MLS
Who will win MLS MVP? Messi, Arango, Puig
A third of the way into the 2024 regular season, we take a look at the front-runners for the Landon Donovan MVP Award.
MLS Matchday 11 concluded on Sunday evening with a goalless draw on the West Coast between Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy. In both the East and the West the table is starting to take shape, with Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake leading their respective conferences.
We’re roughly a third of the way through the regular season and a few of the league’s elite stars are also starting to emerge from the rest. Every year the league’s Most Valuable Player is given the Landon Donovan MVP Award. The reigning MVP is Luciano Acosta who starred for 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati. Acosta’s win was the third time in five seasons that the league’s MVP was awarded to a member of the team that lifted the Supporters Shield.
With that in mind, here’s a look at three early front-runners for the 2024 Landon Donovan MVP Award...
Will Lionel Messi win the MLS MVP?
In short, probably yes. The Inter Miami captain sparked a dramatic mid-season turnaround in 2023 but fell just short of leading his team to the playoffs. This time around, with the team better-suited to his extraordinary talents, Lionel Messi is the outright favourite to be crowned the league’s best player at the conclusion of the 2024 regular season.
His Inter Miami sit top of Eastern Conference, albeit having played one extra game, and Messi leads the league for both goals and assists. He has managed that despite only starting in 58% of their MLS games so far. Taking the phrase ‘Most Valuable Player’ literally, Messi has a pretty convincing case. Inter Miami have won six of the seven games that he has started, winning just one of the four matches that he missed.
Saturday’s second half demolition of a strong New York Red Bulls team, with Messi recording an MLS-record five assists, was the latest in a string of jaw-dropping performances for the Argentine.
Chicho Arango leads RSL to the top
Messi may grab the headlines but he is not the only MLS star enjoying a historic start to the campaign. Real Salt Lake pulled off a major coup last summer when they tempted 2022 MLS Cup winner Christian ‘Chicho’ Arango back to the league. The Colombian impressed in 2023 but his performances have gone to another level this year and he has led RSL to the top of the Western Conference.
Named club captain over the off-season, Arango is central to this exciting RSL attack and head coach Pablo Mastroeni has been full of praise for the striker. Salt Lake play a more measured, defensively compact style than Messi’s Miami and that has placed greater offensive burden on Arango. The 29-year-old has certainly delivered. He has either scored (nine) or assisted (seven) 89% of Real Salt Lake’s goals this season, 16 of their 18 MLS strikes. If RSL can clinch top spot in the Western Conference, Arango could have a real MVP claim.
Can Riqui Puig make history with LA Galaxy?
In the 28-year history of the MLS MVP, midfielders rarely win the award. Passing, controlling, non-scoring midfielders like Riqui Puig are very rarely named the league’s best. But if he can restore LA Galaxy to the level of genuine MLS Cup contenders the Spaniard would have a real claim to be named MVP. After a period of relentless success the Galaxy have struggled in the past decade, failing mount a realistic push for MLS Cup. In fact, in the past seven seasons they have made it to the post-season only twice.
In 2024, however, the Galaxy sit third in the Western Conference and are just two points adrift of leaders RSL. Puig has been at the heart of the team this year and has recorded the most passes in the league, beating out former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets. He has only provided three goals and two assists across ten MLS appearance but his vision has facilitated impressive performances from Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic while also helping with defensive stability.
Speaking to AS USA earlier this year, Puig made clear that he’s targeting real success in his third season at the club: “This year we no longer have excuses. The first year I arrived was one of adaptation, the second we had many injuries, but this year we have to produce our best football. It’s a very important year for us, for the players, for the club and for the coach.”