The LA Galaxy have had a strong defense all season, conceding the fourth fewest goals in MLS at 32.
This has allowed them to capture 47 points, good for second place in the Western Conference. The backbone of that defense has been Jelle Van Damme.
The Belgian center back is one of the candidates for MLS Defender of the Year, having started 24 of 29 games for LA and performed particularly well. Among central defenders, he ranks at No. 12 in the Audi Player Index. Part of the reason he ranks highly is due to his 115 clearances, which is the 10th-highest total in MLS, and earns him 40 index points each.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Van Damme isn't the only highly-rated Galaxy center back. Daniel Steres ranks just ahead of Van Damme at No. 11, partly due to the fact that he has 127 clearances to Van Damme's 115.
One player who is ahead of Van Damme and Steres is Nuno Andre Coelho, who they will face in Sunday's road game vs. Sporting Kansas City (2 pm ET; FOX, FOX Sports GO in US | MLS LIVE in Canada). Coelho is at No. 8 among center backs in the Audi rankings. His Week 1 goal from outside the box against Seattle certainly helped him earn his spot, as he collected 490 points for it.
Here are the top 10 center backs in MLS this season (minimum 10 games at the position), according to the Audi Player Index. The scores are an average of each player's Audi Index score per game:
RANKING |
SCORE |
PLAYER |
CLUB |
1 |
472 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/jamison-olave" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Jamison Olave</a> |
RSL |
2 |
466 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/walker-zimmerman" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Walker Zimmerman</a> |
DAL |
3 |
412 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/steve-birnbaum" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Steve Birnbaum</a> |
DC |
4 |
383 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/drew-moor" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Drew Moor</a> |
TOR |
5 |
376 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/chad-marshall" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Chad Marshall</a> |
SEA |
6 |
374 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/laurent-ciman" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Laurent Ciman</a> |
MTL |
7 |
349 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/matt-hedges" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Matt Hedges</a> |
DAL |
8 |
348 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/nuno-andre-coelho" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Nuno Andre Coelho</a> |
SKC |
9 |
343 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/frederic-brillant" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Frederic Brillant</a> |
NYC |
10 |
329 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/axel-sjoberg" style="color:#000;border-bottom:1px dotted #909090;">Axel Sjoberg</a> |
COL |
