Bradley Wright-Phillips Not Official MVP Candidate

That Bradley Wright-Phillips isn’t even a Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player candidate is downright laughable.

There is a perception held by some within the fan base of the New York Red Bulls that Major League Soccer has, over the years, looked down on the club. The Red Bulls/former MetroStars have, after all, been the league’s biggest disappointment over the past two decades.

While the LA Galaxy have won titles and sold matches out all around North America (having David Beckham didn’t hurt), the Red Bulls have never hoisted MLS Cup in celebration. Last year’s Supporters’ Shield victory was the first significant trophy won in the history of the Red Bulls franchise. Add in that the Red Bulls rarely draw actual sellout crowds, and it’s understandable to believe why MLS would want better from the big-market club.

If such opinions regarding the relationship MLS has with the Red Bulls are inaccurate, Thursday’s events didn’t help ending those ideas.

Sep 28, 2014; Carson, CA, USA; New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips (99) yells in frustration on a missed pass in the second half of the game against the Los Angeles Galaxy at StubHub Center. Galaxy won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

MLS announced the finalists for the league’s 2014 season awards, including MVP, on Thursday. Lee Nguyen of the New England Revolution, Galaxy hitman Robbie Keane and new MLS superstar Obafemi Martins of the Seattle Sounders, all worthy candidates, were nominated for league MVP. Left off of the list was Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips.

All Bradley Wright-Phillips did during the 2014 MLS regular season was equal the league record for the most goals scored in a single season. Only two players before BWP had netted 27 tallies during a campaign. Nobody has ever bettered that mark.

I will happily listen to anybody who wants to argue that Nguyen, Keane or Martins should be named MLS MVP over Wright-Phillips. Each of those individuals had award-winning seasons. That Wright-Phillips is not even a nominee is a direct slap in the face of the player and of a club that should now have a little extra motivation to complete what would be an unexpected run all the way to MLS Cup glory.

There is no good argument, none whatsoever, for Wright-Phillips not being mentioned along with any of the three league finalists. BWP outscored all of them. Assuming that any forward would have buried at least 27 goals playing with Thierry Henry and in the system utilized by New York head coach Mike Petke is making a statement that you cannot and will never be able to verify. The Red Bulls aren’t a playoff team let alone a side two positive results away from playing in the final match of the season without the goals buried by Wright-Phillips, and anybody who says otherwise clearly didn’t watch this team over the season.

Wright-Phillips isn’t on a designated player deal, meaning that he is LITERALLY one of the most valuable players in MLS.

A NFL quarterback who tosses 55 touchdown passes is an automatic MVP candidate. Any hitter who blasts 60 home runs and 150 RBI is in line to win MLB MVP. A striker in MLS netting 27 league goals in a season should be an automatic MVP candidate, and so-called “media members” who don’t agree should have their credentials pulled immediately.

Keane would have MLS MVP locked up if he scored 27 goals this season. As would Henry, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jermain Defoe, Eddie Johnson, Graham Zusi, Jermaine Jones or Chris Wondolowski.

Wright-Phillips isn’t any of those guys. He can’t feature for the United States Men’s National Team. He hasn’t struck for goals during midweek Champions League matches. He isn’t flashy on the pitch nor does he perform back-flips after hitting the back of the net. His last name is recognized because of what members of his family accomplished during their careers more so than for what Bradley has done as a professional footballer.

Wright-Phillips, simply put, will never be the face of MLS, because players like BWP succeeding help build the notion that the North American top-flight is nothing more than a haven for retiring players and for guys who couldn’t hack it in European first tiers.

Such disrespect is nothing new for the Red Bulls. It was, after all, only a year ago when a guy who played for a club that didn’t make the playoffs in a league in which over half of its teams earn postseason berths won MLS MVP over Tim Cahill, the top man who featured for the best regular season team in the league. While MLS has continued to promote new pet project New York City Football Club via social media and stories posted on the official league website that don’t deserved to be linked here, the Red Bulls have merely knocked off regular season Eastern Conference champions DC United in a playoff series.

You may have forgotten due to the international break halting the MLS Playoffs, but the Red Bulls will be playing for the Eastern Conference Championship. It’s really happening.

As with any sports organization, MLS gets plenty right and wrong. No league is perfect. Wright-Phillips not being a MLS MVP candidate this November is a massive wrong, an undeserved snub for a player who made history.

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