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Matchday is upon us again and there was no update of the Match Impact Rating* this week. It's time to rectify that now. The minimum number of minutes to make the leaderboard was 590. There was no change at the very top, but there were changes overall. A viewable full leaderboard is still in the works so please be patient on that.
Player | Team | MIR | PTS/90 |
Thierry Henry | NY | 70.2 | 1.69 |
Chris Wondolowski | SJ | 51.8 | 1.15 |
Saer Sene | NE | 49.1 | 0.83 |
Chris Pontius | DC | 48.3 | 0.80 |
Javier Morales | RSL | 48.2 | 0.70 |
Bernardo Corradi | MON | 47.9 | 0.73 |
Camilo Sanvezzo | VAN | 46.4 | 0.76 |
Fredy Montero | SEA | 45.9 | 0.56 |
Blas Perez | DAL | 42.3 | 0.65 |
Davy Arnaud | MON | 42.1 | 0.30 |
Discussion below the jump.
Henry did not play while Wondo was able to get a game-winner on a PK. Morales was ineffective against LA as a sub and fell this week. Corradi's season is unfortunately over for Montreal with an ACL injury so this will be his last week on the leaderboard. Arnaud picked up an assist for Montreal in their loss.
Picking All-Stars
The Numerology post at MLS Soccer.com agrees with Henry on the top of the MIR as a forward for an All-Star Best XI (using 3-5-2). The post also picked Sene while MIR now has Wondo at No. 2. However, for the midfield, the MLS list has David Beckham, Dwayne De Rosario, Kyle Beckerman, Jeff Larentowicz and Graham Zusi. The top five midfielders in terms of offensive effectiveness according to MIR are Morales, Camilo, Arnaud, Kei Kamara and David Chuimiento. The MLS post picked James Riley, Aurelien Collin and Young-Pyo Lee for the defense while the MIR has Todd Dunivant, Collin and Brandon McDonald as the highest rated defenders.
Galaxy Vs. Whitecaps
One player who made a jump this week was Landon Donovan, who is now No. 22 with an MIR of 36.2. Donovan is the highest ranked LA Galaxy player.
The Whitecaps, LA's opponent, have two players ahead of Donovan, Camilo (No. 7) with a 46.4 and David Chuimiento (No. 13) with a 40.9 and another (No. 50 Gershon Koffie, 29) ahead of Mike Magee and David Beckham who are Nos. 51 and 52 with MIRs of 28.9 and 28.7. Eric Hassli (No. 57, 27.54) and Sebastien Le Toux (No. 66, 25.43) are probably ranked lower than expected. Robbie Keane (No. 62, 26.4) was back in training and could play for the Galaxy.
As a team, the Galaxy outshoot Vancouver, 12.73 to 11, and find the target 4.27 times per 90 minutes to the Whitecaps' 3.8 shots on goal per 90 minutes. However, the Galaxy hit the net 1.5% less than Vancouver. Both teams have nearly identical fouls committed per 90 minutes (12.67 for LA, 12.8 for Vancouver) but the Whitecaps draw 14.4 fouls per match to the Galaxy's 10.87. Camilo, Chuimiento and Koffie all draw more than two fouls per 90 minutes. No player on the Galaxy draws two fouls per match.
In the last two matches, LA has looked like a much better side than the beginning of the season so we will see if their recent offensive prowess continues against one of the stingiest defenses in MLS.
*For a introduction to the Offensive Match Impact Rating, see our post on it here.