Fansided

MLS Week 12: Picking yearly awards at the 1/3 mark of the regular season

By Harrison Hamm

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 13: Los Angeles FC forward Carlos Vela (10) dribbles the ball during the game between the Los Angeles FC and the New York City FC on May 13, 2018 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 13: Los Angeles FC forward Carlos Vela (10) dribbles the ball during the game between the Los Angeles FC and the New York City FC on May 13, 2018 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In this week’s MLS review: A look at award races, the wacky Red Bulls win over Atlanta United and more

We’re about a third of the way through the MLS season. That’s as good a time as any to check up on the award races, which are starting to become clearer. So as part of Week 12’s review, a look at the top award contenders at this point in the year:

MVP

  1. Carlos Vela (LAFC)
  2. Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United)
  3. Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo)
  4. Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)
  5. Federico Higuain (Columbus Crew SC)

It’s been a good season for star players. Vela, with seven goals and five assists, has been especially brilliant, leading expansion LAFC to a torrid second-place start despite an early road-heavy schedule. He’s a game-breaker, a player who can make turn the game on its head with one moment of excellence.

Almiron is taking more shots than ever — only Sebastian Giovinco has more shots per game than him — and has been dominant for the league’s best team. Elis has been similarly dominant and continues to skin defenders every week. Both have had a difficult time finishing in the final third, though, and that goes beyond shots. They have sometimes struggled to generate quality shots once they have created space for themselves and teammates. But they are both among the very best in the league.

BWP has been BWP. Higuain is creating a ton of chances and running things for the Crew, who are quickly elevating themselves to MLS’s top tier.

Marco Urena is very, very close to deserving a spot here as well.

Honorable mentions: Urena, David Villa, Diego Chara, Kaku, Ignacio Piatti

Defender of the Year

  1. Aaron Long (NYRB)
  2. Matt Hedges (FC Dallas)
  3. Alexander Callens (NYCFC)

The Red Bulls have been one of the league’s best defensive teams this season despite their CONCACAF Champions League obligations, and Long has been a huge reason for that. The league’s best attackers struggle to break him down. Long is tall enough to stand over David Villa and agile enough to not be fazed by Sebastian Giovinco.

He maneuvers well in space, particularly when backpedaling or shuffling side to side, like an NHL defenseman, and has the crucial ability to keep clever dribblers in front of him, never falling victim to shifty skill moves.

Hedges and Callens have been solid for FCD and NYC as well. This race is difficult to handicap, so it will be interesting to see how it develops over the rest of the season.

Honorable mentions: Ike Opara, Harrison Afful, Michael Parkhurst, Kendall Waston

Newcomer of the Year

  1. Carlos Vela (LAFC)
  2. Kaku (NYRB)
  3. Johnny Russell (Sporting KC)

Vela can’t be the MVP and not be the Newcomer of the Year as well.

Kaku has a league-leading nine assists and has been electric on the ball for the Red Bulls. Russell has played himself back into the Scottish national team picture with a hot start for Sporting.

Honorable mentions: Jesus Medina, Diego Rossi

Goalkeeper of the Year

  1. Brad Guzan (ATL)
  2. Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
  3. Zack Steffen (CLB)

In what has been a mistake-prone year for a lot of goalkeepers, Guzan and Turner have been close to flawless. Guzan especially has been dominant other than that season-opening 4-0 loss in Houston, and Turner has come out of nowhere in New England. Steffen has had a couple of blunders playing out of the back, but he continues to be one of the league’s best.

Honorable mentions: Sean Johnson, Tim Melia, Luis Robles, Joe Bendik

Rookie of the Year

  1. Chris Mueller (Orlando City)
  2. Alex Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
  3. Mo Adams (Chicago Fire)

This year’s crop of SuperDraft talent has been a good advertisement for the value of the draft. Mueller is starting every week in OCSC’s attack and has three goals and two assists. Roldan and Adams have won jobs in the midfields of Seattle and Chicago and have proven to be quality starters.

Some SuperDraft products — Joao Moutinho, Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Tristan Blackmon — are still finding their spots. But others are stepping directly into the starting lineup. These players are in addition to Homegrown products, who will also be in contention for this award.

Honorable mentions: Ken Krolicki, Auston Trusty, Jon Bakero, Mason Toye, Elliot Collier, Luis Argudo

Next: The 10 best teams in MLS history

Weekly Awards

The best team in the league

Atlanta United still have the edge, but the Red Bulls picked up a quality road win over the Five Stripes on Sunday in what was the best (and wackiest) game of the weekend. ATL weathered the Red Bulls’ early press storm and then peppered shots at Ryan Meara until they finally broke the backup, with an Ezequiel Barco goal. But after what looked like a clear Josef Martinez goal was called back with a dubious VAR call, Atlanta’s players seemed to lose a step.

Daniel Royer converted a penalty drawn by Bradley Wright-Phillips late in the first half and BWP scored twice in a five minute span early in the second period, giving the visitors a 3-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. VAR called back a Jeff Larentowicz red before referee Chris Penso gave Greg Garza a (correct) sending off for a studs-up tackle. This game was a rollercoaster.

Kemar Lawrence’s 73rd-minute injury takes precedence over all of this. He seemed to go unconscious after awkwardly diving down to head the ball and was carted off the field. It was a scary incident and ended up adding 12 minutes of stoppage time. The latest reports at the time of this writing are that Lawrence is in good spirits and was held at the hospital overnight as a precaution. Hopefully he will be alright.

The worst team in the league

The Colorado Rapids got thoroughly wrecked by NYCFC. The Rapids are terrible and NYC are not.

Patrick Vieira is heavily rumored to be in line for a Nice or Nantes job in France’s Ligue 1. It would be difficult, to say the least, for NYCFC to lose their coach in the middle of the season.

Unheralded player of the week

D.C. United’s Chris Durkin was solid again in defensive midfield in DCU’s 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, who are very bad. The 18-year-old covers ground well and is smart with the ball, capable of finding passers and shifting the balance of the game. He also stays in position well as a number 6, a simple but underrated thing. He does not get chased out.

San Jose need to find some organization, and quickly. Coach Mikael Stahre said after the game “my bad” and he’s not wrong. He has not instilled any confidence in his players or his system. That harbors individual errors, which killed the Quakes on Saturday night.

Random result of the week

This is a stretch but the Crew picked up a nice road victory over New England, winning on a late Lalas Abubakar set piece header. The Revs pressed well, but they were so dedicated to stopping the Crew’s deep possession that they forgot to have a midfield, which made it really easy to pass over the top. Credit to coach Gregg Berhalter for taking full advantage.

New England are still growing. They were without number 10 Diego Fagundez in this game, taking away a good bit of their creativity and ability to create chances outside of the press. But Brad Friedel has done a good job. This feels like the first time in a while there’s something to say about the Revs that isn’t lamenting their lack of direction and organizational disarray.

Predictable result of the week

It’s obviously NYC’s annihilation of Colorado. But Toronto FC also picked up a nice home win, beating Orlando City SC 2-1 on a Ryan Telfer strike. TFC need results and that is a good one.

Goalkeeper howler of the week

Ah, Tyler Miller:

Not a great rebound.

Also, in what was not a great week for goalkeepers, Tim Howard, Tim Melia, Jimmy Maurer and Richard Sanchez also had shouts here. Nick Rimando had a terrific howler saved by VAR, as well. FC Dallas’s Maurer committed an equalizing penalty in the 98th-minute against Vancouver and then failed to keep the PK out despite getting two hands on it. Sanchez came out and tripped Mauro Manotas in the box as Chicago would lose 3-2 to Houston.

Sometimes, it’s just not your day.

Home/MLS