We are officially half way through the season. There have been a ton of surprises both good and bad. St. Louis City has been the story of the league, but you can't look past how good FC Cincinnati have been. There's also been that disastrous start for Sporting KC, and it continues for Colorado and the LA Galaxy. The biggest story of the first half of the season has revolved around a player who hasn't even played a game in MLS yet, Lionel Messi. You know one of the greatest soccer players of all time.
Today I want to focus on the following:
-My MLS Best XI for the first half of the season
-Awards for Coach of the Year, MVP, and Young Player of the Year
MLS Best XI
My MLS Best XI really has no qualifiers. I'm not using advanced metrics, just the Fumbling Punter eye test as to who I think belongs on this list. It will coincide with my MLS All Star Ballot, so here we go:
GK: Roman Bürki St. Louis City SC; Lots of people laughed about St. Louis having a keeper as a Designated Player, but the team had a vision and it has worked out nicely. Bürki has been excellent and has four clean sheets to his name. Honorable Mentions: Djorde Petrovic (NER) Andre Blake (PHI)
RB: DeJuan Jones NE Revs; When Jones is firing on all cylinders the Revs look scary good. He can play either fullback position and he's finally gotten some love on the National Team side (though I would argue he needs to be more involved). Jones has a goal and four assists on the campaign and he has had a good season. Honorable Mention: Brooks Lennon (ATL)
CB: Miles Robinson Atlanta United; Robinson is steady on the ball, he's quick and he doesn't leave opponents unmarked in the box. This will likely be his last season in MLS as he has been heavily tied to a transfer to Europe, and that's probably a move he needs to take to secure his spot in the national team. Honorable Mention: Matt Miazga (FCC) Tim Parker (STL)
CB: Jack Elliot Philadelphia Union; He's the man that keeps things clear in front of Andre Blake. He is a steady defender for Jim Curtin's side who have been playing extremely well as of late. Honorable Mention: Kyle Hiebert (STL)
LB: Nouhou Seattle; Nouhou is just at another level of left back in this league. He's so good at shutting the opposition down, and he's great on the ball. Seattle have been on a bad run, but if they keep pushing towards the top of the Western Conference Nouhou's steady play will be a big reason why. Honorable Mention: Jon Gallagher (ATX) Kai Wagner (PHI)
CM; Eduard Löwen St. Louis City; When Klauss went down, it's been Löwen that has steadied the ship for St. Louis and kept them atop the Western Conference. He's the undeniable field general and he makes things tick. Honorable Mention: Aidan Morris (CLB) Noel Buck (NER)
AM: Thiago Almada Atlanta United; The World Cup winner has cooled off slightly from his blazing hot start this season. He like Miles Robinson is likely playing in his last season in Major League Soccer and he's likely going to be a record outbound transfer for MLS and Atlanta United. Let's enjoy him while we can. Honorable Mention: Timothy Tillman (LAFC)
AM: Carles Gil New England Revs; Gil is so incredibly good. He finds guys when no one else can, and he can also finish. He's got 6 goals/7 assists and he's invaluable to his Revs team. Honorable Mention: Jose Cifuentes (LAFC)
ST/10: Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC; He is the heart and soul of the 2nd best team in the league. Without Mukhtar Nashville is near the bottom of the league. He is that good and that important to that team and he's having another incredible season. Honorable Mention: (10) Jesus Ferreira (DAL) Daniel Gazdag (PHI) (Striker): Christian Benteke (DC)
RW: Denis Bouanga LAFC; Bouanga has 17 goals in all competitions this year. He's just been on absolute fire. He's given up PK's, he just seems like a great teammate. There's no chance I was leaving him off of this team. Honorable Mention: Christian Espinosa (SJ)
LW: Luciano Acosta FC Cincinnati; Acosta has been excellent for FCC. He's taking the pressure off of Vasquez and has made folks forget about the absence of Brenner. Honorable Mention: Jordan Morris (SEA) Nico Giocchini (STL)
MLS Coach of The Year
Pat Noonan FC Cincinnati; The club that won the Wooden Spoon their first three seasons lost Brenner and Brendan Vasquez hasn't been as great as last year. However they have still found a way to be leading the Supporters Shield race by a fairly substantial margin because of the job that Pat Noonan has done. Honorable Mention: Bradley Carnell (STL) Gary Smith (NSH)
Young Player of The Year
Noel Buck New England Revs; Buck has started 13 games this season and stored two goals, and when he scores it's usually a head turner. However the 18 year old navigates the midfield like a player much older. He's already being head hunted by European clubs and I think he is as good as any young player in this league.
MLS Most Valuable Player
Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC; Beyond being really good, he is the life blood of a really good Nashville SC side. They have no other reliable scoring options, so Hany just goes out and creates and scores. The difference between Mukhtar and others I considered (Löwen, Ferreira, J Morris, Gil) is that he is far and away the best player on the 2nd best team in the league right now. It's just mind boggling he's able to do what he does because as an opposing coach you have to know that Mukhtar is the threat on Nashville.
This has been an incredibly fun first half of the season. With Messi joining the league, plus other summer transfers I can only imagine it's going to get better.
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