After some uncharacteristic struggles during the 2019 season, Andre Blake is back to his old ways at the MLS is Back Tournament, helping lead the Philadelphia Union to the competition’s quarterfinals.
The Jamaican international, who was the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2016, has been a central figure in the Union’s advancement by making some big, and timely, saves in Orlando.
In fact, his shot-stopping stats are remarkable. His "goals conceded minus xG of shots on target conceded" figure is -3.59, which means opponents would have been expected to score 5.59 goals on average based on the quality of chances. But they’ve only scored two.
Why is that so significant? It's not only the best of the tournament so far, but the Union's 3W-0L-1D record in Orlando would also have looked a lot different since all three Union wins came by a one-goal margin.
Goals Conceded-xG of Shots on Target Conceded
Player |
GA-xG |
|---|---|
Andre Blake |
-3.59 |
Thomas Hasal |
-3.17 |
Matt Turner |
-2.64 |
Steve Clark |
-1.78 |
Bill Hamid |
-1.33 |
Przemyslaw Tyton |
-1.27 |
Pedro Gallese |
-0.92 |
Tyler Miller |
-0.92 |
Sean Johnson |
-0.85 |
Stefan Frei |
-0.65 |
There’s some expected names on this list, with Matt Turner of the New England Revolution, Portland Timbers’ goalkeeper Steve Clark and Bill Hamid of D.C. United in the top five.
Is Blake the MVP of MLS is Back?
Checking in behind Blake is none other than the Saskatoon star himself, with Thomas Hasal of the Vancouver Whitecaps GA-xG of shots on target conceded coming in at -3.17.
Blake will hope to continue that trend when the Union meet Sporting Kansas City Thursday (8 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US; TSN, TVAS2) in the MLS is Back Tournament quarterfinals.
