Chris Pontius

Date Of Birth: May 12, 1987 (25)



Height: 6"0'



Place Of Birth: California US



Current Club: D.C. United (MLS)



Position: Attacking Midfielder



Brief History + How MLS Works



In the MLS you have to realize they do their business the "American" way. This usually includes some sort of draft out of Universities. Not all the time does this happen, however, in 95% of cases this does. This is not the most productive way and if the MLS and Football wants to grow this needs to change. Transfers are also a big problem but I will not go into that as it is to complicated and i'm not sure i even understand it.



In High school Chris played for his Local School Servite HS, they were called Irvine Strikers. In his 2nd last year before he started University with the University of California (UoC) he had lead them to Nomad College Showcase which they went on to win.



As i had said earlier with the draft that takes place here in Canada and the U.S. he was chosen 7th overall in the 2009 MLS Superdraft. That is when he was picked up by D.C. United where he started his career three years ago.



When he got drafted his first season wasn't all to be what he thought it would be. He had a good amount of Appearances but hardly any goals to go along with it. Which in turn lead to his second season. He had a little over fifteen appearances but only two goals. His 3rd season in my opinion was his breakthrough year. He had a new teammate, Dwayne De Rosario. The Canadian legend (I know, we only have one!) who was voted MLS player of the season last season. Dwayne and Pontius formed an instant connection which really took his career off. These two seem to have been the reason D.C. United are where they are in the league table/conference (9th in the league/4th in the conference)



In the 2012 MLS All Star game against Chelsea he won The MLS All Star MVP trophy (which the team beat chelsea 3-2) he was only on the field for roughly 30 minutes as well. He scored the goal which tied the game from his club team mate Dwayne De Rosario (c).



Strengths: Getting open to score, knows how to score, doesn't get pushed off the ball to easy, determined, positional awarement.



Weaknesses: His shooting isn't always accurate, and for an attacking midfielder he should create more chances.



Business end: I'm not sure who he is linked to, but I don't think D.C. would let him go for cheap. (MLS does trades) If i would say he could be good in a team it would be one like Swansea, the new Liverpool, Barcelona etc. i'm not saying he is to that caliber but that would ideally be what he'd be fitted to in my opinion. I would also move him onto the wing like what Joe Cole is doing at Liverpool. i feel he because of his positional awarement he could score much more goals (tap ins).



Thanks guys please let me know what you think as i plan to do more on players from the MLS....JLFC