Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Sept 13, 2024 15:44:48 GMT
It's possible to rack up individual stats while being a net negative for your team. In 2018 Zlatan scored 22 MLS goals, more than any Sounder has ever scored in a season, and the team finished 7th in the West and missed the playoffs. In 2019 he scored 30, the third highest in history, and the Galaxy finished 21 pts behind LAFC before getting knocked out by them in the conference semifinal. Ronaldo finished 3rd in the Golden Boot race and was Man U's player of the season in 21/22, which got them a disappointing sixth place and a trophyless season. He f-ed off to Saudi, and they finished 3rd next season.
The problem with just looking at G/A is that it doesn't account for things like, oh I don't know, 3 of the goals being against a center back in goal. Look at this play from our opener last year. Lodeiro busts his ass to get to the back post and make this goal happen. That doesn't show up on the scoresheet as an assist, but this "assist" does for Rusnak, even though it was a two yard pass, he probably wasn't trying to pass to Cristian, and it was a deflection that allowed it to go in.
Go back and watch the highlights from the Conference Final win over LAFC. Not only did Lodeiro get a goal and two assists, but you'll see him breaking up plays and making tackles. It's not just about Lodeiro being more skilled, it's about how he was working for the team and not for Nicolas Lodeiro.
