt want to make this a RedBull team but i watch both games and am sorry but you cant tell me that Omar Gonzalez belong on there over Roy Miller . He didnt even make your HONORABLE MENTION.

    (SBI-Settle down Lee, I did put Miller on honorable mention. I was choosing between him and Franklin and forgot to list him on HM, but put him on soon after. Miller had a very good game, but best player on the field? Not sure how people are getting that one. Perhaps it was the fact that he was marking Roger Levesque for a good chunk of that time. Slightly easier assignment than the other three defenders had. That’s the kind of stuff you need to factor in. Tim Ream’s contributions, from his passing to his interventions, were WAY more significant than Miller’s. Not even close. I’d say the same for Petke and for Lindpere. Miller was probably the fourth best player for New York at best. Not a knock on him, just a sign of just how great an overall team performance they put together.

    I realize Miller has been great, but I’m wondering if the horrid left back experiments of the past don’t have some folks overvaluing his performances. And that’s coming from someone who talked Miller up in pre-season and think he’s been arguably the best left back in the league over two weeks.)

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  13. Tchani has a lot of competition in the center of the pitch and will probably only see really limited minutes right now with Stammler, Lindpere, and Robinson ahead of him. Ubiparapovic has been playing on the left, but he historically has played central mid as well.

    Hopefully a lot of competition will be good for the youngster.

    Osvaldo Alonso was MOTM in my opinion for Seattle, played much better than Phelan, and had a greater influence on the game. It was amazing watching Lindpere and Alonso working so hard to negate each other’s influence on the game.

    Finally, I have to preface the next remark – I am an RBNY season ticket holder but bias aside – I think the first half of NY Seattle matchup was the best 45 minutes MLS play I have ever seen, exciting, fast paced, pretty good passing, and end to end. It was riveting attacking football.

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  14. I thought Roy Miller was the best player this week (albeit I missed the first half of United-Revs). Not including him seems a huge oversight.

    (SBI-I did mean to have Miller in honorable mention this week, was choosing between he and Franklin. That said, Miller was not better than Tim Ream this week. Or Omar Gonzalez. Or Petke. It was close between he and Franklin but I gave Franklin the nod.)

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  15. Ives, why do you have Franklin in the Starting XI and in Honorable Mention? jw

    (SBI- Was choosing between Franklin, Roy Miller and Kevin Alston and forgot to replace Franklin with Miller in honorable mention.)

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  16. Maybe we should start doing the worst 11 along with the best….wouldn’t be too difficult….just slot in the DCU players….

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  17. I do agree for much of the game Phelan played mediocre, though also for much of the game he was the Revs biggest threat taking some chances at goal.

    Definitely not a Larentowicz like game though, hopefully he can pick it up more.

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  18. LOL! Burn!

    Olave was horrible… so slow… why are RSL starting him?

    As a Quakes fan it’s sad we were unable to take advantage of him two weeks ago.

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  19. Mansally’s second goal was a dagger in my heart. Although it buried my team, it was a beautiful goal. Pep Guardiola would have been pleased with his effort. Epitomzies the term “the beautiful game”.

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  20. Lindpere has been a monster so far this year.. who ever scouted him deserves a raise. Skillfull and tuff just what is needed in the MLS

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  21. Pat Phelan?

    Apprently failing to connect a pass for 62 straight minutes (while getting turned around by Quaranta half a dozen times) gets you a Best XI nod.

    At the same position, I would put Alonso ahead of him as well as Morsink..just to name 2

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  22. i remember every RB fan scratching their heads wondering why RB didnt draft Watson-Sirboe(sp) when they selected Ream. We’ll never doubt you again Hans Soler

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  23. Tim Ream makes you forget about Ike Opara real quick…(as a Red Bulls fan). Not that we felt like we lost out since we got Tchani, but everyone know the Defense needed help.

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