Revs’ Lee Nguyen makes final MVP push with league-leading ninth winner: “It’s an easy choice, Lee is MVP”

 
Vying for MLS Most Valuable Player honors against the likes of Seattle’s Obafemi Martins and Los Angeles’s Robbie Keane, Nguyen seemed to be on a mission in scoring his club’s final four goals of the season, including his league-best ninth game-winner in the 1-0 regular-season ending win against Toronto on Saturday.
 
“From [my] first day I could see that he was a good player,” Jermaine Jones said. “He’s important for the team, he scores a lot of goals. We are happy that he plays a really good season.”
 
With his 18th goal of the season, Nguyen surpassed Martins to finish fourth in the league, just one tally behind Keane.

• For Revs’ playmaker Lee Nguyen, a rugged road to MLS stardom

Yet Nguyen’s efforts came as a pure midfielder, while Keane and Martins are their club’s primary strikers, and his 18 goal were by far the league high for a non-forward.
 
“He’s been really good,” head coach Jay Heaps said. “But it’s not just what he does inside the other team’s 18. It’s the way he plays, the way he defends, the way he picks up second balls. He’s collecting the ball in midfield and the minute he gets it he’s creating space and options for everybody. He dictates a lot of the game in our break when we’re trying to get forward.”
 
It’s no coincidence that the team went 11-1-2 in matches that Nguyen found the back of the net. Even through a league-worst eight-game losing streak, he did everything in his power to will the team to victory, creating 3.29 chances per match.
 
Coming out of that stretch, Nguyen went on a tear, firing home 12 goals while adding four assists over the final 14 games, helping push the Revs from seventh place to second in the Eastern Conference.

• READ: Nguyen lives the celebrity life in Vietnam

“He’s obviously the most important player to any team,” said defender A.J. Soares. “The other MVP candidates are awesome players but probably not as pivotal in their team’s success on the year. Lee basically is winning games for us on a weekly basis. I think it’s pretty obvious. For me, it’s an easy choice. Lee is MVP.”
 
Nguyen clearly has the backing of his club and the supporters who voted him New England MVP prior to Saturday’s match. Now it just comes down to the voters to recognize his brilliance.

via Revs’ Lee Nguyen makes final MVP push with league-leading ninth winner: “It’s an easy choice, Lee is MVP” | MLSsoccer.com.