Okay Chattahooligans! You’ve now had nine games (five of them at home) to watch Chattanooga FC play. It’s time for us to name The Chattahooligan’s Most Valuable player of the regular season. Who will it be? Well, we’ll simply go with a democratic approach: whoever receives the most votes by email or by comments posted to this blog entry by 10:00pm on Thursday July 22 will win the title.
Let us get you started. We’ll give you players from each position that we think are worthy of the MVP honor:
Goalkeeper: Richard Masters
Defender: Josh Scott
Midfielder: Luis Salazar or Fynn Glover
Striker: Chris Ochieng or Irvin Espinal
Do you have others? Vote and tell us why! Post a comment here and/or email us at chat@chattahooligan.com!
GK: Masters
D: Scott
M: Glover
F: Ochieng
Overall MVP: Fynn Glover. I don’t think he’s scored at all, or maybe not even had many (if any) assists this season, but he holds our defense together as a holding midfielder and always finds the right person with the ball at the right time. You can always see him controlling everything that happens in the midfield and he’s a HUGE reason why CFC is undefeated at this point in the season.
Much as I respect Matt’s opinion on Glover, Salazar’s hustle and aggression is what opened up the game up front.
But my vote for overall MVP is Masters. He had a helluva season.
I agree with both John Q and Matt Coniglio: it is very hard to pick one person as there are many worthy players. And what (no doubt) has made the team so successful is that CFC really plays as a team — not as individuals! Hard to single out one player over the others.
That said, I have been very impressed with Luis Salazar’s play this year. He seems to create and contribute a great deal to the team, both offensively and defensively.
Keeper: Richard Masters
Defender: Josh Scott
Midfielder: Flynn Glover
Striker: Irvin Espinal
MVP: Richard Masters, without him “blocking your goals!!” we wouldn’t be where we are today!
As a CFC board member, I have to say I have been extremely impressed with the play of the entire team, even the guys who have gotten very little play time! it is no easy task to name an MVP — and perhaps this is a silly contrivance of our modern sportsworld fixation on “superstars”, and we should not bother to pick one out over the others… But instead acknowledge the value of the team. Which is what I think is great about CFC, both last year and this year.
But I have to admit that Luis has caught my eye very often throughout the season.
It’s tough to pick – and what an amazing thing to be able to say in Chattanooga.
But I’ve got to say that every time the ball comes to Luis, I sit up ready for something to happen.
Salazar or Glover. Fynn’s defensive efforts in the midfield have shut down the opposition all season long. I can’t think of a game (at least the home games) where he didnt perform well. Salazar is impressive because of his natural talent on the ball, and also his capacity to assist his teammates. He and Ochieng worked marvealously together, it’s a shame that they won’t be able to partner up front anymore. On the defensive side, I believe we are forgetting Andrew Stewart. He was a rock back there!
It has certainly been a team effort, not to mention the 20 players who came to practices but will never see the field. If I had to pick I do think that I’d go with Fynn. Joshua is a rock. Russell is all heart. You cannot win games without scoring goals and stopping them. All of that being so, I think that someone who does not get dispossessed in the midfield and slows down the attack is always an MVP on any team.
All are worthy, but I certainly agree with the sentiments expressed on Luis. However, both Josh Scott and Andy Stewart deserve tremendous credit for their work in the back, and it’s about time backs got some credit. I am a big Richard Masters fan but without great defending our GA average would not be what it is!
Well said Tim — for you fair weather fans, Richard played all but a game and a half of the 9 regular season games. During those games only 5 goals were allowed — that’s an average of a little less than 0.6 goals per game. Pretty hard to win on less than one goal… Especially when our offense averaged 2.3 goals a game. ; )
For me it is between Fynn and Masters. If pressed to choose, I’d have to go with Fynn Glover.
RICHARD MASTTERSS!
For D: I have to say Russel Courtney he has impressed me all season long. However, masters is the MVP overall. I have no idea why he hasn’t been snatched up by some bigger club.
I’ll go for the cop out and say the team is the MVP this year. Last year’s team had talent but these last few matches this year the training and teamwork have shown off.
Passes with seeming “premonition” have made the ChattFC guys a thrill to cheer for. Solid and intelligent defense that transitions to attack every chance they get – I’ll take that every year.
I saw some very exciting games by CFC this year and I noticed that at each home game there were more fans than the game before. The support of the community has been nothing short of outstanding. On July 4 there were close to 3500 fans. At the last game there were over 5000!!! AMAZING. I cast my vote for the fans of CFC as MVP (Most Valuable People).
Wow! That’s a tough choice with such a talented team. I think Courtney is silent but deadly. Sasha seems to always be in the right spot. Luis Salazar tears up the pitch. But, of the players being thrown out there, I am going with RICHARD MASTERS. He is one heck of a goalie, and he has a contagious smile!
Salazar is my vote with Ochieng a close second. They have contributed greatly to this year’s team. However, Salazar is a more complete player
Tough one… I first thought Masters, for obvious reasons. Then I switched to Courtney (I love how he works that defense). Finn’s a workhorse who’s really evolved from the fouling-machine he was last season, but it seemed like he had trouble getting involved ’till about the third or fourth game this year. So, my MVP vote is for Salazar. His coast-to-coast play won us more than a few matches this season. Without him, I doubt we’d have finished first.
This is such a “team” by the very definition of the term, Would Ochieng have had such an incredible scoring record without Salazar? Would Masters been able to fend off all those goals without Scott or Courtney, and vice versa? it makes me uncomfortable to accept the concept of MVP, but I think this a great way to start a conversation to give the guys the credit they deserve. That being said, I’m always a big fan of the play-maker on a team. Not necessarily the person who scores the goals, but the guy who makes team click: a well timed pass, a critical tackle, or just calms the pace down enough in a breakaway to let it develop and start a pass, pas, pass, Cross, GOOOAALLL!!!
A few fellas had that ability this year, but I think Luis gets the nod from me…or Courtney…oh hell i can’t decide.
It is hard to pick just one because they make such a great team; however, everyone always seems to overlook the person who is a big play maker. That is Sasha. He always knows where his man is, and he can make the perfect pass. His corner kicks are usually right on the money. Just because he doesn’t score, don’t overlook his incredible talent.
My vote is definitely for Luis Salazar. He has contributed so much to the team and given them the opportunity to score countless times. His perfect passes and talent with the ball are key aspects to the team’s success. He is a remarkable player.
If the other team can’t score, they can’t win. So my vote is for Richard Masters. (“He’s Blockin’ Your Goals!”)
The fans….can I say the board…..coaching staff…..what a wonderful season and a beautiful experience to see this city come around this team! If I have to pick one player, I’m going to say Richard Masters. He has been fantastic as goalie and solid
in the back. The team has played unified and fabulously! I’m so impressed by the entire group! Thanks CFC!!
After reading all the comments, I’m still going with my first thought. Luis Salazar. Richard Masters is a close second.
Jake Warren for sure!!!