Saturday's Week 4 matchup between Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC was already intriguing (9:30 pm ET, TSN2 in Canada, MLS Live in USA), pitting Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe and TFC's perfect record against undefeated RSL, last year's MLS Cup finalists.
The ante has now been upped more than a little, thanks to RSL defender Nat Borchers.
"I think Bradley is a very similar player to Kyle Beckerman, except I think Kyle is a better player," Borchers told Salt Lake City's Bill and Hans Showon ESPN 700 on Monday.
Borchers is clearly biased — Beckerman is RSL's long-time captain — but the statement still makes one raise an eyebrow. Maybe even both.
Bradley just made his return to MLS in January after eight seasons in Europe's top leagues, including most recently manning central midfield for Serie A contenders Roma. He's also a fixture on the US national team, where Beckerman is a backup central midfielder.
"I think that both those players are getting paid to both score goals, to assist on goals and to do the dirty work defensively," Borchers said. "If you look at Michael Bradley, he's not afraid to track runners back into his own half and he's not afraid to press defenders forward in their half. He's all over the place and he can cover an amazing amount of ground.
"To quantify what [Bradley] does on the pitch is more about the wins or losses than the goal scored or assists. He does so much for that team, just like Kyle Beckerman does for us."
Is Borchers right? Is Beckerman better than Bradley? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
