Backpass: The 1st Annual Soccer Rabbi Awards
Let's give some love (and also cast a little shade) for some of the accomplishments of the 2021 MLS regular season from our burgundy boys.
It’s awards season. MLS is handing out awards. The Rapids are handing out awards. Soon, Matt Pollard will be handing out awards.1 All those awards are somewhat serious.
These awards I am about to give: less serious. Still important though!
I’ve never given awards. That’s both because I have a bad memory, and because generally it’s pretty obvious who your award winners are - it doesn’t really deserve a 2000 word article. MVP? The guy with the most goals plus assists. Young player of the year? The guy under 23 … with the most goals plus assists. Coach of the Year? Guy that coached the team with the best record.2
So I’ll hand out some /Alt awards. A bit more hipster-y. A bit more on-brand for me. And maybe not so arguable or dependent on my shoddy memory. Here are my awards for 2021.
Most WTF Game of the Year
This has to go to the Rapids 3-0 loss to RSL on July 24. William Yarbrough, who was so excellent so consistently for Colorado, had a real OMG own-goal in just the 14th minute, when he was far too casual with a simple back pass. Every player gets maybe one super-boneheaded play of the year where we just say ‘yeah, we all have days like that’. This was Yarbrough’s.
Unfortunately, there was no way back. Andre Shinyashiki makes a turnover in a bad spot and Bobby Wood made it 2-0. The final goal in the match was a straight ‘game-states goal’, as the Rapids, trying to get back into the match, only had 5 defenders deep, and Rubio Rubin would receive in space and finish to make it 3 to Nil.
Additional points of WTF-y-ness for this game:
It was against our hated rivals RSL.
It was one of only two goals Wood scored this year in MLS.
It was the only Own Goal the Rapids conceded in 2021. 3
Honorable Mentions:
The 0-0 draw at home against Toronto FC on September 25. TFC finished second-to-last, they were well out of the playoffs and had fired their manager, playing on the road, and the Rapids played their starters, and yet they generated nothing and let the Reds get out of town with a point. Weird.
Also:
Rapids Best Hair
3rd place: Cole Bassett
Kid’s got nice texture and he clearly takes care of it, but with minimal noticeable product. It’s neat and clean, but there’s no gimmickry here. Simplicity in a soccer world where folks are often about one-ups-manship is to be rewarded.
2nd place: Michael Barrios
Michael Barrios is one of those MLS players, like Carlos Valderrama with his lion’s mane or Landon Donovan with his widow’s peak, that simply has a signature haircut all his own. Notice late in the season that he cut the mohawk down to low-cut, showing that this style has surprising flexibility.
1st place: Mark-Anthony Kaye
So, I hadn’t even rated MAK for this award till I started go through my photo library of John Babiak masterpieces, and then I found this. The Canadian acquisition from LAFC has the clean razor line, the subtle fade, and it all builds to a neatly sculpted pile atop his head. Match that with some understated facial hair to complete the look. And also in this shot he’s giving off strong thirst-trap aura. Wow.
Meme of the Year
Winner:
Honorable Mention:
Best Interview on the Rapids
Winner: Sam Vines
One of the blessings I have as a freelance columnist / citizen soccer journalist / guy with a day job is: I interview who I want. If I were a sports writer at a traditional newspaper, like say Kevin Baxter at the LA Times, I’d be forced to interview Chicharito, no matter how dull or publicist-massaged the interview would be.
Most player interviews aren’t really that illuminating, either because they’re (rightfully) guarded, or I ask the wrong questions, or the timing’s no good, or because the player themselves is just not very interesting.
Sam Vines is interesting. He has a good story. He’s thoughtful. He’s guarded, but only the right amount - he’ll tell you a little bit if you ask it right. He made for a great interview. His honesty was what made ‘From Pirate to Pro’ my favorite article of the year. Give her a look, or a second look. Or listen to the audio.
Note: this reminds me to email Royal Antwerp to see if we could get Vinesy on a zoom sometime in the next few months for his takes on living that European life. No promises.
Best Dressed Player in a photo that was Tweeted from the Parking Lot by the Official Team Social Account
No. We’re not doing that.
This whole idea in social of ‘guy checking in 3 hours before the game in designer jeans with a Prada handle-less leather man-bag tucked under his arm’ as a worthy every-week post is stupid for all soccer teams. And especially for the team with the lowest overall payroll, once again, in MLS.
If we wanted it to ring true, the Rapids all need to roll into the parking lot rockin’ Kirkland brand jeans and flannels. GENERIC LOW COST MASS PRODUCED MAQUILLADORES BRAND CLOTHES UP IN THIS BEEOTCH, HOLLA.
The ‘Bang for your Buck’ Award, AKA the Pádraig Smith Clever and Frugal GM Award (Most Goals and Assists per salary dollar)
3rd place: Dominique Badji
5 goals, 0 Assists; Salary (pro-rated) $153,125; $30,625 per goal/assist
In a prior Backpass I wrote “if the Vegas over-under on goals the rest of the way [after he was traded to Colorado] for Badji was 2 … I would absolutely take the under.” That was wrong and demonstrates why I literally never bet on anything.4 BTW, if you factor in the $50K in GAM we paid Nashville for Badji, it would inflate his cost to $40,625 per goal/assist; but he would still provide the third-best bank for buck on the club.
2nd place: Andre Shinyashiki
4 goals, 2 assists; Salary $130,000; $21666.7 per goal/assist
Most of the attackers on the Rapids had a Salary/g+a around $55K. Barrios’ 8 goals / 5 assists on his $650,000 salary comes out exactly at 50K; Diego Rubio was a bit higher at $69,954 per g+a; and Jack Price’s 12 assists cost the franchise $54,635 a piece.
Shinyashiki is in the final year of his contract, and while he isn’t an every-game starter or even a prolific producer, he’s incredibly valuable. Realistically, his agent ought to seek at least $300 to 400K per year in his next deal, if it were based purely on production. Considering the low low cost the Rapids they’ve paid till now, Shinyashiki has been a great deal for the club.
1st place: Cole Bassett
5 goals, 3 assists; Salary $119,000; $14,875 per goal/assist
Even if you conclude at the end of the 2021 season that Cole Bassett is a less valuable asset to the Rapids than Sam Vines was, and even if you thought that 5 goals, 3 assists for a ‘budding star’ with a lot of hype is on the modest side, the math above shows why the young Bassett, age 20 years, 111 days, is incredibly valuable. He was productive. He was cheap. He is still super young, with many more years ahead of him yet to play. And he still has growth potential which teams abroad may think they may be able to actualize.
Sam Vines sell-on fee to Anderlecht was only $2.1 million but included the retention of a significant sell-on percentage. Gianluca Busio went to Venezia for $6 million, but with incentives it could rise to $10.5 million. And Tyler Adams is rumored to be in the crosshairs of Arsenal in a deal that could net NYRB $14.3 million.
If Euro teams want bang for buck, Cole is a winner for sure.
The ‘Sunk Cost Fallacy’ Award (Worst G+ per dollar spent)
“Winner”: Younes Namli
Raw Total G+: 0.89 (0.15 G+per 96 minutes); Salary for 2021: $1.27 million
Before you scream ‘but he was hurt!’, mmm, no. This is evaluating the 585 minutes Namli was on the field this year. Simply put, for $1.3 million, you ought to be in the top five, or at least top ten of players on your team in G+. Out of 25 outfield players to step on the pitch this season, Namli was 19th in G+. Per 96 minutes, he was 18th out of 25.
Sure, the sample size is small, and sure, he was hurt, and maybe if he’s healthy and gets reps and into a rhythm, he’s better. But 500 minutes isn’t nothing. Namli is simply a disappointment.
The Pablo Mastroeni MVP Award (the MVP According to ‘The Human Spirit’)
Runner-up: Danny Wilson
There’s something very C38/Pablo Mastroeni ‘Keep Fighting’ about a centerback brought in under the last coach that looked like a flaming tire fire in his first year and was deeply disliked by the fan base and the pundits, but persisted, turned it around, and became an essential everyday piece of the backline three years later. That’s Danny Wilson.
He was a regular for a 2018 Rapids team that finished 8-7-19 (WTL), 10th out of 11 teams in the Western Conference, logging 1,935 minutes that year. And three years later, he’s an everyday starter for a team that finished first in the west. You love to see it.
Winner: Michael Barrios
Michael Barrios earns the award because he simply changes the way the Rapids play - and fundamentally changes the trajectory of the game - every time he’s out there. As the ball settles in defensive end of the midfield and Jack Price or Kellyn Acosta get a handle on it, you just anticipate seeing Barrios take that 40 yard dash down the right flank. You know someone with bang it long over the entire opposition, and you just hope the pass will be just the right strength or that it will check up just right into the corner for Barrios to latch onto to it.
That kind of behind-the-line speed keeps opponents honest and gives Colorado a weapon that lets them stretch the field. And because Barrios is stretching the field, if the Rapids choose on a possession *not* to hit the big switch to Michael, and instead work through the middle on short passes, they can. Because Barrios has created that space for them.
He also has 8 goals and 5 assists to lead the team. Human spirit-matters aside, that’s simply an MVP performance.
The Rapids Rabbi MVP Award (the MVP According to Math)
Stats are better, less subject to human bias or error, and more prone to actually uncovering truths than our subjective human interpretations of the game. Stats beat the shit out of the human spirit every day of the week, and I’ll fistfight Pablo Mastroeni in a Commerce City dive bar to prove that point beyond a shadow of a doubt.5
Winner: Jack Price
G+ Above Average: +1.34, best on COL; 38th overall in MLS
Jack’s defense is good - as we can see in his Interrupting G+ of +0.57. It’s his passing, though, that makes him exceptional, and makes him this team’s MVP. Price’s Passing G+ of +2.07 is 3rd amongst all MLS midfielders. He is behind only Minnesota’s Emanuel Reynoso (+2.19) and probable MLS MVP Carles Gil (an outrageous +3.30, the 4th-best mark EVER by an MLS midfielder6).
It’s corner kick accuracy. It’s set pieces. It’s diagonal balls. His Progressive Passes rate - a number that demonstrates successful passes that advance the ball past a number of opposing defenders - was 5.627 , which was in the 87th percentile for MLS midfielders. Among the other top MLS leaders in assists (Price, Djordje Mihailovic, Carles Gil, Maxi Moralez, Hany Mukthar, and Aaron Herrera) Price had the highest completed passes rate at 84.1%. He had the highest long passes completed rate too, at 65.8%.
Price was tabbed the ‘Shropshire Pirlo’ way back in 2018, shortly after he came to Colorado. Funny thing: Andrea Pirlo’s best year in MLS was 2016. He only had a +1.76 Passing G+ that year.
Maybe we should call Jack ‘Shropshire Better Than Pirlo’.
I don’t actually agree that it should be this way. Robin Fraser is, far and away, the best coach this year, because he took mostly the same team that Anthony Hudson had - a team that in 2019 couldn’t win a single game in the first nine matches of the 2019 season under Hudson - and won the Western Conference with them. Bruce Arena, though, will win the award, because his team had the most wins, and we need to accept that. Although that’s kind of dumb, it is also an acceptable and simple metric for who deserves the hardware.
Three MLS teams made it through all of 2021 without conceding an own goal: SKC, Seattle, and NYRB. All three made the playoffs. Interesting.
I invest in very boring mutual funds.
I will not actually fight Pablo Mastroeni. But I would have a reasoned debate with him over pints about the value of metrics in soccer.
All numbers c/o American Soccer Analysis. Fun fact: the best Passing G+ mark ever in MLS, +3.91, was set by … Carles Gil in 2019.