clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Landon Donovan finishes 2nd to Thierry Henry in 2012 Match Impact Rating

Galaxy captain Landon Donovan finished second to Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry in the 2012 regular season Match Impact Rating. All of the players who finished in the Top 10 were on teams which qualified for the 2012 MLS Playoffs.

By Patrick_the_Ruminator
Stephen Dunn

The final tabulations have been done and the 2012 Match Impact Rating* results are in. LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan made it interesting but New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry came out on top. Henry, showing great consistency, occupied the top spot for most of the season. The Top 10 players in MIR all played for teams which qualified for the 2012 MLS Playoffs. Was the same true of the Castrol Index (remember MIR is on a 100 point scale while the Index is out of 1000)? And, which player was the best on each MLS team? In each case the minimum number of minutes to qualify for the MIR leaderboard was 1530, or half of the available regular season minutes.

Rating Comparison 2012
Player Team MIR Castrol Index Pts Per 90 Minutes
Thierry Henry NY 47.8 796 (4) 1.15
Landon Donovan LA 45.3 660 (19) 0.92
Chris Wondolowski SJ 45 836 (2) 1.09
Fredy Montero SEA 44.9 728 (7) 0.73
Mauro Rosales SEA 44.8 573 (43) 0.71
Steven Lenhart SJ 44.7 765 (5) 0.67
Javier Morales RSL 44.3 524 (78) 0.51
Camilo Sanvezzo VAN 44.2 661 (100) 0.63
Robbie Keane LA 43.6 854 (1) 0.89
Eddie Johnson SEA 42.8 686 (14) 0.72

Wondolowski's 27-goal season won him the Golden Boot this season but it wasn't good enough for first place in MIR. We'll have some more perspective on his season and where it compares historically soon. For now, let's take a look at who led the league in the categories which go into MIR.

Scoring Chance Percentage (min. 10 goals): Kenny Cooper, Red Bulls, 21.4%
Points Per 90 Minutes: Thierry Henry, Red Bulls, 1.15
Shots Per 90 Minutes: Fredy Montero, Sounders, 4.4
Shots on Goal Per 90 Minutes: Steven Lenhart, Earthquakes, 1.8
Fewest Fouls Committed Per 90 Minutes: Ante Jazic, Chivas USA, 0.30
Most Fouls Committed Per 90 Minutes: Steven Lenhart, Earthquakes, 2.9
Most Fouls Suffered Per 90 Minutes: Benny Feilhaber, Revolution, 2.9
Fewest Fouls Suffered Per 90 Minutes: Jermaine Taylor, Dynamo, 0.1
Fewest Offside Per 90 Minutes: 54 players tied at 0
Most Offside Per 90 Minutes: Jairo Arrieta, Columbus Crew, 2.4

Here's a look at the top player for each team (MIR rank in brackets):

Chicago Fire: Patrick Nyarko, 39 (15)

Chivas USA: Miller Bolaños, 29.5 (41)

Colorado Rapids: Brian Mullan, 27.9 (49)

Columbus Crew: Jairo Arrieta, 38.7 (17)

D.C. United: Chris Pontius 40.4 (13)

FC Dallas: Jackson Goncalves, 35.3 (26)

Houston Dynamo: Boniek Garcia, 39.2 (14)

LA Galaxy: Landon Donovan, 45.3 (2)

Montreal Impact: Felipe Martins, 37.2 (19)

New England Revolution: Saer Sene, 40.8 (12)

New York Red Bulls: Thierry Henry, 47.8 (1)

Philadelphia Union: Jack McInerney, 28.6 (45)

Portland Timbers: Franck Songo'o: 29.2 (44)

Real Salt Lake: Javier Morales, 44.3 (7)

San Jose Earthquakes: Chris Wondolowski, 45 (3)

Seattle Sounders: Fredy Montero, 44.9 (4)

Sporting Kansas City: Kei Kamara, 38.5 (18)

Toronto FC: Luis Silva 29.3 (43)

Vancouver Whitecaps: Camilo Sanvezzo 44.2 (8)

*For a introduction to the Offensive Match Impact Rating, see our post on it here or take a listen to the podcast (#110).

More From LAG Confidential