Through three games, Michael Bradley has been as advertised. On a minute-by-minute basis, he is the best player in Major League Soccer – somebody who can have a defining impact in all phases of the game. The only problems with this Player of the Month candidacy: The lack of minutes; and the lack of numbers.
With Toronto off the first weekend of the season, Bradley only played three games in March, yet there are 12 teams who played four games who’ve played four games since the season kicked off in Seattle. If you pick Bradley as your Player of the Month, you have comfortable with the claim three games of his March performance are worth more than four games for anybody else.
Think about Mauro Díaz’s performance with FC Dallas. The young Argentine has been among the best playmakers in the league, and that may be overly diplomatic to those other playmakers. Consider all the chances he’s created, the two goals he’s tallied, and his constantly positive contributions over four games, and Díaz’s case is hard to deny. If you’re choosing Mauro Díaz as Player of the Month, you’re picking a guy who put in four weeks of consistently above-average-to-stellar attacking play.
Now, think about Díaz’s defensive contributions. And think about Bradley’s. The Toronto star has been one of the most disruptive players in the league. Even as his team was being overwhelmed by Real Salt Lake this weekend, the U.S. international was doing his part, giving a third straight standout performance. Throughout March, Bradley was always a threat to regain possession whenever TFC’s opponent brought the ball into the middle of the park.
The gap between Bradley’s defensive contributions and Díaz’s is much greater than Díaz’s edge going forward, where Bradley has also been a plus contributor. Is that gap big enough to make up for the fewer games played (as well as any difference there might be in the value of attacking and defensive performance)? It’s all theoretical, but we think so.
The other player who has strung together four good games is Seattle’s Osvaldo Alonso, but he falls into a similar equation. Where Alonso may have the slightest of edges in the defensive end, Bradley’s been far more productive going forward. While they both did a great job in retaining possession in the middle of the part of the field, Bradley did a much better job of making that possession dangerous, so much so we’re willing to say three games of the TFC midfielder were worth more than four of Alonso.
That’s how good Bradley’s been, a value that’s transcended numbers. He has no goals, he has no assists, but his impact has still be so substantial, we’re willing to say three games of his play were more valuable than four games from anybody else. It’s his moment-by-moment impact, something that only becomes apparent once you start concentrating on all the little things he does for his squad. But once you do, you see that Bradley becomes involved with so much for Toronto, it’s not hard for him to do four match’s work over the course of 270 minutes.
Perhaps that’s a framework that overvalues well-rounded players. If so, my future apologies to Mauro Díaz, but the ability to have a major impact in all phases is a rare a valuable skill set, one that Michael Bradley has used to claim PST’s first Player of the Month honor for 2014.
| PST Award | MLS Award | |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Will Bruin, Houston Dynamo 2g, 1a vs. New England |
Nick Rimando, Real Salt Lake 8 saves, PK save at LA |
| Week 2 | Victor Bernardez, San Jose Earthquakes 2g, 1a vs. Real Salt Lake |
Jermain Defoe, Toronto FC 2 goals at Seattle |
| Week 3 | Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas 1 goal vs. Chivas USA |
Bernardo Añor, Columbus 2 goals vs. Philadelphia |
| Week 4 | Álvaro Saborío, Real Salt Lake 2 goals vs. Toronto FC |
Graham Zusi, Sporting Kansas City 1 goal, 2 assists at Colorado |
| March Player of the Month | Michael Bradley, Toronto FC 3 games, 0 goals, 0 assists |