By DAN KARELL
After last season’s earlier-than-anticipated exit in the MLS Cup playoffs, LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane came into the 2014 season healthy and more motivated than ever.
From day one this season, Keane dominated the league, scoring four goals in his first five games and finishing with 19 goals and 14 assists, the highest combined points total in the league. Keane’s performances earned him the MLS MVP award for the first time since joining the league in 2011.
The Republic of Ireland international picked up 88.69 percent of the combined vote from clubs, players, and the media. Keane beat out Obafemi Martins, Lee Nguyen, and Bradley Wright-Phillips, in that order, for the award.
Keane is the first Galaxy player to win the award since Donovan won it in 2009, and is the third Galaxy player to win the award. Carlos Ruiz won the award in 2002.
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What do you think of this decision? Who would you have chosen as your MVP?
Share your thoughts below.
Well deserved Robbie. Now, show it on Sunday against Nguyen and Jones.
I think Jermaine Jones’ arrival hurt Nguyen’s chances. Jones was a real spark plug for the team, and overshadowed a little of what Nguyen was doing all year.
Things changed when JJ arrived. Lee didnt have to be “the man” game in and game out plus it made it harder for teams to focus on Lee. Yes JJ got a lot of press but I’m not sure about the overshadowing thing. Us Revs fans know the real story and I think most fans feel Lee was still our MVP.
The thing is that Lee is not selfish and doesn’t go out of his way to try and score. If he was looking for shots all the time, I think he could have scored a lot more goals and pushed his stats much higher.. He has a deadly shots per goal average.
I like Keane but still think his selection was very political
I think Nguyen is terrific so this is just for arguments sake:
If he wasn’t always looking for shots and wasn’t selfish, why doesn’t he have a lot more assists? You generally look for assists more so than goals from his position.
Deserved. Not a better quality striker in the league. Would have been poetic justice to see Landon get it..thou Keane is really the superior talent having spent all those years training in Europe and not taking the easier way….
Yawn…
Keane is a great player and had a great year. But is should have been Martins. Keane edged martins in goals and assists, but Martins absolutely blows up defenses in a way that even Keane doesn’t. Everything about the Sounders attack flows from what he does.
As for Nguyen, one goal less than Keane and one more than Martins does not offset that they had 9 and 8 more assists than he did. He was a revelation this year, but I don’t see that he has a better case than Donovan or BWP let alone Keane and Martins.
The bottom line is that… this was a good year for attackers. Even a guy like Dom Dwyer doesn’t enter the conversation
As an LAG fan I’m happy for Keane but I would have voted for Obafemi Martins because he was the one guy that made me really worry.
Martins made me worry too, but ultimately he wasn’t fairly feckless against the Gs.
But so was Keane against Seattle, so…
Heh good point. I’m honestly looking forward to next year– even though the Sounders will probably be better than us, at least we won’t have to watch these cagey “everybody cancels everybody else out” games again.
Matt Doyle likes to use the term “center of gravity” to describe the effect of great players. Both Robbie Keane and Obafemi Martins have huge center of gravity. The opposing defenses are attracted to them like ants to candy.
A Galaxy fan might vote for Martins because he’s the only guy that seems impossible to contain. But Seattle fans might vote for Keane because… well, I suppose the logic doesn’t apply to Seattle fans.
Carry on.
So I guess at his salary he should be the MVP or MLS looks foolish. If he were to disappear, would LA really suffer? I think not. So how does that make Keane the MVP?
This award should have gone to Lee N. I’m sure there are some serious questions from the team that cut him on that decision. LMAO
While my vote would have gone to Nguyen, it is foolish to say LA wouldn’t suffer without Keane. He is a massive part of that team and without him on the pitch they are not anywhere near as good as they are with him on it.
Nguyen was very, very good. I’m a Galaxy fan, so I’m not neutral on the subject, but if Nguyen had won out over Keane, I would not be mad. They both had hella good seasons.
All that said, all one needs to do is dig into LA’s stats to see how huge an impact Keane had on the team. Would LA suffer without Keane? As a matter of fact, LA DID suffer without Keane. LA’s record was fairly mediocre while Robbie was with the ROI.
You should be more upset that you’ve been conditioned to use the word “hella” in public.
COME ON YOU REVS!
Nah, this is the internet. Not a hella big deal.
COME ON YOU Gs!
Keane’s had a hand in either scoring or assisting 11 matches winners for LA.
The award isn’t most valuable TO THEIR TEAM, it’s simply most valuable. The most valuable player is probably the BEST player. Lee Nguyen was probably one of the most valuable in their team context, but that’s all relative. It doesn’t make him the most valuable in the league, just the most valuable to his team. To another team, he’s not as valuable.
Keane was still a much more valuable player overall and had more goals and way more assists than Lee Nguyen. Because he plays for a great team doesn’t make him any less valuable. You think teams would want Lee Nguyen on their team more than Keane? If anyone can push Keane for league-wide value this year it’s Martins, but definitely not Nguyen.
agreed
This yearly argument could be easily resolved if MLS would change the award to MLS Player of the Year rather than Most Valuable Player.
However, I suspect MLS and US soccer websites in general like these tempests in a teapot for genreating this kind of debate on their sites.
Well said.
In my opinion, Lee Nguyen didn’t deserve to be the league MVP. Revs’ MVP, sure. Eastern Conference MVP, eh…I could see him taking that, although I think there are others that could compete with him even at that level or are equally deserving. But not league MVP.
A lot of people seem to have selective amnesia about the Revs’ eight game mid-season losing streak just prior to their excellent run of form. Which just happened to roughly…I say once again, for emphasis, roughly, for those of you who will try to take this out of context without reading the entire statement…coincide with the arrival of Jones. Where was Nguyen then?
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Boston.com correspondent Frank Dell’Apa said it best:
“Before Jones arrived, the Revolution’s playoff chances were in doubt. Since Jones’ Aug. 24 arrival, they have a 9-1-1 record.”
“Revolution fortunes were about to change, if they hadn’t already. The team had snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 1-1 tie against the Portland Timbers on Aug. 16. Jones had not been paying close attention to his prospective employers, but he did tune in from Los Angeles for the Revolution’s 1-0 win over Chivas USA at Gillette Stadium Aug. 23. That result, some positive conversations with Revolution forward Charlie Davies, plus the Revolution’s willingness to meet his asking price, convinced Jones about a future in Foxborough.”
http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/2014/11/09/jermaine-jones-arrival-changed-everything-for-revolution/4CIv4n5JNrs2GhmVpC8vnM/story.html
Well done Robbie. Now just bring home the Cup on Sunday and you can ride off into the sunset with Landon.
… but don’t really ride off into the sunset. We need you next season too.
As long as the “Everybody gets a berth” Euro 2016 exists, and as long as the Galaxy can offer him a sure starting spot, I think we’ll get our wish.
Hell, he’s got a couple like-new Achilles’. He’s like a rebuilt engine; still plenty of miles left.