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SBI Question of the Day: Who is the most overrated player in MLS?

Giovani Dos Santos LA Galaxy MLS (USA TODAY Sports)

While players like Cyle Larinย and Ignacio Piatti are currently lighting up MLS in the early stages of the new season, some of the league’s biggest names have yet to make an impact for their respective clubs.

ESPN FC recently conducted a survey of MLS players in an attempt to establish the most overrated players in the league. In total, 123 unnamed players from the league participated in the poll.

U.S. Men’s National Team and New York City FC midfielder Mix Diskerud was considered to be the most overrated in MLS, just beating out Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore.

Overall, NYCFCย was well-represented on the list (or poorly depending on how you look at it) with three of the top four players chosen to be from the second-year club. Designated Players Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard joined Diskerud among the top selections.

In fairness to Diskerud, the 25-year-old has looked significantly better starting the 2016 season than he did a year ago. In three matches, the American midfielder has a goal and two assists.

DPs are likely more prone to the discussion because of the compensation that they receive in comparison to that of non-DPs.

That being said, LA Galaxy teammates Giovani Dos Santos and Steven Gerrard fall into the same category as Pirlo and Lampard as underachieving DPs.

With all things considered, SBI wants your opinion: Who is the most overrated player in MLS? What about most underrated?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Overrated: Gerrard and Lampard. Their legacy in MLS will be that teams are going to be much less inclined to sign blokes like those in the future.

    Most underrated: Sascha Kljestan

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  2. MLS is overrated as a whole. Watching the Bundesleague versus MLS the biggest difference I see is the almost always go forward with the ball. There is none of this passing the ball backwards or holding the ball up. They get the ball they attack.

    Also they shoot. Any distance. Where as in MLS they want to be able to push the ball into the net.

    Until MLS changes those fundamentals of the style that is played versus what is a laid back style, it will always be second tier.

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    • Dude your comparing a 21 year old league to a 53 year old league. Its like saying the recent college graduate isn’t as productive as an employee with 30 years of experience on the job. Germany has a much stronger soccer tradition than the US, and its infrastructure is much better than ours, so of course they’re going to have a higher standard of play. Picture it like this, We’re the China of economic growth while they’re the US, we might be growing exponentially faster than them, but we still lag far behind their performance levels. You can thank Gulati for that reference.

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  3. Mix was, unfortunately, a reasonable winner of this questionable contest. He performed badly last year and much below expectation. Pirlo and Gerrard were about equal with respect to performance/$ paid, i.e., really, really poor and not worth their price. Lampard is right there, too, but for the fact that he missed so many games, he almost can’t be rated. Guys like Dempsey and Bradley do their jobs pretty effectively and complaints about them are sour grapes.

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  4. NYCFC players would fall into this category because they were on national tv a lot last year with very little success. They were also the third highest paid club, so they under performed based on their salary. Most of the rest of the guys seem to be USMNT players so likely some jealousy involved there from US players, or dislike from CONCACAF players who are rivals.

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  5. In terms of of performance per dollar paid it can be Gerrard or any of the other highly paid geriatric cases mentioned above. That said the the MLS commissioner has been quite open about the fact that DPs are meant to put butts in seats and get eyeballs on TVs. My guess is that that they have been more successful in that regard. Clearly the MLS teams could produce a better product if they were free to spread the DP money around how they see fit but the MLS fans apparently don’t want that.

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  6. The bad news: Giovani Dos Santos has SO sucked a** so far with the Galaxy that he’s an easy vote for most overrated player in the MLS.

    The worse news: Galaxy don’t give a DAMN. What matters is that since Dos Santos arrival, they’ve sold out every home game, and they’ve sold a gazillion shirts.

    You know who else doesn’t care?: Mexico fans that have filled up the empty seats at the Stub Hub Center. The Galaxy could win or lose by 100 goals, and none of it matters. All that matters is Gio and his (lack of) performance.

    So while the addition of Dos Santos may not have made the Galaxy better – and one could argue has actually made them worse – don’t expect anything to change anytime soon. Like all large clubs, the Galaxy have some first world problems: how do we pay all this costly talent that no one else in the MLS can afford? The answer is obvious: bring in guys that sell tickets, and sell shirts, and then keep your fingers crossed that maybe they also have some effect on the field.

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  7. Most underrated players in MLS
    Darlington Nagbe
    Dax McCarthy
    Sasha Klesjan
    Lee Nyugen
    Chris Tierney

    Most Overrated Players
    Clint Dempsy
    Jozy Altidore
    Mix Diskerud
    Michael Bradley
    Benny Feilhaber

    Lol…just wow

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    • I take couple things from this list.

      1. The underrated list reads like the comments section of who got snubbed for Nat call ups, except for Benny, who apparently really is not liked because no one voted for him for underrated.

      2. The guys on the overrated list with exception of Mix have a reputation as being pretty arrogant, i.e. we voted for guys who aren’t nice for overrated and guys that are liked for underrated.

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      • Jozy does not have a reputation of being an arrogant jerk. He actually thought to be a nice guy. Probably too nice to play center forward. It has to be a mixture of money and press.

    • It is definitely a sour grapes issues based upon salary. However, you get that when you get a salary structure with a very low cap and 3 over the top DP slots. Raise the CAP to $10, and have a exemptions for homegrown and salary pay downs from player sales (to create an incentive for player development). There should be 1 player at $6 million (Giovinco) because he IS THAT much better. Most DPs should be in the $600-800 range) any way.

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  8. Hate to say it but Lampard has not played due to injury and he was injured last year. What a waste of money and a roster spot. For a player that is actually playing Gerrard has been a mediocre MLS player so far.

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  9. Has Frank Lampard played a single match for NYCFC? Let’s go with that guy. At least Gerrard and the rest of the geriatrics attempt to play.

    Disclaimer: Drogba showed (past tense) up to play, but has now decided to only play and practice when it’s convenient. He’s right behind Lampard now.

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      • It really depends on how you compare them. Jozy makes $4.75M guaranteed compared to Giovinco who makes $7.115M. So Jozy makes about 66% as much as Giovinco. Giovinco scored 22 goals so you could reasonably expect Altidore to score 14-15 goals. He scored 13 total in 2015, so not bad. You could even compare total minutes where Giovinco played 2,775 minutes and 66% of that is 1,831. Jozy played 1,775 minutes so not too far off. So, by these numbers you could say that he comparatively played up to his pay grade.

        However, when compared to others in his pay grade he falls short of most his peers. Keane, Villa, Dempsey and Martins are closest to him in terms of pay and position. Of that list only Villa earns more than Jozy and his goals/minutes stats are 18/2,514. In order of pay then go Jozy (13/1,796), Dempsey (10/1,742), Keane (20/2,059), Martins (makes $1,75M less than Jozy, 15/1,805). So, comparatively not the best but significantly better than Dempsey (maybe most overrated then?)

        However, compared to others who made much less then he under performed. Kamara (22/2,761), BWP (17/2,865), Cyle Larin (17/1,906), Adi (16/2,161), Wondo (16/2,688), Jozy (15/1,805). The other guys on this list are not even in the same time zone in terms of salary.

        If he can’t compete with people earning significantly less than him in terms of goals production or minutes on the field then I think it is fair to call him overrated in 2015. Of course, that could change in 2016 and I hope that it does change. Personally, I think he should be scoring 20+ season in MLS.

      • My only problem with your assessment is that you’re basically saying ‘player A is overrated because these other players are extremely underrated…..’
        So apples aren’t as delicious because oranges are surprisingly delicious?….. (Insert Nick Young Face)

        I think you were on the right track with the former logic of comparative salaries. And, if you project altidore numbers I think he ends up with 18 projected goals. As such he is right on par with villa, his salary-mate.

        So that’s really my only point, Jozy is only over rated when one overinflates their expectation and neglects to admit the solidly good season he had last year.

        Put it in perspective,

        Mls Team Y signs a big signing from Europe, this signing is 25 and let’s just say he’s expected to do well in mls. He is also in the top ten of salaries.

        He plays his first season, perhaps misses a few games for intl duty and injury; but at the end he has started 21/34 games, played in 26 total and scored 13 times. Is that a good season? 13gls/21strts(5sub apps)? Is that above average?

        It just seems so comical to me when people can’t see that they might be injecting misguided perceptions into actual facts. If brek Shea stayed at striker last season and scored 13 in 26 gms would people think that was a good or bad season( not talking about salary, just determining if a 13 goal season in 80% of the games is underperforming for a base line striker regardless of salary.

        To put another way, ask every other mls coach “if your most paid striker scored 13 goals in 26 matches this season, would that satisfy or even exceed your positional performance need for that player?”

        But once jozys name is mentioned people just wanna latch onto past dispersions and snowball into irrational hyperbole lol

        I don’t mean anything towards your really as you seem to be rational and supportive of a USMNT player. But perhaps my lengthy comment is merely in response to a section of “supporters” of our great nations’ soccer program. ๐Ÿ™‚

      • I think you are also guilty of just grabbing the stats that fit your narrative.

        I am a huge Jozy fan and I want him to do well, so I’m not here trolling. However, based purely on last year’s performances, I think he was over payed and in this discussion I think that equates to overrated. For the kind of money he is being paid, he should start every game and score a goal every .5 games. His goal production was fine when he was actually on the field, but just over 1,700 minutes for a guy you are paying that amount of money to is extremely disappointing. For that kind of money you expect him to be on the field every game and performing like a star every game.

      • not trying to fit any narrative, just trying to look at facts. i do understand and agree to some extent with your view on him not being on the field enough. but my go to comparison for this context is David Villa. Villa had 18 goals. Jozy had 13 but once you project out his scoring rate he ends up with 18 i believe( if you project his goals-per-90 he ends up with like 23 goals–more than Seba). Those are just projections of course but base on his actual rate of return; thus had he not been injured for a couple weeks (injuries happen) or not been called up for int’l duty (*Villa did not miss any games for int’l duty*) he might well have scored 18 and “played in every game’. so the only thing degrading him were his call ups and a minor injury that lasted a few weeks?

        That’s all I’m sayin, take away those two things and he had a great year, just as great as Villa yet i feel know one sees it that way or even acknowledges that he put up solid-to-great stats. he didn’t underperform. he missed 8 games due to both acceptable and less-than-ideal reasons.

        Another perspective. lets say i paid big money for a player and he only started in 2/3rds of the games but DIDNT score one every other game. say he only scored like 5 goals. THATS underperforming. but if my player only starts 2/3rds, but plays in 76% of games and WHEN HE DOES PLAY he scores every other game (avg) then how am i to really say he underperformed. he didn’t underperform, he just didn’t hit it out of the parking lot. he ONLY(…) got a double off a rocket to the corner, are we really mad at doubles these days? lol

        if (Zlatan, Diego, Giroud, etc) misses 24% of the club’s games but was terrible in the games he plays, then it’s bad; if he plays well in the 76% then where’s the problem? you really want him there that extra 24%? even if they still finish in the top 10 goals scored in the league? lol Ronaldo, Messi, Robben, Neymar etc, have missed matches during a trophy season before. I’d say the avg star misses, on avg, 20% of the matches in any given season (roughly 8 games over a 7 or 8 month period)……..

        Being “overrated” is a performance issue. missing 8 games for int’l duty and minor injury are not performance issues. when he was on the field he did what he was supposed to. again, Gls/90 project out to like 22 or 23 goals…….. aka golden boot. so perhaps if he doesn’t get injured and rejects all his call ups he can score 23 and gain all of your praise instead of being labeled overrated for a season which any other player of his salary would not mind having.

        so in sum…. lol….”we’re talking about 8 games….. not a .5 scoring rate, but….. 8 games…… not a scoring rate, but 8 GAMES…. 8 GAMES……. I’m out here scoring 13 goals in 26 games, only 21 starts…. but we here talking about…… 8…… Games……….”

        Cheers

    • Quit believing the hype Jozy scores goals, 10th in goals scored, 8th in goals per 90 minutes, 8th in money. 4th all time goal scorer for Nats, one behind LD and CD for most WC qualifying goals, he should be one of the top paid players in our domestic league end of story.

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  10. Maybe it should be worst bang for your buck as the question. I think that concerns the players that were asked. When you have a 6-8 year vet making $150k and see himself doing the same job as some schmuck making 20x him

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  11. You can’t call Pirlo overrated because he’s doing exactly what he was hired to do: walk around the field and sell tons of shirts and tickets. Only a moron would’ve expected any football from that petrified traffic cone.

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  12. One of the most underrated is definitely Vincent Nogueira. Fantastic box-to-box mid. Doesn’t get a lot of recognition outside of Union fans.

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  13. I really haven’t heard Steven Gerrard mentioned at all, but for the amount of money he’s making (surely more than Diskerud) and his level of performance (surely not much better than Diskerud), why isn’t it him?

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    • As an ardent LA Galaxy supporter it pains me to agree that Gerard may be the most overrated player in the MLS.

      Most underrated I would suggest AJ DeLaGarza. Plays any of the 4 back positions effectively.

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  14. Based on the money to actual goal production, Jozy is rightfully near the top. Hopefully he has a better tally this year, but based on last year’s numbers he was way overpaid compared to his production for TFC.

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  15. Overrated is not the same thing as underachieving. But it’s amazing to me that people would call Andrea Pirlo overrated. I’ve watched several games of NYCFC’s and he and Mix have played very well. Pirlo’s passing is incredible (his defense non existant but was it ever??) and Mix’s energy and directness have been key to their good start.

    I guess a poll is a poll, but stats don’t tell the whole story in this sport.

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    • But itโ€™s amazing to me that people would call Andrea Pirlo overrated.

      Love Pirlo, but that criminal activity they call a pitch is doing him no favors from a perception standpoint.

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