Klein might have been surprised by how great, though, with Zardes scoring a career-high 19 goals, most by an American-born player since 2013, to lead the Crew to the MLS Eastern Conference playoff semifinals. On Wednesday that performance also won Zardes the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award, a prize Klein claimed twice during his playing career.
The Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who came back from major knee surgery to score 22 goals in his first MLS season, finished second in voting by voted on by club technical staff, media and current MLS players.
And Zardes, who grew up in the shadow of the StubHub Center then spent the five first seasons of his professional career there, credited a change of scenery for this breakout season.