2007 MLS FCTP Rookie of the Week...Week 9...

Well folks, we hit a milestone of sorts this week. 10% of the players to step on the field were rookies. That is the first time we have hit that number in 2007. Congrats youngsters. You're taking over the league. Ok, not quite yet but it is an impressive mile stone.

Rookies are continuing to win starting places. After seeing some of the performances over the past weeks I am starting to think this could be one of the most productive draft classes in MLS history. One third of the way through the season and 69% of the first round players have logged playing time in the league. Many of them have significant playing time.

So let's see who played a complete game this week:
Andrew Boyens
Maurice Edu
Dane Richards
Michael Harrington
Ty Harden
Bakary Soumare

Many of the usual suspects at this point, with the exception of Bakary Soumare who earned his first league start.

Starters:
Adam Cristman
Jeff Curtin

The rest:
Jerson Monteiro
Corey Ashe
Robbie Findley
Guy-Roland Kpene
Kurt Morsink
Sinisa Ubiparipovic
Wells Thompson
Gabe Gala
Omar Cummings

Players in bold saw their first MLS action this weekend.

This week my Rookie of the Week is Bakary Soumare. His first start was also Chicago's first win in a long time, and I don't think that was a coincidence. His play on the defensive end of the field solidified things enough so the attack could do their job. His strong tackles and good positioning helped Chicago right their sinking ship...this week. I'm not saying the young defensive team was the best...they did give up 18 total shots making Matt Pickens do a lot of work. Dasan Robinson, Jeff Curtin and Soumare showed this week they can play and as the season wears on I have a feeling we'll be seeing better performances from Chicago based on these young players.