I’ve been terrible with trying to keep up with this quantitative metric, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to throw out an updated version in a vain attempt to try to play catch up with the status quo, being that the league is crawling towards the World Cup break.

Really, the point of this exercise is to try and capture how often players are creating shots–not just for themselves, but for teammates. It’s still pretty simplistic, and by no means the definitive answer to who the most valuable attackers are, but it’s a start in moving away from basing value judgements on goal totals.

To be as clear as possible this is not a metric that measures quality or success of the shot. It’s purely about opportunities to score. Either by way of putting mates* in position to score through passes that lead to shots–key passes–or to create a shot by himself–assisted or not–are the ways I count shots created.

*Editor loves word choice.

One thing I did do to include the best available and least luck-influenced player was to set a threshold of 700 minutes played. That limit was arbitrary and selected merely based upon the results of compiling the list. For that reason, and no other, you won’t see individuals such as Michael Bradley, Gilberto, Brad Davis, Joao Plata, Marco Di Vaio and Kekuta Manneh on this list even though their shot creation rates merited a position in the top 50. I am very high on both Plata and Manneh, and I would love to see both surpass the 600-minute mark and really fly beyond 2,000 minutes this season so we can see what their stable versions look like.

50-33: The Above Average

Rank Name Club Position Minutes Key Passes Assists Shots ShC ShC/90 50 Blas Perez Dallas FWD 899 6 2 24 32 3.20 49 Nick DeLeon DC MF 1026 12 2 23 37 3.25 48 Vincent Nogueira Philadelphia MF 1348 17 2 30 49 3.27 47 Juninho LA MF 962 9 3 23 35 3.27 46 Benny Feilhaber KC MF 1260 26 3 17 46 3.29 45 Erick Torres Chivas FWD 1186 8 1 37 46 3.49 44 Jack McInernery Montreal FWD 844 11 1 21 33 3.52 43 Baggio Husidić LA MF 761 13 1 16 30 3.55 42 Dillion Powers Colorado MF 825 21 3 9 33 3.60 41 Lamar Neagle Seattle MF 987 10 2 28 40 3.65 40 Teal Bunbury NE FWD 1170 15 3 30 48 3.69 39 Felipe Martins Montreal MF 996 15 2 24 41 3.70 38 Jairo Arrieta Columbus FWD 818 9 0 25 34 3.74 37 Max Urruti Portland FWD 744 5 0 26 31 3.75 36 Justin Mapp Montreal MF 949 17 4 19 40 3.79 35 Travis Ishizaki LA MF 735 20 1 10 31 3.80 34 Andrew Wenger Philadelphia FWD 1012 11 1 31 43 3.82 33 Diego Fagundez NE MF 1086 8 2 37 47 3.90

I’ll admit there is quite a bit of disparity between Diego Fagundez (#33) and Nick DeLeon (#49). This group does however hold a few names seems that, to my mind, seem to fit together. Blas Perez (#50), Erick Torres (#45), Jack McInerney (#44) and Andrew Wenger (#34) all are viewed a bit differently in terms of success, but, again, this isn’t about results-based productivity so much as process-based productivity. We’re merely looking at how much they’re involved in creating goal scoring chances, regardless of the quality of those chances or where they are located. In that context it makes more sense.

The lone surprise for me in this tier is Justin Mapp. I would have assumed he’d be much higher on this list being that he’s been on the few bright spots for Montreal a long with JackMac.

32-10: The Good.

Rank Name Club Position Minutes Key Passes Assists Shots ShC ShC/90 32 Chris Wondolowski San Jose FWD 810 6 0 30 36 4.00 31 Obafemi Martins Seattle FWD 1246 19 6 31 56 4.04 30 Michel Dallas MF 740 14 2 18 34 4.14 29 Lee Nguyen NE MF 1032 24 0 24 48 4.19 28 B. Wright-Phillips NYRB FWD 1051 8 0 41 49 4.20 27 Edson Buddle Colorado FWD 707 10 1 22 33 4.20 26 Shea Salinas San Jose MF 916 32 4 7 43 4.22 25 Sabastian Fernandez Vancouver FWD 654 10 0 21 31 4.27 24 Will Bruin Houston FWD 1221 20 1 37 58 4.28 23 Graham Zusi KC FWD 794 24 3 11 38 4.31 22 Alvaro Saborio Real Salt Lake FWD 869 5 2 35 42 4.35 21 Leonardo Fernandez Philadelphia FWD 701 13 1 20 34 4.37 20 Giles Barnes Houston FWD 1335 12 2 51 65 4.38 19 Gaston Fernandez Portland FWD 757 19 0 18 37 4.40 18 Mike Magee Chicago FWD 714 9 2 24 35 4.41 17 Harry Shipp Chicago FWD 894 23 4 17 44 4.43 16 Marco Pappa Seattle MF 751 12 1 24 37 4.43 15 Mauro Diaz Dallas MF 646 16 2 14 32 4.46 14 Bernando Anor Columbus MF 718 11 0 25 36 4.51 13 Cristian Maidana Philadelphia MF 871 23 2 20 45 4.65 12 Quincy Amarikwa Chicago FWD 880 15 4 28 47 4.81 11 Dom Dwyer KC FWD 1050 7 0 50 57 4.89 10 Deshorn Brown Colorado FWD 902 6 0 43 49 4.89

Two other names that are notable here. Edson Buddle (#27)–whom everyone thought was done two years ago when he was traded to Colorado–and Marco Pappa (#16), who was kind of a last minute signing before the start of the season, and who was a serious question mark considering his lack of playing time in the Netherlands. Now both of these individuals that were stamped as likely non-essentials are two of most involved in the creation of their clubs attack. Lee Nguyen (29) coming in higher than Obafemi Martins (31) makes me laugh, simply because Martins is second in the league in assists and most people still hold that to being the truest or, perhaps, the most obvious sign of team goal contributions. Yet Nguyen has been a catalyst for New England and is simply their most valuable player when it comes to finding the ability to create chances. This is the meat and potatoes of the list.

9-4: The Elite.

Rank Name Club Position Minutes Key Passes Assists Shots ShC ShC/90 9 Javier Morales Real Salt Lake MF 1154 41 5 21 67 5.23 8 Fabian Espindola DC FWD 1086 30 4 30 64 5.30 7 Diego Valeri Portland MF 1117 28 5 37 70 5.64 6 Landon Donovan LA MF 802 24 2 25 51 5.72 5 Thierry Henry NYRB FWD 1170 23 4 49 76 5.85 4 Federico Higuain Columbus FWD 1080 39 5 27 71 5.92

So there that is. There shouldn’t be any argument here with any of these names. Fabian Espindola (#8) is the sole reason DC even has a shot at the playoffs. He is going to get every opportunity to be ‘the man’ in black and red. Landon Donovan (#6) despite his uncanny snubbery from the US National Team is still clearly a major factor for the Galaxy and their attack. Sticking with the theme of decline in skills, Thierry Henry (#5) is still one of the greatest to ever play in MLS.

Oh, and I’m just biding my time for Higuian to get past this “slump” and jet into the MVP Candidate category… because that’s simply where he belongs. More on that down the road.

3-1: The MVP Candidates.

Rank Name Club Position Minutes Key Passes Assists Shots ShC ShC/90 3 Robbie Keane LA FWD 990 19 2 45 66 6.00 2 Clint Dempsey Seattle MF 751 14 2 43 59 7.07 1 Pedro Morales Whitecaps MF 821 31 4 38 73 8.00

Clint Dempsey (#2) has had the kind of year that is simply bananas. It’s been so crazy that it’s somehow eclipsed the Pedro Morales (#1) show that is going on just a few short hours north of him. Sure, these guys take penalty kicks, but that’s only a small fraction of their shots generated. If these two take this same show into the later stages of the season I can’t think there would be much reason to consider anyone else for MVP.

Oh, I guess you could probably throw Robbie Keane‘s (#3) name in that list, too. People forget about ol’ faithful, but even without his P.I.C. (read: ‘Partner in Crime’ for those that aren’t as hip as I am) for a game or two here and there, he’s still been incredible. Currently he ranks third in individual expected goals, proving that he also finds dangerous places to take his shots and doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Oh, and despite the angry looks and words AND finger wags, he gets his teammates those same opportunities.

And here’s the Excel File for the top 50.