Former Hearts midfielder Sam Nicholsons recent move back to Colorado Rapids from EFL League Two side Bristol City has now taken the number of Scottish players plying their trade in MLS to six.
Other MLS Scottish players over the years have included former Rangers striker Kenny Miller, who enjoyed a two-year stint at Vancouver Whitecaps between 2012-14, defender Steven Caldwell, who captained Toronto FC, and former Celtic winger Jamie Smith who made 62 appearances for Colorado from 2009-13.
More recently, Hearts’ Gary Mackay-Stevens had a short spell with Ronny Deila’s New York City in 2019-20 while current Hibs defender Chris Cadden made a handful of appearances for Columbus Crew in 2020.
In this data analysis, we will assess how the current crop of Scots are performing in the 2022 MLS season.
The statistics used for this analysis include all players in the same position(s) as each of the Scottish MLS players.
Players included in the datasets have all played a minimum of 700 minutes in this season’s MLS.
Data is retrieved from Wyscout, and Python is used to convert the per 90-minute numbers into percentile ranks.
The percentile ranks are then presented in a pizza chart to visualise each player’s performance across several key metrics.
The only player of the five that have been in MLS since the start of this season who is not included here is former Kilmarnock centre-back, Stuart Findlay, as he has only played on a few occasions for Philadelphia Union.
#1 Johnny Russell (32 years old) – Sporting Kansas City
Now in his fifth season in MLS, Johnny Russell has been a key player for 2013 MLS Cup winners Sporting Kansas City.
Russell, who played over 100 games at Dundee United and at Derby County before making the move across the pond, has been an ever-present for KC, racking up 45 goals and 25 assists since joining in 2018.
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