By Baxter Colburn, Playing For 90
Lee Nguyen, the man on every single Major League Soccer fans lips going into the 2014 MLS Playoffs. The leading goalscorer for the Revolution. New England’s first MVP candidate since 2005, the very face of the franchise. What happened to the dynamic play-maker once the playoffs started?
(second half) New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps celebrates with New England Revolution midfielder/forward Lee Nguyen (#24). The New England Revolution take on the New York Red Bulls in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette stadium. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Truthfully, nothing.
He still is sitting in the midfield, dishing out terrific passes, creating scoring chances and giving consistent hell to opposing defenses.
Nguyen is producing big-time for New England. Just not in the same fashion many Revolution fans came to expect from him. Nguyen tallied 18 goals in the regular season and dished out five assists to go with his MVP worthy season.
Since the playoffs began, Nguyen has two goals to his name, both in series against the Columbus Crew. During the series against the Crew, his role as main goal-scorer was obvious. Teammates made it a point to feed him the ball, like a point guard in basketball. Nguyen took the ball and dished it around like he owned Columbus.
