MLS manipulates Best XI to include Donovan

Soccer Insider Donovan was on the ballot as a forward. According to MLS Commissioner Don Garber, the league felt Donovan belonged on the Best XI, so after the votes were counted, the league placed him on the final list as a midfielder. It's unclear who was bumped off (the player who received the fifth-most votes among midfielders). Garber: "Due to the large number of votes that he received, and the fact that he was on the Galaxy lineup as a midfielder nearly twice as many times as he was a forward, he was included as a midfielder [on the Best XI]. We needed to do the right thing." They are opening up a huge can of worms here. How can we ever trust any of the awards announcements again? In 2007, Cuauhtemoc Blanco was nominated for MVP yet didn't make the Best XI in a similar situation (he was listed as a forward, along with Angel and Emilio). They didn't feel the need to change things then. MLS need to reform the voting process, allowing for a flexible formation depending on how the votes come in. That way, this situation won't happen again. Besides, nobody uses a 3-5-2 any more. But it's clearly wrong to change things after all the votes are in and you don't like the results.

Defender of the Year: Team Defense Rankings

Was thinking about the probable 2010 awards nominees, and this came to mind. Here's a list of MLS Defender of the Year nominees, and where their teams ranked in terms of goals allowed: 1996 Fraser LA 3 1996 Doyle SJ 4 win 1996 Kooiman TB 5 1997 Dooley CLB 1 1997 Gough KC 4 1997 Pope DC 5 win 1998 Fraser LA 1 1998 Kubik CHI 2 win 1998 Pope DC 3 1999 Fraser LA 1 win 1999 Kubik CHI 3 1999 Agoos DC 6 2000 Vermes KC 1 win 2000 Fraser LA 2 2000 Addo TB 4 2001 Agoos SJ 1 win 2001 Llamosa MIA 4 2001 Mastroeni MIA 4 2002 Lalas LA 1 2002 Barrett SJ 2 2002 Bocanegra CHI 3 win 2003 Nelsen DC 3 2003 Pope NY 4 2003 Bocanegra CHI 5 win 2004 Conrad KC 1 2004 Fraser CLB 2 win 2004 Pope NY 10 2005 Califf SJ 1 2005 Conrad KC 5 win 2005 Marshall, T. LA 7 2006 Boswell DC 3 win 2006 Burciaga KC 10 2006 Conrad KC 10 2007 Robinson HOU 1 2007 Suarez CHV 2 2007 Parkhurst NE 6 win 2008 Soumare CHI 2 2008 Marshall, C. CLB 3 win 2008 Conrad KC 5 2009 Cameron HOU 1 2009 Hurtado SEA 1 2009 Marshall, C. CLB 3 win I know 2004 was a very even year, but it's boggling how even an MLS legend like Eddie Pope could be nominated when his team was dead last on defense. Then there's Burciaga and Conrad for a non-playoff Wizards team in 2006. The former certainly made it due to his 8 goals, while the latter only played in 15 games (though he was the defending award winner). Tyrone Marshall in 2005 makes it four total players who were nominated with their team in the bottom half defensively. There's certainly some reputation involved, which makes sense for a position not easily evaluated by looking at the stats. After all, Chad Marshall only played in 18 games last season. I know a lot of baseball writers take innings pitched into account when looking at their Cy Young votes, but apparently MLS voters aren't as worried about playing time.

2009 MLS Awards Voting Details

Voting for the 2009 MLS Year End Awards is underway. I've learned some interesting things about this season's voting process: 1) For the Best XI, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Landon Donovan are listed as midfielders this year, while Guillermo Barros Schelotto is listed as a forward. You may remember the unfortunate situation from two years ago, where Blanco was a finalist for the MVP award yet missing from the Best XI. That was because MLS only allows two forwards on the Best XI, and that year he and the other two MVP finalists (Juan Pablo Angel and Luciano Emilio) were all in the forwards category. So for this season, with no Donovan in the way, I'd expect Jeff Cunningham and Schelotto to be the two forwards. If Donovan had been listed as a forward, then we could've seen a repeat of Blanco 2007 if those three players end up as the MVP finalists. 2) Rookie of the Year. Eligible for the voting are Alex Grendi (127 minutes played), Stefan Dimitrov (124), Danny Cruz (107), Michael Holody (80), Peri Marosevic (47), and Andrew Dykstra (0, seriously). Missing are Nick Zimmerman (757), Graham Zusi (434) and O'Brian White (343). How is player who hasn't played a game in the running when others who have actually contributed aren't? From what I understand, MLS teams are responsible for providing nominees, so they're likely to blame. But hey, Dykstra did get 90 minutes in the Open Cup. 3) Jhon Kennedy Hurtado will not be among the Newcomer of the Year finalists. Neither will his Sounders teammate Osvaldo Alonso. Seattle's nominees for the position are Keller, Ljungberg, and Moreno (I believe the limit is three for each team), so the other two aren't in the running. Meanwhile, Hurtado is listed as 5th by the MLSnet Awards Tracker for that award. 4) Referee Jorge Gonzalez, who made the awful diving call on Chris Rolfe this past weekend, is one of six people in the running for Referee of the Year. If he turns out to be a finalist, I'll be really disappointed.