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Today, MLS unveiled its picks for the 24 best players under the age of 24, and, while most Galaxy fans will be pleased to learn that Sebastian Lletget came in 3rd, they will also be shocked to learn that Jose Villarreal didn't make the cut. With all due respect to the members of the media who took part in this survey, leaving out Jose Villarreal makes the entire list look like a complete joke.
While stats aren't everything, they can certainly give us an unbiased eye into just what a travesty Jose's omission was. Take a look at how Jose Villarreal compares to the rest of the attacking field in two key categories: chance creation per 90 minutes and goals+assists per 90 minutes.
|
Player |
Pos |
CC p/90 |
|
Kwadwo Poku |
M |
2.943508 |
|
Harrison Shipp |
M |
2.149254 |
|
Joao Plata |
F |
1.84492 |
|
Jose Villarreal |
F |
1.751497 |
|
Kelyn Rowe |
M |
1.733996 |
|
Kekuta Manneh |
M |
1.665833 |
|
Diego Fagundez |
M |
1.564713 |
|
Sebastian Lletget |
M |
1.22093 |
|
Fabian Castillo |
M |
1.198934 |
|
Juan Agudelo |
F |
1.016311 |
|
Wil Trapp |
M |
0.936107 |
|
Kellyn Acosta |
M |
0.661765 |
|
Tommy Thompson |
M |
0.54 |
|
Cyle Larin |
F |
0.499692 |
|
Matt Polster |
M |
0.475352 |
|
Player |
Pos |
G+A p/90 |
|
Kwadwo Poku |
M |
0.891972 |
|
Jose Villarreal |
F |
0.673653 |
|
Kelyn Rowe |
M |
0.671224 |
|
Cyle Larin |
F |
0.610734 |
|
Sebastian Lletget |
M |
0.610465 |
|
Fabian Castillo |
M |
0.559503 |
|
Kekuta Manneh |
M |
0.495248 |
|
Joao Plata |
F |
0.481283 |
|
Diego Fagundez |
M |
0.463619 |
|
Juan Agudelo |
F |
0.451694 |
|
Harrison Shipp |
M |
0.268657 |
|
Kellyn Acosta |
M |
0.180481 |
|
Wil Trapp |
M |
0.066865 |
|
Matt Polster |
M |
0 |
|
Tommy Thompson |
M |
0 |
*All data courtesy of American Soccer Analysis. Due to a site error, I was unable to get data on Octavio Rivero.
While his season has been shortened by injury, when you compare the rate of Jose's attacking production to the rest of the field, he's clearly among the league's top attacking youngsters, ranking 4th in chance creation per 90 and 2nd in goals + assists per 90.
While amount of playing time is the easiest explanation for his snub, players like Tommy Thompson have actually played fewer minutes this season and still somehow made the list. Tommy may have a tremendous amount of twitter hype surrounding him, but Jose Villarreal is the one actually getting it done on the field. No matter how you break it down, this snub makes absolutely no sense.
Jose Villarreal was robbed!