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Dempsey, Howard, Jones among six nominees for 2014 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year

USSoccerMaleAthleteoftheYearNominees

By RYAN TOLMICH

With just one international game remaining in the 2014 calendar year, U.S. Soccer has announced a list of six nominees for U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year.

Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones have been nominated for the award, which has been awarded since 1984. The winner is set to be announced on Nov. 20 on ESPN’s 4 p.m. SportsCenter.

This year’s award voting will be conducted under a new process, as voters will include U.S. Men’s and Youth National Team coaches, players who have earned a cap this season, NASL and MLS coaches, media members, and former U.S. players and administrators.

Dempsey, who scored a pair of goals at this summer’s World Cup, is a three-time winner having earned the honor in 2007, 2001 and 2012. The field includes another prior winner, Howard, who was recognized in 2008.

The 2014 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year voting will take place in December, while Young Male and Young Female Athlete of the Year nominees will also be announced at a later date.

Who do you expect to win this year’s U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year award? Any notable snubs from the nominees?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. And Donovan doesn’t even get nominated? Wasn’t his fault JK took a petty revenge out on him. He should at least been nominated for contributions during the run-up

    Reply
    • I’m not taking either side really but I’d say donovan deserved it slightly more than one of beckerman, bedoya or FJ. donovan has had a great season, he literally hit a dry spell like 2 weeks before the roster announcing camp was held. other than that he’s played well with his club. beckerman was solidly good but having watched several RSL games this year, their whole team wasnt quite as good as last year; becks didnt STAR this season so to say as he did, say, last season (when they won the MLS Cup…). Bedoya had a good early season with Nantes but fell into a rotation of starting 11s instead of starting every game as he did early on moreso. FJ had interestingly an up and down year. changed clubs, had an injury or two i believe.

      all in all, none of the aforementioned 4 players should win it. comes down to Howard and Jones and Dempsey.

      Reply
      • I know you saw my comment 20 min before you posted this, but here it is again: “I’m pretty sure the pool is limited to athletes who played for the USMNT.” That also means it’s based on their performance for the USMNT, not their clubs. Someone please feel free to prove me wrong.

        In that case, everything Donovan did for club is irrelevant. Thus, he holds nothing over Beckerman, who without question did more for the US national team in 2014.

        Ditto everything Howard did for his club versus Jones.

        For example: it is widely known that in February, Steve Cherundolo slide tackled a giant asteroid headed for earth, directing it harmlessly into the sun and thereby saving all of humanity. But since he didn’t do it in a USMNT jersey, he is not eligible for this award.

    • firstly, hustle is exactly what we need. haha all we do is ball watch. and sure his skills are “limited” but relatively still good. he can cross well, pass well, etc. You’re making him out to be a glorified “Rudy” haha. please

      He will be a great starter/sub for the next few years POSSIBLY making the next WC as a vet/sub. unless we eventually go total youth and speed and put yedlin and gyau at RM and LM or something, we’re gonna most likely have bedoya on either side of most lineups and that’s not a bad thing. He’s better than Zusi because he’s faster and moves more naturally (on and off the ball). Yedlin only has speed on him. Green….. is Green… so who else really is your outside mid suggestion? our youth guys or mostly CMs (Morales, Hyndman,etc) or STs (Wood, Wooten, Rubin, etc) or wingers (green, gyau). as for FJ, he can play anywhere so he might be the opposite outside mid or swapped with yedlin to rb, etc so he doesn’t negate bedoya playing per say.

      Reply
    • Is the award for the “Male International Player” or just “Male Player” of the year? If it is the latter I think LD should have been nominated. I would vote for Tim Howard if I had a vote however.

      Reply
    • Oh how the blind forget… LD was playing woefully for LA before the World Cup. He only turned up the heat after he was given the cold shoulder.

      I have no problem with LD getting the drop and I blame him even more for only playing hard after it happened. IF he was playing like he has since June, he would have been on the list no questions asked.

      He wasn’t. And that plus his attitude toward the US since Klinsi came on board and you have him dropped.

      Reply
      • The award is for “Player of the Year” not “Player of the Period Immediately Preceding the World Cup,” and Landon has had a really good year with double digit assists and goals, broke two major career MLS records and might hoist the MLS cup again. He definitely should have been on the list despite the fact that he may have had a slump somewhere in there.

      • AlexH, except the award actually is not for “Player of the Year,” it’s for “U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year.” Nevermind the difference between “player” and “male athlete,” the important part is: U.S. Soccer. Apparently, this isn’t an award for club performance—anymore than it is for “expert grocery shopping” or “top-notch lawn care”—so you can disregard any and all that Landon accomplished in MLS.

  2. I am going Jones…or Howard.

    Not sure if my lack of excitement from actually not having a clear cut winner is good or bad.

    Good I guess. Many guys could win it from a good national team….

    Reply
  3. 1. JJ – Great WC, Great run with NE
    2. Fab – was tearing it up before the WC injury
    3. Timmy – great WC, so-so club level
    4. Deuce – meh WC, above average MLS level
    5. Bedoya – meh WC, has had good moments with Nantes
    6. Beckerman – Consistency doesn’t win awards and neither do CDMs

    Reply
  4. Why isn’t Lee Nguyen on the list? He was by far the best American player in MLS this year (and he would have done a better job at the World Cup than some of the other midfielders who played for the US).

    Reply
      • You’re forgetting the 5 months BEFORE the WC when he had to switch teams to get playing time, etc. Howard was on a top 5 BPL team……… Jones has a great story, but Howard clearly has had the better year.

    • Gotta agree here, no one got more exposure due to the WC than he, and he set a WC record (or tied? I can’t remember…) for most saves in a game…captured the imagination of the country and the memes came rolling in.

      Reply
    • Howard has THAT legendary game, but I felt Jones was the most important player for us overall. Howard had a few question marks over him leading up to the WC.

      Reply
      • Jones was great. But Howard had more big saves than Jones had big games. Not even close in my book. “There’s only one, T–Ho!”

      • Josh D, prior to the WC, I believe Jones had the “question marks about high card potential, tendency to try to do too much” etc. and Howard was the “gimme” in terms of being a strong player for us.

        not only that, it’s not an award for just the WC…. its for the whole year. Jones was losing playing time at his club and had to switch teams top of the year to even get playing time. Howard was an every game starter for an Everton team that was fighting for top 4 only to finish 5th for a Europa League berth. They both had great WCs, but Howard had a stronger year for his club thus he should get the award

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