Lenhart edges out Maicon Santos for POTW award

It’s not unprecedented, but it is rare when a Player of the Week winner gets the nod for less than a half’s worth of work.

But that’s the case this week, as San Jose Earthquake Steven Lenhart edged out D.C. United’s Maicon Santos for the Player of the Week Award. How close was it? Lenhart got just two more first-place votes from the members of the North American Soccer reporters than Maicon Santos.

Lenhart came in with 30 minutes left in the match, with San Jose tied 0-0 with Philadelphia. Lenhart scored the opener and, then, in injury time, scored the dramatic winner as San Jose kept atop the Western Conference with a 2-1 win.

How The 11 voted: Just like Lenhart, both of Maicon Santos’s goals came off his head. But we decided that the Brazilian’s performance was a little more complete in D.C. United’s 3-2 win over Houston, and gave him the nod.

It’s not just that Maicon Santos started the game and Lenhart didn’t; it’s because, outside of the goals, the Brazilian was a regular threat to the Dynamo defence.

Toronto FC fans have become somewhat used to seeing players the Reds trade away or release become solid MLS players somewhere else. Dwayne De Rosario won an MVP with DCU. Maicon Santos has six goals in his last six games. TFC fans saw Conor Casey become a star in Colorado. They saw Marvell Wynne win an MLS Cup as the anchor of the Rapids’ defence. Todd Dunivant has become one of the best fullbacks in MLS. Jeff Cunningham enjoyed a career renaissance after getting the heck out of Toronto.

Toronto FC has struggled to score — just six this season, the same as what Maicon Santos has by himself. And, when you see how the Brazilian striker has partnered with De Rosario in D.C., you think that maybe Reds’ fans will turn away their eyes when DCU has the chance to hand TFC its eighth straight MLS loss next weekend.

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