SB Nation Boston: All Posts by Pat Johnston

Fan voting open for 2013 MLS All-Star Game, Marcelo Sarvas snubbed

2013-06-11T18:16:46Z

The fan ballot for the 2013 MLS All-Star Game is open and you can vote for you All-Star Fan XI today in one of several different ways. The "traditional" options are still available: texting, Twitter and online voting. But this year's fan voting gets even more interactive than before by tying in the FIFA Soccer 13 Ultimate Team.

In addition to the 10 players selected to the All-Star Fan XI by having the most votes from the text, Twitter and online votes, a forward will be selected using the Ultimate Team using the AT&T MLS All-Star "In the Game" Challenge. Whichever forward is used to score the most goals with in the Ultimate Team mode will be selected to the All-Star Game. The one hitch is that the forward has to be among the voting pool selected by media members.

For the Galaxy, the following six players have been nominated for All-Star voting:

G-Carlo Cudicini
D-Todd Dunivant
D-Omar Gonzalez
M-Juninho
F-Landon Donovan
F-Robbie Keane

Where is Marcelo Sarvas you might ask? Who the heck knows. As we pointed out yesterday, Cudicini has no business being on any potential All-Star list given his poor performance this season. As for Juninho, we wonder if the writers got him confused with that other Juninho playing for the New York Red Bulls who is averaging 0.37 assists per 90 minutes. The Galaxy's Juninho has one assist while Sarvas is tied with Keane for the team lead with four helpers. Sarvas also leads the team in tackles (4.7 per 90 minutes) and fouls suffered (nearly 2.5 per 90 minutes) by a large margin, 33-15, over A.J. DeLaGarza.

Head over to MLS Soccer.com for more information on voting and to do your part in voting for the Fan XI to take on Serie A's AS Roma on July 31 at Sporting Park in Kansas City.

Vote Landon Donovan for Week 15 MLS Goal of the Week

2013-06-11T00:53:02Z

The LA Galaxy have not enjoyed the best form in their last eight matches but it is time for some good news. Landon Donovan's volleyed goal against Real Salt Lake on June 8 is a Week 15 MLS Goal of the Week nominee.

See Donovan's right-before-halftime goal which tied the match up at 1-1 and the rest of the entries by the nominees (Conor Casey, Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew; Diego Valeri, Portland Timbers vs. Chicago Fire; Ben Zemanski, Portland Timbers vs. Chicago Fire; Daniel Paladini, Chicago Fire vs. Portland Timbers) below.

Donovan's goal was unassisted and was his third of the season. The goal, which was the 127th of Donovan's MLS career, was also his ninth career tally against Real Salt Lake. No Galaxy players have won MLS Goal of the Week honors this season although Donovan was nominated already in Week 8 and Jose Villarreal was nominated in Week 5.

Vote for Landon Donovan's goal online or by texting Donovan's goal code "G5" to 22442.

Landon Donovan's impact not enough vs Real Salt Lake in loss

2013-06-10T17:07:09Z

Landon Donovan bagged his third goal of the season with a well struck volley from the top of the penalty area in the 46th minute against Real Salt Lake on June 8. Donovan's goal brought the match level at 1-1 but two RSL goals after the 80th minute spoiled the draw for the LA Galaxy.

Donovan's goal was one of only two shots on target as the Galaxy offense sputtered again without Robbie Keane who is currently dominating matches for Ireland. Donovan finished with the top Match Impact Rating on the Galaxy in the game with a 56.5. In addition to the goal, he suffered two fouls (one drew a yellow on RSL defender Chris Wingert) while only committing one.

No other Galaxy player finished with better than a MIR of 20. The 20 rating came from defender Tommy Meyer who drew two fouls and committed none. Juninho had another game in the red at -0.75 for his three fouls committed.

The biggest story of the match again is not what happened on the pitch but what was missing from it. To say Carlo Cudicini has been a disappointment in net is a severe understatement. Of goalkeepers in MLS who have played at least 10 matches this season, Cudicini is dead last at 19th with a save percentage of 54, a full seven percent lower than Toronto FC's Joe Bendik. Of that same list, Cudicini is tied for 10th in GAA at 1.25 goals allowed per match. The veteran did not make the trip to Rio Tinto and Brian Rowe got the start in net.

Keane, as we've already mentioned, is on a tear for Ireland and has scored five goals in three matches. The captain had also scored a hat trick in his last match for LA before going to Europe.

Robbie Rogers is still working back into match fitness and has seen a mere 82 minutes of action with the Galaxy. Mike Magee, who was swapped for Rogers, still leads the Galaxy in goals at six and is already tied for the Chicago Fire lead with two goals. Magee also added a goal and an assist in the Fire's U.S. Open Cup win over the Charlotte Eagles. Last but not least, Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant are missing from the backline with national team duty and injury, respectively.

The only good news is that there are no matches for the Galaxy until June 19. The side could use a mental break from the bad results.

Gyasi Zardes had most impact for Galaxy in bad loss vs. Revolution

2013-06-04T22:40:03Z

Gyasi Zardes had another solid performance for the LA Galaxy on June 2 but it alone was not going to help the Galaxy overcome the massive impact of the New England Revolution's key players in a 5-0 victory.

Usually in the postgame Match Impact Rating breakdown we don't get into the ratings of the opposition, but it certainly seems necessary after a 5-0 drubbing. Gyasi Zardes had the top MIR on the Galaxy at 40.9 during his 88 minutes, drawing four fouls (three offensive zone and one in the midfield zone). Three Galaxy players turned in negative MIRs for the match: Sean Franklin (-.25), Tommy Meyer (-.75) and Michael Stephens (-.34). The LA backline committed five fouls and only drew one while the Revs defenders totaled one assist and eight fouls suffered while committing four fouls.

The top performance of the match, as expected, went to New England's Diego Fagundez who had a 117.6. Saer Sene had a 94.6 and Lee Nguyen had a 75.5. Each of the trio scored a goal on their only shot of the match and Sene and Nguyen each drew two fouls. Former Galaxy forward Chad Barrett also scored on his lone shot on net. Barrett and Kelyn Rowe did not log enough minutes to have a MIR but did combine for five points in 35 minutes of play, however. All five of New England's shots on target went in the net which means Galaxy keeper Carlo Cudicini didn't make a single save in the match. All around, it was just a brutal match for the Galaxy.

Robbie Keane had a massive impact vs. Sounders

2013-05-28T00:05:37Z

The LA Galaxy torched the Seattle Sounders' defense on May 26 and scored four goals in 44 minutes. Robbie Keane's first Galaxy hat trick and his assist on Sean Franklin's goal came in the first half. Marcelo Sarvas' fine form continued and he recorded an assist on Franklin's goal. The trio would have the best Match Impact Ratings (click here for more info on MIR) on the night.

Before Keane gave way to Jose Villarreal in the 73rd minute, the Irish International had scored his hat trick from the spot (two of which were penalties) and weaved his way through the Sounders before laying the ball over to a wide open Franklin for a tap-in goal. Keane's MIR for the match was a phenomenal 181.5. The stellar performance also lifted his season MIR to a Messi-esque 72.3. Keane is scoring on 27.8 percent of his shots this season and scoring 1.55 points per 90 minutes of play.

The other goalscorer, Franklin, turned in a MIR of 53 as he put one of his two shots in the net and drew a foul. The goal was the first for the defender since he had a brace against Sporting Kansas City in 2011. Sarvas had a MIR of 58.8 for an assist and winning three fouls in the midfield zone.

Another notable performance was that of Gyasi Zardes who had a MIR of 20.6 in his first MLS start. Both of his shots were off target and he picked up a foul and a yellow card for dissent, but Zardes also drew two fouls (one of which led to a penalty shot) and drove the Sounders crazy with his energy.

Robbie Rogers made his debut with the club and went 13 minutes which is not enough to record a MIR. However, during a prematch interview with Alexi Lalas, Rogers said he wouldn't mind going into the match being up 4-0...and then it happened. That is magic.

Assessing Mike Magee and Robbie Rogers

2013-05-27T02:01:15Z

Mike Magee was (and judging from the comments, will be for some time) a fan favorite as a member of the LA Galaxy. It came as a shock when he was dealt straight up to the Chicago Fire for the rights of Robbie Rogers. Matt Doyle already took on the task of evaluating what both teams are getting out of the trade but we wanted to dig deeper into the numbers.

**Mike Magee and Robbie Rogers**
Player	Mike Magee	Robbie Rogers
Age	28	26
MLS Minutes per Season	1350.4	1681
Goals per Season	3.8	2.6
Assists per Season	2.2	3.2
Points per 90 Minutes	0.40	0.31
Shots per 90 Mins	1.98	2.12
Shooting Percentage	12.8	6.6
Fouls Caused per 90 Minutes	1.5	1.2
Fouls Drawn per 90 Minutes	1.7	2.2
Match Impact Rating	31.1	32.4

Rogers has advantages in minutes played, shots, fouls drawn (as well as those he committed) and Match Impact Rating (click here for background on MIR). Magee scores more frequently than Rogers and shoots with more accuracy. But what about Magee's famed clutch factor? From 2009-2013 with the Galaxy, Magee scored at least one game-winner in MLS play in every season and totaled nine game-winning goals during that period, or, 47.4 percent of his Galaxy goals. Rogers scored a game-winner for the Columbus Crew in four of his five seasons and six total game-winning goals, or, 46.2 percent of his total goals for the Crew. Rogers never earned a clean sheet in net for the Crew, but did help Columbus capture two Supporters' Shields and one MLS Cup. Magee was part of two Supporters' Shield winning sides for the Galaxy, as well as two MLS Cups. The difference in the production of the two midfielders is not seen during the regular season, but instead, in November.

**Playoff Performance**
Player	Mike Magee	Robbie Rogers
MLS Cups	2	1
MLS Minutes per Season	264	184.8
Goals per Season	1.33	0.5
Assists per Season	0.17	0
Points per 90 Minutes	0.51	0.24
Shots per 90 Minutes	2.28	2.07
Shooting Percentage	20	11.8
Fouls Caused per 90 Minutes	1	1.2
Fouls Drawn per 90 Minutes	1.1	0.6
Match Impact Rating	31.2	16

Magee's Match Impact Rating performance stays static in the playoffs but his goals per 90 minutes is elevated as are his shot attempts and shooting percentage. Magee's rate of fouls committed drops in the playoffs as well. Rogers' MIR plummets in the playoffs mainly because he doesn't draw fouls at nearly the same rate as the regular season and because he doesn't find the scoresheet with the same regularity. Rogers' shooting percentage does nearly double in the playoffs and one of his two career playoffs goals was a game-winner. Magee has produced two game-winning goals out of his eight career playoff tallies.

Overall, there's no reason to pan the move by either team. There's also no reason to not expect timely goals from Rogers. However, the playoffs appear to be a different story. The change in scenery will hopefully help Rogers. Magee, after all, *only* scored a game-winner on 30.4 percent of his goals for the MetroStars/RedBulls.

In short, we shouldn't expect Rogers to be Magee because we are going to see a different type of game out on the pitch. Nevertheless, Rogers should still provide some great moments of his own as he did for the Crew.

MLS 2013 salaries and Match Impact Rating

2013-05-25T19:51:29Z

On May 23, we looked at the LA Galaxy 2013 salaries and Match Impact Rating performance (for an introduction to MIR, click here). In this second installment, we'll take a view of MLS as a whole and see where Galaxy players fit in.

Unfortunately for Robbie Keane, with 450 minutes played he did not meet the 500 minute mark cutoff for the MLS leaderboard. Otherwise, he would be ranked first in MLS Match Impact Rating so far this season with a 53.2. Landon Donovan did meet the minimum number of minutes and is ranked in the Top 10. However, as you will see below, a majority of the players Top 10 in MIR are not Designated Players.

**MLS 2013 Salary and MIR**
Player	Team	2013 Guaranteed Compensation	Points/90 Mins	MIR
Mauro Rosales	Sounders	$225k	0.82	51.9
David Ferreira	FC Dallas	$730k	0.42	51
Javier Morales	RSL	$300k	0.52	50.3
Eddie Johnson	Sounders	$156.3k	0.73	49.7
Justin Mapp	Impact	$137.5k	0.68	48.4
Eddie Gaven	Crew	$195k	0.33	44.9
Landon Donovan	Galaxy	$2.5 million	0.79	44.2
Gershon Koffie	Whitecaps	$176k	0.51	43.7
Graham Zusi	SKC	$173.8k	0.60	43.1
Camilo Sanvezzo	Whitecaps	$247.5k	0.65	41.7

Donovan is the only millionaire earner on this list and the average compensation of the Top 10 is $454.1k. There are plenty of bargains on the list, including Designated Player Mauro Rosales who is an absolute steal at $225k. Rosales finished fifth last season in MLS MIR at 44.8 and is playing at a higher level this season. By contrast, seven of the 26 (27 percent) Designated Players in MLS did not meet the minimum minute mark. The average compensation of those players is $1.44 million.

Here are the best MIR deals and busts (yes, injured players included) so far this season by team, MIR rank in brackets:

Chicago Fire: Patrick Nyarko ($249k), MIR 40.7 (11), Sherjill MacDonald ($527.1k), MIR 22.7 (70)

Chivas USA: Jorge Villafana ($71k), MIR 38.1 (17), Oswaldo Minda ($143.8k), MIR Incomplete, 198 mins played

Colorado Rapids: Dillon Powers ($79k), MIR 30.5 (43), Edson Buddle ($275k), MIR Incomplete, 316 mins played

Columbus Crew: Eddie Gaven ($195k), MIR 44.9 (6), Federico Higuain ($604k), MIR 22.5 (71)

D.C. United: Kyle Porter ($55k), MIR 30.1 (46), Dwayne De Rosario ($645.3k), MIR 25.8 (60)

FC Dallas: Jackson Goncalves ($165.4k), MIR 35 (27), Eric Hassli ($262.3k), MIR Incomplete, 269 mins played

Houston Dynamo: Will Bruin ($165k), MIR 33.4 (39), Omar Cummings ($239k), MIR Incomplete, 10 mins played

LA Galaxy: Marcelo Sarvas ($184.4k), MIR 36.5 (22), Juninho ($290k), MIR 12 (101)

Montreal Impact: Justin Mapp ($137.5k), MIR 48.4 (5), Andrea Pisanu ($148k), MIR Incomplete, 334 mins played

New England Revolution: Lee Nguyen ($80.1k), MIR 28.1 (53), Kalifa Cisse ($445k), MIR Incomplete, 456 mins played

New York Red Bulls: Fabian Espindola ($150k), MIR 38.8 (14), Thierry Henry ($4.4 million), MIR 28 (54)

Philadelphia Union: Jack McInerney ($190k), MIR 38.6 (15), Brian Carroll ($176.4k), MIR 2.5 (110)

Portland Timbers: Ryan Johnson ($144.7k), MIR 39.1 (12), Diego Chara ($243.8k), MIR 18.6 (84)

Real Salt Lake: Joao Plata ($60k), MIR 34.2 (30), Robbie Findley ($205.5k), MIR Incomplete, 355 mins played

San Jose Earthquakes: Adam Jahn ($35.1k), MIR 31.7 (41), Steven Lenhart ($217.5k), MIR Incomplete, 278 mins played

Seattle Sounders: Eddie Johnson ($156.3k), MIR 49.7 (4), Obafemi Martins ($1.73 million), MIR Incomplete, 205 mins played

Sporting Kansas City: C.J. Sapong ($92k), MIR 38.5 (16), Bobby Convey ($215k), MIR Incomplete, 122 mins played

Toronto FC: Jeremy Hall ($90k), MIR 36.7 (20), Danny Koevermans ($1.7 million), MIR Incomplete, 0 mins played

Vancouver Whitecaps: Gershon Koffie ($176k), MIR 43.7 (8), Kenny Miller ($1.1 million), MIR Incomplete, 213 mins played

Report: Galaxy trade Mike Magee to Chicago Fire for Robbie Rogers

2013-05-25T02:03:00Z

RIP #mikemageefacts. Steven Goff of the Washington Post is reporting that the LA Galaxy have sent Mike Magee to the Chicago Fire in exchange for the rights to Robbie Rogers. USA Today has already reported that Rogers has agreed to terms with the Galaxy.

It's happening, 2nd source says: Magee for Rogers, straight up #mls
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) May 25, 2013

Magee is a Chicago native and reportedly wanted to return home. That part of the story was a shock to me. Rogers' side of the story is obviously more known. He wanted to get back into soccer and had been welcomed at training by the Galaxy and will be closer to his family in California.

Magee had six goals in 10 MLS appearances for the Galaxy this season (including three against the Fire on March 3) and he is only one shy of tying his MLS career season-high of seven goals which came with the MetroStars in 2003. Rogers last played in MLS in 2011 for the Columbus Crew. Rogers spent time with Leeds United and Stevenage (on loan) after his time with the Crew. Rogers has tallied 13 goals and 16 assists in 106 MLS appearances, all with the Crew.

We'll have more on this trade as details emerge.