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Walsh's Word: Golden Booted In MLS
In case you haven't noticed, only three of the top ten goalscorers in Major League Soccer have seen their teams miss the target by failing to get into the playoffs. On the other hand, MLS's top assist men have set up their teams with nice postseason chances.
Oct 28, 2008 12:28:37 PM
By Pat Walsh
Unless you're a D.C. United fan and had Will Smith use the flashy-forget-thing from Men In Black to erase the past two months, you know the MLS playoffs are upon us. Surprisingly, those players who now have early tee times are the ones who have scored more than anyone else. They've been cut from the MLS Cup playoffs.
Last Sunday's matinee between Dallas and Los Angeles featured the top three goalscorers in the league. Landon Donovan knocked in his 20th goal of the season on a second-half penalty kick, sealing the Budweiser Golden Boot as the league's top scorer. Kenny Cooper, who played in five more games in the season than Donovan, finished two behind him. Donovan's teammate, Edson Buddle, scored the game's opening goal, giving him fifteen on the year.
While that was a nice plot for the game, in the big picture none of it mattered. Neither Dallas nor Los Angeles made the playoffs. In fact, only three of the top ten scorers this year are on teams that made the playoffs.
On the flip side of that coin, three of the top four assist men will be playing this weekend. Furthermore, half of the top ten are on playoff teams.
So what does that mean? If it were Christmas time, certainly the answer is that it's better to give than receive. But in the league of parity, as MLS was this season, having a balanced scoring attack is better than one go-to player to score your goals.
Los Angeles had more than one top goal scorer, but didn't have a defense that was capable of stopping a rec team. Their games saw an amazing 3.9 goals combined between the two teams. D.C. was the only other team with two players -- Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno -- in the top ten goal scorers. They were also the only other team to finish the season with two Designated Players on their roster. Like the Galaxy, their season is over.
This is in sharp contrast to the past six seasons. Since 2002, at least eight of the top ten goal scorers played in the playoffs. Granted, in half of those seasons eighty percent of the teams also made the playoffs.
However, this year it was more important to have a playmaker when it came to making the playoffs. Three of the top four assist men in the league will still be picking out their teammates with pinpoint passes this weekend.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who has stolen the middle initial from Harry S Truman, according to some announcers, led Columbus to the Supporters' Shield with 19 assists. He'll likely pick up the league MVP award for his efforts. Not too shabby for a guy who's lone striker for the majority of the season is an oversized Gremlin.
His compatriot, Javier Morales, followed with fifteen helpers, leading Real Salt Lake to their first playoff appearance. Cuauhtémoc Blanco came in fourth as he went to eleven, one behind Colorado's Terry Cooke.
Donovan wasn't far behind the playoff bound trio and nearly pulled off the first 20/10 season in MLS history. It's a shame his effort went to waste on a non-playoff team in what could be his last season Stateside for a few years.
But this season, where every team was alive in round 30, balance was king. The Fire led the way with five players notching five or more goals. Chivas topped the league with fifteen different goal scorers. That's what will happen when your top two strikers from last season are in the trainers room more often than on the pitch and reality TV shows unearth a guy that scores three times.
Heading into the playoffs, only Juan Pablo Angel of New York and Houston's Brian Ching have scored over ten goals. Coincidentally, they face each other. Angel notched one more than the Big Kahuna in the regular season, but against a solid defense the scales will tip dramatically in Ching's favor for the two-legged series.
More notably, Schelotto and the Crew face a frisky Kansas City side who are on a roll coming into the postseason. However, the Argentine should be able to pull apart the KC back line as Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers attack on the flank, while Alejandro Moreno picks up the loose scraps in front of the net.
Blanco and the Fire should get past New England as the playoff foes are heading in different directions.
The least likely of the trio of helpers to advance to the Conference finals is Morales. Real are green when it comes to the postseason and hard man Jesse Marsch will not make Morales' job easier. If RSL advances, it will be thanks to their Argentine, who set up five goals in Real's five-game unbeaten streak to end the season.
With those stats in mind, MLS coaches and front office personnel making off-season decisions may want to think twice before adding a big-name striker instead of a playmaker. Or, in the Galaxy's case, anyone who can play some semblance of defense.
Pat Walsh covers Major League Soccer for Goal.com.
Unless you're a D.C. United fan and had Will Smith use the flashy-forget-thing from Men In Black to erase the past two months, you know the MLS playoffs are upon us. Surprisingly, those players who now have early tee times are the ones who have scored more than anyone else. They've been cut from the MLS Cup playoffs.
Last Sunday's matinee between Dallas and Los Angeles featured the top three goalscorers in the league. Landon Donovan knocked in his 20th goal of the season on a second-half penalty kick, sealing the Budweiser Golden Boot as the league's top scorer. Kenny Cooper, who played in five more games in the season than Donovan, finished two behind him. Donovan's teammate, Edson Buddle, scored the game's opening goal, giving him fifteen on the year.
While that was a nice plot for the game, in the big picture none of it mattered. Neither Dallas nor Los Angeles made the playoffs. In fact, only three of the top ten scorers this year are on teams that made the playoffs.
On the flip side of that coin, three of the top four assist men will be playing this weekend. Furthermore, half of the top ten are on playoff teams.
So what does that mean? If it were Christmas time, certainly the answer is that it's better to give than receive. But in the league of parity, as MLS was this season, having a balanced scoring attack is better than one go-to player to score your goals.
Los Angeles had more than one top goal scorer, but didn't have a defense that was capable of stopping a rec team. Their games saw an amazing 3.9 goals combined between the two teams. D.C. was the only other team with two players -- Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno -- in the top ten goal scorers. They were also the only other team to finish the season with two Designated Players on their roster. Like the Galaxy, their season is over.
This is in sharp contrast to the past six seasons. Since 2002, at least eight of the top ten goal scorers played in the playoffs. Granted, in half of those seasons eighty percent of the teams also made the playoffs.
However, this year it was more important to have a playmaker when it came to making the playoffs. Three of the top four assist men in the league will still be picking out their teammates with pinpoint passes this weekend.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who has stolen the middle initial from Harry S Truman, according to some announcers, led Columbus to the Supporters' Shield with 19 assists. He'll likely pick up the league MVP award for his efforts. Not too shabby for a guy who's lone striker for the majority of the season is an oversized Gremlin.
His compatriot, Javier Morales, followed with fifteen helpers, leading Real Salt Lake to their first playoff appearance. Cuauhtémoc Blanco came in fourth as he went to eleven, one behind Colorado's Terry Cooke.
Donovan wasn't far behind the playoff bound trio and nearly pulled off the first 20/10 season in MLS history. It's a shame his effort went to waste on a non-playoff team in what could be his last season Stateside for a few years.
But this season, where every team was alive in round 30, balance was king. The Fire led the way with five players notching five or more goals. Chivas topped the league with fifteen different goal scorers. That's what will happen when your top two strikers from last season are in the trainers room more often than on the pitch and reality TV shows unearth a guy that scores three times.
Heading into the playoffs, only Juan Pablo Angel of New York and Houston's Brian Ching have scored over ten goals. Coincidentally, they face each other. Angel notched one more than the Big Kahuna in the regular season, but against a solid defense the scales will tip dramatically in Ching's favor for the two-legged series.
More notably, Schelotto and the Crew face a frisky Kansas City side who are on a roll coming into the postseason. However, the Argentine should be able to pull apart the KC back line as Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers attack on the flank, while Alejandro Moreno picks up the loose scraps in front of the net.
Blanco and the Fire should get past New England as the playoff foes are heading in different directions.
The least likely of the trio of helpers to advance to the Conference finals is Morales. Real are green when it comes to the postseason and hard man Jesse Marsch will not make Morales' job easier. If RSL advances, it will be thanks to their Argentine, who set up five goals in Real's five-game unbeaten streak to end the season.
With those stats in mind, MLS coaches and front office personnel making off-season decisions may want to think twice before adding a big-name striker instead of a playmaker. Or, in the Galaxy's case, anyone who can play some semblance of defense.
Pat Walsh covers Major League Soccer for Goal.com.
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