Dwayne De Rosario Named MLS MVP

Today D.C. United midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was named the 2011 MLS MVP beating out Houston's Brad Davis and Dallas's Brek Shea to win the award. On paper Dwayne De Rosario is a fantastic choice. The MLS's Golden Boot winner with 16 goals and 12 assists was named to his record 6th MLS Best XI this year. But 2011 was an interesting year for De Ro to say the least. The Canadian-born MLS veteran opened the year with Toronto FC, but was traded to the Red Bulls just 2 games into the season for midfielder Tony Tchani, defender Danleigh Borman and a first round draft pick in 2012. However, the teaming up with Thierry Henry, Juan Agudelo and company didn't pan out as planned and the plan was scrapped less than 3 months later. De Rosario was moved yet again, this time to D.C. United for Dax McCarty on the 30th of July. From that point on the Canadian played like his hair was on fire scoring 13 goals and tallying 7 assists in 18 matches, but it wasn't enough to get United into the playoffs.

Photo Credits:soccerchris.com, sportsillustrated.cnn.com, zimbio.com

Now the numbers don't lie, what De Ro did this year was ridiculous. Especially considering he had to adjust to different teams with different strategies and get familiar with new teammates and new cities. When you think about it in that sense, it's fairly remarkable that he was able to continue to play at such a high level despite everything around him almost constantly in flux. The problem I have is that this is the Most Valuable Player Award. If De Rosario was the league's most valuable player, how does he get traded twice in the same season, and how does the team he finishes the season with miss the playoffs? In fact, De Rosario is the first MLS MVP EVER to play for a non-playoff team. Compare that to say Davis, whose team is in the MLS Cup Final. Davis started every game for the Dynamo this season, led the league with 16 assists and Houston finished in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. However, I'm in the minority in saying that Davis was more deserving. De Ro finished first in coach/GM voting, media voting and player voting. Hard to argue with that. So congratulations Dwayne. Hopefully D.C. United realizes what they have in you and holds on to you for a while.

For the rest of you, don't forget, MLS Cup Final Sunday night at 9 Eastern on ESPN.