Funny how he has won it twice both times with the fewest points for a winner. Although I thought he had more goals in 97. 2003 Preki Kansas City Wizards 41 (12/17) 2002 Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 52 (23/6) 2001 Alex Pineda Chacon Miami Fusion 47 (19/4) 2000 Mamadou Diallo Tampa Bay Mutiny 56 (26/4) 1999 Jason Kreis Dallas Burn 51 (18/15) 1998 Stern John Columbus Crew 57 (26/5) 1997 Preki Kansas City Wizards 41 (12/17) 1996 Roy Lassiter Tampa Bay Mutiny 58 (27/4)
Nice try, Small Breeze Your point being that somehow Preki is less valuable than others?!? Noted, thus making him the even clearer first choice for MLS MVP. In addition to being on the scoresheet fully 9 more times than anyone else in the league, Bob Gansler could count on his presence in the lineup 30 times out of 30. Pretty much the very definition of Most Valuable Player.
Don't get me wrong - I think Preki is an exceptionally talented player, and it's even more amazing that he's doing what he's doing at his age. But what does it say about the league that a 40 year old is our scoring champion? Again, I'm not taking anything away from Preki, but I just think it goes to show how much the younger MLS players need to really step up. Soccer is a young man's game (ask Argentina after the last WC), and I think it's quite strange that a 40 year old is the most dominant player, at least in terms of getting on the scoresheet. Will he be back next year? I haven't heard anything about throwing a retirement party, yet...
That the younger players had to miss games because of National Team duty? That the younger players are expected to play defense? That the younger players need to learn how to be selected as their team's designated penalty takers, thereby gifting themselves with 10 more points at the end of the year?
This thread is about the scoring title (not the points per game title), which Preki won fair and square. It's not Preki's fault, nor should he be critisized for it, that he played in every single game of the season. In fact a player his age should be doubly praised for playing every single game when younger, seemingly healthier players can't make it without missing games for injury. As for MVP, he's deserving for two main reasons. He played in every single game for his team while leading them and the league in points.
every team's top scorer takes penalties. is that supposed to be a negative for him? preki had a very consistent year and was easily the best player on the field for the wiz. maybe some other players are better, but this year, when each team called on them, Preki was the one who stepped up most. He should be MVP.
Preki is my hero! Anybody who can do what Preki does at age 40 is my hero! Congrats to Preki on another great year.
Secondary Assists Please don't take this as a means to take away from Preki-because he's a hell of a player-but only as an analysis of the point totals. How many secondary assists did he receive in this year's totals? IMHO we should have two awards-one a golden boo award for most goals scored and another not as prestigous award for most assists-primary assists only. Do away with secondary assists all together. I know that would be too practical though for MLS.
Re: Secondary Assists Preki was given 5 secondary assists. Remove those, and he's still one point ahead of Ruiz and still wins the scoring title. A point I've made elsewhere on secondary assists. MLS cracked down on assists this season. They still feel, and I think rightfully so, that some secondary assists are worth of a point. But in previous years if you just happened to touch the ball (often no matter how you touched it) before a goal you got an assist. This year they really cracked down on awarding assists, at some points even taking assists away after review. I think this only goes further to show how impressive Preki's 17 assists this season were.
I agree secondary assists are bogus, but so many of preki's were legit, so I have no problem with his scoring title. I've never understood why euro leagues don't have assists. Do they hate stats that much?
quite the opposite, actually. You should see the amount of stats available abroad that arn't counted here.
like what, bishop? none that they really talk about. it's goals and that's it. sure you can find fouls committed, possession, rating, etc., but no one talks about them, nor is there a table for them.
Dump the secondary assists, they are so gay. First of all there is one goal therefore one assist. Second, you should try to avoid any stats that are up for interpretation. As for MVP he is a very solid choice for it. I would give it to Spencer. Maybe because he owns us so whenever I watch him play he scores. In my mind Colorado was pathetic when he wasn’t in the lineup. Their got in a huge hole early in the season when he wasn’t playing
Preki for MVP It seems to me that Preki is clearly the choice. The MVP is not the scoring leader or assist leader (insert Bank of Blue Valley joke here), but rather is the guy who means the most to his team. I have no doubt that Donovan, Ruiz, Spencer, Twellman, and so on are very important to their teams, but especially with all of the injuries we've sustained this year with our forwards, the Wizards have really relied on Preki, and he has delivered big time throughout the season. Bottom line: Preki is the MVP because he means more to the Wizards than any other single player in the league means to his respective team.
Re: Preki for MVP See, I think at the end of the day Preki's stats are the reason why he gets the MVP. Thats because Ruiz, Twellman, Donovan and Razov all mean nearly the same (its a pretty hard thing to quantify) to their respective teams. So when all these players had pretty good years, meant quite a bit to their teams sucesses, you've gotta go with the guy who put up the better stats. JP: Are you not realizing that the secondary assist is now, starting this season, much more difficult to come by. MLS made it a point to only award them on very clear and meaningful passes that lead to goals. For example, on a counter attack, if Preki is leading a 3 on 2 downfield and he passes to Klein on the right who immediately passes across to Igor who scores an assist would be rightly given to Preki and Klein. But, again for example, if Preki plays a long ball into the corner to Klein who settles and beats a defender then passes across to Igor who scores its likely that Klein will be the only one to get an assist. Basically you don't get assists in MLS anymore for just being the last two people to touch the ball before the goal scorer (like it was from '96 through '02). Now it has to be clear that the passes lead directly to the goal. I see absolutely no problem with the way it is now.
Re: Re: Preki for MVP I see what your saying and it has indeed gotten better. However you didn’t address either of my points. One assist should = one goal. If a player shoots a slow roller that is clearly going into the goal until a teammate goes and taps it in at the last second shouldn’t result in two goals being awarded, even though the first shot was going to be a goal. Two it’s not always easy to decide if the person awarded the assist had enough of a hand in the goal. It doesn’t piss me off that they award two assists, I just think its kind of dumb.
Assists Another view might be that most times more than one pass is required to score. Many times both passes to set up the scorer are of a quality well past sufficient enough to award an assist. It makes no sense from any standpoint not to award secondary assists. Anyway, even if someone just booted a ball forward that was run onto by the speed guy, usually that is still by design. Another point to consider regarding the stupidity of assists would be that assists are never given to the guy that rockets a shot off a keeper that force a central rebound (or any rebound) that is cleaned up by someone. They are also never given to someone making a dangerous run that forces a decision by a defender that makes the space to score. Preki led MLS with 17. Only one other year has that number been lower, 2001. Many of the usual suspects missed multiple games with injuries in '01. The only point is that the assist isn't given out like candy. [Math]I don't know if any system will be 50 assists more than another, but... If there are 50 more assists over a 150 games regular season, that's 2 every 3 games OR less than 1 more assist every 9 goals. Is the smaller mistake rewarding plays of a certain standard or having fewer player rewarded by the already few numbers in soccer? My point: Sportscenter is much more likely to have a stat make the show if it's an extreme. A 4 assist night will stand more of a chance than a 2 assist night. [/Math] It seems that the current system is at best fair and at worst restrictive and contrary to marketing efforts.
Re: Assists Those are good points but I think they are all the more reason why you don’t give secondary assists. I would say one should not receive an assist for hitting it off the bar where the result is a teammates goal because he was not intending to pass the ball in that situation. However there are times where a player is trying to pass the ball to another player and it takes a deflection or goes past his intended target and a goal is the result. In those situations the person making the pass still gets an assist.
I guess it's something to be proud of, overtaking and winning the title from a guy that's had his foot in a cast for over a month. Just remember, the ONLY reason you won was because the true winner is hurt.
And you just remember, a players ability to stay healthy is just as important as how often they score. They can't really contribute with their foot in a cast now can they? So I'd say the true winner was the guy on the field 30 games that also outscored TT.
You're an idiot. The true winner was Preki. The proof? 41 Points vs. 34 points. Could Twellman have held on? Maybe, maybe not. It's conjecture, seeing as how he didn't. Isn't it more deserving for Preki that he managed to stay healthy at 40 so that he could play in every game this season? You can't judge something like scoring champion on what-its and could be's.
If you can't appreciate a 40 year old man competing in a Major sport let alone winning a scoring title then you ar just plain retarded. Especially when everyone knows the man is only going to go left every game every year. By the way, his last goal of the season shooting with his right was astonishing. I was starting to wonder all these years if his right leg was a prostetic device since he rarely uses it. Ha Ha. It was a sweet goal.
Then you must not have really been watching. Preki's right foot is probably on par with most of the league. His fake to the right works because folks know that he is dangerous with the right. His right just isn't as "magical" as his left, though. Players like Marco Etcheverry and Bobby Convey are completely left footed, I've seen both of them literally unable to kick the ball with their right feet with the goal wide open. Preki does not have that problem. When Tab Ramos scored the memorable goal in Portland in 1997 on the layoff from Balboa to beat Costa Rica - Preki served the ball into Marcello with his right foot. That's just one of many fond memories. If Preki had no right foot his career would be exactly where Etcheverry's career is right now.