New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman came off the bench on Sunday to score a brace, his 100th and 101st goals in Major League Soccer. In his seven years in the league, the striker has racked up 101 goals in just 174 matches played. That's a fantastic strike rate, and while Twellman is a legitimate American star in a league that isn't exactly overflowing with them, I'll have to admit to under-appreciating him.
It's not that I don't recognize that Twellman is a very good player, and it's not that I can't see greatness when it's in front of me; it's just that he's always been an afterthought, a man who's presence in MLS I've taken for granted.
Consider this post as my attempt to make amends.
Perhaps it's my disdain for the Revolution on the whole, which can be chalked up to both my MLS club preference and the unfortunate (yet ultimately fixable) stadium situation in which the Revs find themselves (i.e., crowd on one side of the stadium, football lines mucking up the artificial surface). Perhaps it's Twellman's less-than-impressive National Team record; I am, after all, an admitted "country first" fan, and because Twellman hasn't had a prominent role with the Nats in recent years, I tend to forget how good he has been for his club. Add to that the fact that the Revolution have never been able to breakthrough and win an MLS Cup, and you have my completely illogical feelings (or lack thereof) for the league's latest century scorer.
Only five men in Major League Soccer's fourteen year history have broken the 100 goal barrier. Jaime Moreno is the league's all time leading scorer with 125, a mark that Twellman should breeze by if his health cooperates. At 29, Twellman is no spring chicken, but he's also hardly over the hill; if his reappearance on the score sheet this weekend is any indication (okay, so it was the Red Bulls, but there's a chance), Twellman could very possibly head into 2010 or 2011 with the record in sight.
I may not have given Twellman his due to this point, and I may have overlooked just how good he has been over his MLS career, but I'll certainly be cheering him on (with exceptions, of course) when he approaches the league scoring record. He's a damn good player who's prime has given MLS an East Coast counterpoint to his more heralded countryman Landon Donovan; while Donovan gets the praise, Twellman has been more lethal. Different players on different teams in different systems, but it still helps frame Twellman's contributions; 101 goals in 174 appearances for the Revs striker, 90 goals in 194 appearances for the LA Galaxy man.
I'll probably never "like" Taylor Twellman in any meaningful way, and I still get a laugh out of his Kick Medic commercials; but the man can play some soccer, and now that I've been slapped out of my idiocy on just how good he is by his century-breaking performance on Sunday, I'm here to say that I now appreciate Taylor Twellman.
