Getty Images Steve brought it up in his Power Rankings. I’m here to add the next layer: Fredy Montero? Legitimate MVP candidate?
Let’s let Steve kick us off:
Fredy Montero has 12 goals and 6 assists. And his goals always seem to have that certain panache. (Did you see that out-of-nowhere shot and goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Portland?) If the feisty Colombian attacker can boost that assist rate just a tad and add, say, two or three more goals over the Sounders’ final six matches, can’t we make a compelling argument for league MVP?
Absolutely we can, and I don’t think we need to wait until he tacks on a few assists. Watching games alone should tell you Fredy Montero should at least be considered. That compelling argument that we need goes something like this: Right now, he’s Major League Soccer’s best player.
That’s not a slam dunk. Reasonable minds can disagree on who’s MLS’s best at the moment, but Montero’s case is pretty clear. Goals like this Saturday’s against Portland are becoming remarkably common during the stretch run. Even when it’s teammates getting the nods, it’s Fredy doing the work. Eddie Johnson won Player of the Week last week, but it was Montero that was the game’s real star.
When you watch game after game and one guy is clearly so much better than everybody else, that’s an MVP case of its own. Does it need more support? Absolutely. That’s where the details, stats, and results come into play. But when you watch Fredy Montero play, there’s no doubt this guy is one of Major League Soccer’s elites.
By the numbers …
Steve brings up one of two mitigating issues: Statistics. Montero’s 12 goals are tied for sixth in the league. Among MVP candidates, only Chris Wondolowski and Thierry Henry have more (unless you consider Eddie Johnson a candidate). When it comes to the game’s most important stat, Montero’s going to have much of the MVP field beat.
But as Steve points out, it would be nice if Montero had more assists, even if his six already put him 17th in the league. Adding more might be a bit of a problem, though, considering the talent Montero has around him. After all, only one, maybe two players can have assists on a given goal, and when you’re not the guy delivering corners or providing service from set pieces, you’re already missing out on a lot of easy helpers.
Montero does some dead ball duty in Seattle, but usually only when the ball’s going to be put on goal (or injuries cast him into the role). Mauro Rosales and, since being acquired, Christian Tiffert are the men responsible for putting in the dead ball crosses. Add in the amount of time Rosales is on the ball in open play and the same qualities that make Seattle such a strong team end up keeping Montero’s assist numbers down.
Does that make Montero a better, worse, or even less productive player? Not really. In this case, we need to look beyond the numbers. Whether voters will do that is an entirely different issue.
Battling perception
The second mitigating issue is perception, one I’ve addressed before in this space (so forgive me for beating a dead horse on this one). Every year around June there’s a feeling that Montero is not playing as well as he could. Some reference potential. Others cite the need to step up. MLSSoccer.com’s Jonah Freedman discussed the issue earlier this summer, and ProSoccerTalk’s own Noah Davis jumped in that camp.
A guy who averages double-digit goals and eight assists per year (over four years) doesn’t need to step up. This is a problem of perception. We need to step down.
Montero burst on the seen so quickly and at such a young age, we all projected him for super stardom. Maybe it was our baseball-esque need to escalate young players’ numbers into the future. Maybe we just saw something we thought would explode, but just because he hasn’t put up a 17-goal, 15-assist season doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the league’s best players. What it probably means is that we got a little bit too excited, too soon about one of MLS’s brightest talents.
Judged independent of those perceptions, Montero has an unimpeachable career, unless you want to condemn all players who have swoons within seasons. But to do that would be to indict everybody in the league. The season is long and congested. Players go through spells.
Landon Donovan, Dwayne De Rosario – why am I listing names? This will go on forever. Every player in the league his high points. They also have lows. They’re subject to the save variations for which Fredy Montero gets criticized.
And it’s not fair. It’s not fair to hold Montero subject to a standard that we don’t use for everybody else. And it’s also unfair that Montero’s inability to meet that standard – the perception that his performance varies more than his peers – is so pervasive as to cloud his MVP candidacy.
So Montero didn’t immediately build on his 12-goal, seven-assist rookie season? The seasons that have followed (all in line with his first) have made him one of the league’s standout players. At the point we’re asking for more than that, we need to reevaluate our standards.
And once those standards are reevaluated, you start to see what Montero is doing. Right now, he’s doing more than anybody in the league. When you watch him play, it’s difficult to fathom a better player in Major League Soccer.
Does that make Montero the league’s MVP? Does it make up for the edge other candidates had coming into the season’s final months? That’s what this debate is about, but surely, at this point, Montero’s earned his spot in the discussion.
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- tylerbetts - Sep 20, 2012 at 8:21 AM
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She he be considered? Yeah, probably. Does he have a good case? Yeah, maybe. Should he win? Nope.
Every time I see “x” for MLS MVP 2012, it just seems like the author of that post, from established soccer writer to guy blogging from mom’s basement, are just trying to do one thing – avoid calling the race what it is. And that’s over. And that’s because Chris Wondolowoski is the MVP. Period.
Yes, let’s celebrate others that are having phenomenal seasons. Yes, let’s talk about who might show up in the runner-up category. But, let’s not kid ourselves. Wondo is the MVP. He has the numbers to back it up, his team has the record to back it up, he’s got the highlight moments to back it up, he’s got the clutch moments to back it up.
It’s freakin’ Wondo.
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- alexsenn01 - Sep 20, 2012 at 7:28 PM
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tylerbetts – great post. I can’t believe the premise of this article that Montero is deserving of MVP, it’s pretty silly to even think he’s close to Wondo. Some key points – Wondo has significantly more goals (21 vs 12), more assists (7 vs 6) and more game winning goals (9 vs 3). In addition, Wondo is team captain and an emotional leader of the team currently with the best record in MLS. Montero got shuffled to the bench during a key stretch of the season because he wasn’t performing, and has only really started to peak in the past 2 months.
The author may think that Montero is the best player in MLS, but I don’t think many people outside of Seattle would have him even in the top 5. As far as MVP goes, I don’t think many people would consider him even at the top of the “second tier” behind Wondo, or even clearly ahead of other Seattle players (Alonso, Rosales and Johnson). I’d consider Thierry Henry, Landon Donovan, Brad Davis and Jimmy Nielsen all ahead of Montero at this point. At the same level as Montero you’d have to include Alonso, Rosales and maybe even Johnson from Seattle, and then Espinoza, McCarty and Graham Zusi to name a few.
Lots of guys are having very good years, but Wondo’s year is so far ahead of everyone else’s it’s ridiculous.
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- Richard Farley - Sep 20, 2012 at 7:41 PM
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I can’t believe the premise of this article that Montero is deserving of MVP, it’s pretty silly to even think he’s close to Wondo.
Sorry if there’s any confusion, Alex, but the premise of the article is clearly not as you’ve stated.
Allow me to quote myself, from the last paragraph:
Does that make Montero the league’s MVP? Does it make up for the edge other candidates had coming into the season’s final months? That’s what this debate is about, but surely, at this point, Montero’s earned his spot in the discussion.
When I first started writing for the site, I commented a lot more because I wanted to establish a relationship with commenters, maybe we’d get some good discussions going and …
And then the internet kicked in.
This piece is as much about the discussion around Fredy Montero as it is the candidacy itself. It’s about the perception of what is and what makes an MVP. At no point does it say Montero should be MVP. In fact, it closes with a very inclusive statement.
Anyway …
Part of the reason I became kind of “meh” to the comments is the need to write ones like this. Very few people who read these stories comment, often you get one out of nowhere, and it gives the view a disproportionate voice. It’s a bit crazy, but it’s also the standard which we’ve all come to expect from sites …. so, off I go again.
If I want to write a piece saying Montero is the league MVP, I’ll be a lot more direct about saying so.
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- alexsenn01 - Sep 21, 2012 at 12:02 AM
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Richard – thanks for the reply, but your article doesn’t say what you think it does. And you did not address the rest of my comment, about how there are 5-8 other better candidates than Montero for MVP after Wondo, and that it’s not clear that Montero “deserves to be in the discussion”.
“And once those standards are reevaluated, you start to see what Montero is doing. Right now, he’s doing more than anybody in the league. When you watch him play, it’s difficult to fathom a better player in Major League Soccer.” – from your article
This statement is so over the top it’s ridiculous. Montero is doing more than anybody in the league “right now”? Montero had a very hot run of 4 games , but if you just look at the last 2 months (since mid July), Wondo has done as much or more than Montero. Over their last 10 games, Montero has 8 goals and 2 assists, compared to Wondo’s 7 goals and 4 assists – pretty even. So it’s not just the “early season slump” that is the problem, even in the past 2 months Montero has not been better than Wondo (or Robbie Keane, who has 6 goals and 5 assists over his last 10 games).
Beyond that, what does “right now” matter – MVP is for the season. So Montero had a run of 4-5 game where he played exceptionally, that doesn’t make him MVP or the best player in the league. And “hard to fathom a better play in Major League Soccer”, wow! There are 2-3 better players on Seattle (Rosales, Alonso, and arguably Eddie Johnson) not to mention the rest of the league.
It’s fine to say Montero “should be in th discussion” (even though I don’t agree), but your arguments are so over the top and selective that they don’t really work.
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- Richard Farley - Sep 21, 2012 at 12:24 AM
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you did not address the rest of my comment
Your comments speak for themselves. Remember, the point was to make the case that Montero deserves a place in the discussion. This is very clear from the opening of the piece.
From you:
Over their last 10 games, Montero has 8 goals and 2 assists, compared to Wondo’s 7 goals and 4 assists – pretty even.
Wondo scored twice after I posted this piece. But the “pretty even” is consistent with my idea that Montero deserves some consideration. Again, that was the point of the piece.
I’m sorry you feel my arguments are over the top, but they’re really not that controversial. I’m happy to let me piece speak for itself just as I’m happy to let your comments (“Montero had a very hot run of 4 games”) speak for themselves.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate the comments, I just wish they were more on point and less antagonistic.
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- wildmaxd - Sep 21, 2012 at 1:14 PM
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I do not disagree that Wondo is the leader of the discussion. But lets throw something out their, Wondo has 4 goals from PK’s so far, absent of those, I think he’s out of this world season is brought a little more into this atmosphere.
I realize other candidates have scored from PK’s as well, but all in all; the “Value” in MVP I dont think is demonstrated in PK’s as much as it is from the run of play.
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- footballer4ever - Sep 22, 2012 at 10:28 AM
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Richard Farley:
“Thanks for reading. I appreciate the comments, I just wish they were more on point and less antagonistic”Let’s take it down a notch on the passionate comment here fellow football fans. In the end, this is just his entitled blogger opinion. We can all disagree with him, which i do on this topic, but be tactful about it.
Personally, Montero is a more ” attractive” footballer for the league than shy Wondo. Having said that, Wondo has performed better on the pitch. Montero is growing each day as a footballer, but he shows inconsistency at times.
Finally, let WFT, err, PST grow with our contribution in a manner that is not the same as that other “PFT” with a bunch of moronic/biased/gossip-like posts and followers tend to show up. Peace n Love!
