By Evan Ream
With the 2011 MLS season winding down, I wanted to take a closer look at the MLS MVP race. As it always an award that sparks much debate (last year I was in favor of Chris Wondolowski over David Ferreira), I would like to give my two cents to the discussion. Each team has ten games or fewer left, and it will be what each player does over the last games that most people remember. But before I get to my shortlist of candidates, I would like to first take a closer look at what I think the definition of an MVP is.
Many times the voters will vote simply for the best player on the best team for MVP. While doing so may seem like it makes sense, it doesn’t. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player, and if I understand that correctly, that means the player isn’t the best in the league but rather the most valuable. In theory, the league’s MVP would be the player who if taken away from his team, would cause the most damage to that team. A good example of a misunderstanding of this definition would be last year’s “case” for Sebastien Le Toux. In 2010 Le Toux scored 14 goals and added 11 assists for the expansion Philadelphia Union. Le Toux was the heart and soul of that team and a few blogs (such as the Shin Guardian) pleaded for people to vote for him. This was a mistake. Le Toux’s Union finished 8-7-15, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference and 14th overall. Without Le Toux, how much worse would they have been? One place?
The clear MVP of 2010 was Chris Wondolowski. Wondo scored more than half of San Jose’s goals and led a mediocre team to the playoffs. Without him, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs. No player meant MORE to his team than Wondo. That is the true definition of a Most Valuable Player.
Wondolowski. Bobby Convey was fifth in the league last year in assists with ten, and as we all know, Wondolowski won the Golden Boot with 18 goals, with quite a bit coming from this same right midfield position. Centrally, Andre Luiz was one of the best midfielders in 2009, but was injured most of last year and did not see much time. Sam Cronin was acquired midway through last year and performed admirably. Their backline should be much improved from last year assuming they can get a full year out of Ike Opara. Opara was the rookie sensation (and the teams second leading goal scorer) last year before suffering a season ending foot injury. If Opara was healthy all of last year, we might have been talking about him instead of Tim Ream as the next USA center back. Opara should team with Jason Hernandez, one of the most underrated players in MLS. Team captain Ramiro Corrales looks to be the default starter at left back, though Bobby Convey can provide cover (and apparently a goalscoring threat) if needed. Tim Ward should take the other outside back spot. Jon Busch looks to be the starter in goal again. 
Ike Opara, who will likely take over for Brandon McDonald in the back and will provide much more of a scoring threat, adding more dimension to the San Jose attack, which is something they desperately need. The Earthquake midfield is filled with talent, however, and should be able to provide lots of support to the players up top. Bobby Convey, last season’s Comeback Player of the Year, will be looking to repeat the tremendous season he had and should provide plenty of assists from the midfield. Wondolowski scored over half of the team’s goals last season and the rest of the team will need to start scoring if the Quakes hope to make another playoff run. Forwards Johnson, Glen, and Geovanni only scored one goal each last year and Steven Lenhart has been brought in to strengthen the Quakes up top, which I think he will do. Lenhart scored six goals last year, an amount which would have been second highest with San Jose. With the service Bobby Convey can provide, I think Lenhart will be able to at least get six goals again which will relieve some of the scoring pressure off of Wondolowski and give the Quake’s attack more threats. 
