The three finalist for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award have been announced, but who deserves to win?
MLS announced its three MVP finalists on Tuesday, along with the numerous other league awards. Miguel Almiron of Atlanta United, Nemanja Nikolic of the Chicago Fire, Sebastian Giovinco of Toronto FC, David Villa of NYCFC and Diego Valeri of the Portland Timbers are the final contenders. Each have a case, although there probably is a clear winner.
Probably didn’t deserve this, but is still great: Sebastian Giovinco (FW, Toronto FC)
MLS’s best ever regular season club had to get an MVP nomination. The problem is their best players sort of offset each either, to the point where there were likely players elsewhere who deserved a spot here over a TFC player. It pretty much had to be a Reds star, though, and once it gets narrowed down like that, the top candidates became Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, Victor Vazquez and Michael Bradley.
Seba notched some highlight-reel free-kicks recently and has won this award before, so he slipped in ahead of those teammates, as well as the various snubs from other clubs. But it was a down year for him, actually: he scored 16 goals and added just six assists in an injury-hampered 25-start campaign, the first in his MLS career in which he didn’t net at least 15 assists. Despite TFC’s record-breaking season, he never completely rounded into form.
Vazquez, who was inexplicably snubbed from the Newcomer of the Year list, would have been the better choice here, with his eight goals and 16 assists and importance to the Supporters’ Shield winner. He was generally more valuable than Giovinco. Bradley is the best defensive midfielder in the league and deserves a shout, and Altidore had 15 goals and six assists while often looking better than the Atomic Ant, but Vazquez deserved it more, as did various other league contenders.
Giovinco is still the best free-kick taker on Earth.
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The influencer: Miguel Almiron (CAM, Atlanta United)
Leading an expansion team to a secure playoff berth in their first season while establishing a clear identity is not easy. That, in a nutshell, is what Almiron did in 2017.
His box score statistics don’t jump off the page as much as some others on this list — although nine goals and 14 assists is not too shabby — but his ability to run Atlanta’s high-energy system and create opportunities for stat-stuffers like Josef Martinez and Yamil Asad gives him the title of “most valuable.” Others are ahead of him, though.
The Golden Boot winner: Nemanja Nikolic (FW, Chicago Fire)
Nikolic, also a contender for Newcomer of the Year like Almiron, won the Golden Boot by a sliver over Villa, which pretty much automatically secures him a spot here.
A clinical, poaching goal-scorer who pretty much only scores goals, Nikolic is not a focal point of Chicago’s attack like other contenders. But goals are goals, and the Hungarian is a machine in front of the net.
Deserves this, but probably won’t win: David Villa (FW, NYCFC)
The reigning winner Villa had another extraordinary season in 2017. At age 35, he netted 22 goals and adde eight assists for an NYCFC team that finished second in the Eastern Conference. He scores in every way, from poacher finishes to perfect combination plays to leaping headers (he’s 5 foot 9).
He can take on defenders, play creator and move so expertly through the channels that you’ll think he’s a prototype striker built in a lab. Every young forward in the country should be assigned to watch tape of him and then emulate it on the field as much as possible.
Red Bulls fans won’t be pleased with this, but in a nutshell, Villa is a multi-dimensional Bradley Wright-Phillips. That doesn’t get him a second straight MVP, though, mostly due to the performance of the other player in contention.
Will win this and you should love him: Diego Valeri (CAM/ST, Timbers)
Most years, Villa is the clear MVP. 2017 is not most years. Valeri has this in the bag, with 21 goals and 11 assists in 32 games, including a ridiculous 11 goals and four assists in the final 12 matches. He singlehandedly took the Timbers from the tip of the red line to a first-place Western Conference finish, going an MLS-record nine straight games with a goal from July 29 to Sept. 24.
This August story by ESPNFC’s Matt Pentz is shows why he should be your favorite player.