VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 8 – Chris Mavinga
Highest: 2 Lowest: 13 Average ranking: 9.32 Tony: 7 – If it wasn’t for Victor Vazquez – Chris Mavinga would have been the hands-down signing of the season. Sure Mavinga looked a bit like a giraffe on ice for the first few matches but after the early struggles he found his way. And how. The big DR Congolese international (DR Congo is the cool Congo because it’s also a doctor) not only became useful but he became a stalwart...
VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 9 – Marky Delgado
Highest: 6 Lowest: 14 Average ranking: 9.68 Tony: 10 – Entirely unspectacular – and that’s ok! Once you stop looking for Delgado to be another Vazquez or Cheyrou, you can appreciate that he does plenty of basic things quietly right. A less fiery (again, ok) version of Osorio, Delgado comes in to steady that area of the midfield. Like a handy wrench. Marky Mark Marco Marcus Delgado. His first name confusion is almost...
VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 10 – Jonathan Osorio
Highest: 6 Lowest: 13 Average ranking: 10.72 Duncan: 13 – 2016 was an alright year for Osorio, without being the big leap forward we might have hoped for, could that happen in 2017? Not really no. He started the season in the first team, but was in and out as Vanney tried to figure out how to come up with a team that worked well with Vazquez. Good news: He did. Bad news for Osorio: It was when Marky Delgado was tried in...
VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 11 – Steven Beitashour
Highest: 7 Lowest: 20 Average ranking: 10.8 Mark: 11 – He is the right back we wanted and the right back we deserved. Or was he a winger? He played like a winger. He was, arguably, the right sided version of Justin Morrow. Well, was. He’s left us for a better place. Weather-wise, anyways. Steven Beitashour, formerly of Toronto and now of Los Angeles FC, had a very good season, earning with five assists and a very good...
VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 12 – Eriq Zavaleta
Highest: 4 Lowest: 18 Average ranking: 12.6 Tony: 11 – It’s not Eriq’s fault who he’s related to! Despite that – he has turned into a very useful MLS defender capable of eating minutes as a starter or offering fresh legs from the bench. Not spectacular in any way, but rarely hurts you either. We crack wise on the VMP about the awkward family dinners after Greg Vanney has benched his nephew Eriq Zavaleta, but truth...
VMP Final Countdown 2017: Number 13 – Tosaint Ricketts
Highest: 9 Lowest: 19 Average ranking: 12.92 Kristin: 11 – Tosaint Ricketts! Fucking Wicked! I’m a big fan of Ricketts and as I wrote last year, was thrilled when he was signed by Toronto FC last year. His super sub status propelled him into the top 10 of our countdown and there were high hopes for him this year; but he (likely rightfully) falls a few places, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a good year...
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