CARSON, Calif. – It appears the MVP race in MLS is neck and neck (and neck and neck … and neck?) – unless you quiz the LA Galaxy.
The team that possesses two of the five front runners think it's rather simple.
“Robbie [Keane] consistently has been among the best players in the league,” head coach Bruce Arena said earlier this week, referring to not only this year but since he joined the team in August 2011. “And this year, he's – without being disrespectful of any of the other players that would be considered the MVP – I think it's Robbie in a landslide, to be honest with you.
“His numbers show that, his team's performance shows that. Since Robbie's been here, we've been a consistent winner and have won Supporters' Shields and MLS Cups, and it's no accident that Robbie's been here for all of that, and it shows the value he has as a player for our team.”
The Galaxy captain has 17 goals, the most he's scored in one season of league play in his career, and 14 assists in 27 MLS games this season, leading LA (16-5-9), who are home Saturday night against Toronto FC (10:30 pm ET, MLS Live, TSN in Canada), into a tie on points with Seattle atop the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings with four games to play.
The 34-year-old Irish striker, who has 51 goals and 35 assists in 82 career MLS games (and 65 goals in 109 competitive matches for LA), has been involved in more goals than anyone else in MLS.
Teammate Landon Donovan, Seattle striker Obafemi Martins, New England midfielder Lee Nguyen and New York forward Bradley Wright-Phillips appear to be the other top contenders.
Donovan, who has seven goals and 14 assists in his last dozen league games and 10 goals and a league-best 18 assists for the season, defers to Keane.
“To be completely honest, I'd rather Robbie win it and I'd rather us win a championship,” said Donovan, the MLS MVP in 2009 and a finalist in 2008. “… I just see what he does week to week for this team and what he provides, and his ability to create chances and wreak havoc on defenses is unlike any other.
“With all due respect to Obafemi, who's had a great year, there's no other player in the league like Robbie, and the things he does week to week are spectacular. The goal he scored last week [a chip to the far post to start a 4-0 romp over New York], no other player in this league scores. We're very happy to have him, and I think there's no question he's the MVP of this league.”
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Keane, an MVP finalist when Mike Magee won last year, isn't putting much mind to the award.
“They say this every year,” he said after the win over the Red Bulls. “They say MVP every year, and then I don't win it, so I prefer not to even speak about it.
“In football, the most important thing is consistency. If you're consistent every year, and you continue and strive to do better than you did the year before, and every year since I've been here, I've done that. That's all you can ask for. … I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied with what I've done this season.”
