Welcome to the first edition of Scoutās Take, a new series here at MLSsoccer.com thatāll feature MLS coaches, GMs and, you guessed it, scouts offering their opinions on some of the most noteworthy players and interesting topics around the league.
In exchange for their honesty, weāve offered all participants anonymity. While you wonāt know which coaches we speak to for these pieces, you will get their unfiltered takes. Sounds like a solid trade off, right?
For our opening foray into the series, we spoke to a pair of MLS assistant coaches ā both of whom played in the league ā about Toronto FC star Sebastian Giovinco.
Hereās their take on just what makes the reigning MLS MVP so damn good:
Is he the best in MLS history?
āAt the moment I would say heās on the pace to be that. If he has another season like this I think I would give the nod to him, but for me I have to say I still think Robbie Keane is the best ever in this league, then Jaime Moreno, then Giovinco is probably on par with Jaime right now.ā
āHeās as good as what Iāve seen, for sureā¦ I think that Marco Etcheverry and the impact he had for D.C. early on ranks right up there. That team, in many ways, was built around him. They had the right players in front of him. Whether that was Jaime Moreno, or [Raul] Diaz Arce alongside of him with Johnny Harkes and Richie Williams doing the dirty work in midfield, they built that team around him and his quality. He ran the show, he knew what to do, knew when to take advantage of the opposition. He was very, very good at it. Heās another guy [along with Giovinco] that I would say that was very close to the peak of his game and had a major impact when he came over.ā
Just what makes him so good?
āI think the way he just hits the ball. His size-four foot makes the ball do weird things, man. I donāt know how to explain it, if itās the low center of gravity or something else. Heās pretty good dribbler at speed and taking players on and you have to respect both feet -- left foot, right foot.ā
āThe reason that I think heās been so successful is because thereās no one thing that you have to stop with him, itās everything. Heās good in the run of play, heās good with the ball at his feet, heās good getting in behind and heās also good on set pieces. So just when you think youāve taken him out of the game in the run of play, you give up a set piece and all of a sudden he puts one in the back of the net and itās like, āWhere the hell did this guy come from? Heās been quiet all night.ā So for me heās easily, easily the most dangerous attacking player in the league and itās because he has that variety to his game."
Is anyone as lethal on free kicks?
āProbably David Beckham in his time, you could probably compare that. But with this kid, man. Jeez. Like I said, I donāt know how he hits it, or if itās because his feet are so small, but itās just like you're shocked if it misses.ā
āFirst person who started hitting it like that was Cristiano [Ronaldo] and then after that you have [Gareth] Bale who hits it just like that. Itās weird, but I donāt think anybody else in the world hits it like these three right now. I think Ronaldo, he hasnāt hit a free kick in a while, but Bale has basically taken over the best free kick taker I think, but Giovinco right now ā itās like anything over midfield itās a shot.ā
ā[Former Brazilian international and ex-Galaxy midfielder] Juninho, heās the one player that I can think of thatās as good as any in the world in terms of set pieces. You knew it when he stepped up to it. That always, that intimidation factor, in many ways, that wreaks havoc on defenses and goalkeepers, in particular. He was outstanding at it. I think when you look at the league weāve had a few decent ones. [Carlos] Valderrama was good. Beckham was good. Thereās been a few guys that can hit a set piece, but the thing that separates Giovinco from those guys is that he can do it within the run of play. Itās just a million different ways with him.ā
How do you prep your team to defend him?
āYou try to look for tendencies. You just try to look for little habits that they have and spots where they pop up so that youāre really aware of it. You canāt necessarily stop it, but you certainly can direct the defenders, communicate with them and give them an idea of where you want to put them to eliminate some of those places where heās so good. But thatās really what it is, is just having a good knowledge of where heās comfortable, where he wants to get the ball on the field. But the problem with Giovinco is itās almost anywhere, so itās hard to counteract that.ā
āHave two guys on him all the time and donāt let him shoot [laughs]. But like I said, heās going to create shots from anywhere. Heāll be on the end line trying to take shots and chipping the goalkeeper over there. I donāt know. Heās like an artist, I guess. You know those splash artists that just throw the paint on the canvas and it turns out to be amazing? Yeah, thatās how I see him.ā