Major League Soccer can announce what it wants…Obafemi Martins was the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season.
Given to Robbie Keane of the LA Galaxy on Wednesday, the Volkswagen MVP Award is a very special honor, reserved for a very special player. There is no doubt that Keane and the third finalist, New England’s Lee Nguyen, are special players. More than Martins though? Not quite.
Martins, 30, was simply outstanding for the Sounders FC in 2014. Simply. Outstanding.
His 17 goals and 13 assists (both 5th in MLS) were fabulous numbers for a player completing his first full season in the league. Keane tallied 19 and 14 while Nguyen added 18 and 5. Obviously, goals and assists are the two gaudy statistics that everyone looks towards…but with Oba it goes a bit deeper.
The Nigerian recorded his 17 goals on just 77 shots. That’s a goal for every 4.5 attempts. For Keane it was 6.5 (122 shots) and Nguyen every 4.6 (83 shots). Martins’ scoring chance percentage was also tops among the finalists, coming in at a cool 22.1 percent. So yeah, Oba was lethal in the attacking third.
Goals and shots and attacking are nice, but a big part of Martins’ game also revolves around the work he does in the middle of the pitch in his tracking back and defensive efforts. You could often find Oba patrolling the center circle, trying to win back the ball or chasing opposing players to the sideline. That kind of hard work isn’t often seen from similar forwards, and the Sounders benefitted from it a number of times this year.
In the end, what it comes down to is the interpretation of ‘Most Valuable Player.’ What provides value? Is it goals? Absolutely. Consistency? Of course. Is it hustle? On occasion. For Martins and his case for the MLS MVP, it’s a combination of those things.
Oba’s value can be conveyed in one extremely telling stat: In 2014, the Sounders FC was an amazing 12-0-0 when Martins scored. His goals – what he is judged on when being considered a productive forward – directly related to team success. Overwhelming success.
Nine reasons why Obafemi Martins deserves the 2014 Volkswagen MLS MVP
That’s the equivalent of every time you make a sale for your job, the company hits its daily goal. Or your finished design automatically seals the contract. Immediate and tangible value…and (seemingly) hard to be overlooked.
Congratulations to Robbie Keane for winning the award and to Lee Nguyen for the fantastic season he had, but Obafemi Martins’ value to the Sounders in 2014 was unparalleled…and now that he has signed a new contract with the club, expect more of the same in the years to come.
