It’s been a second since we checked in, but the MVP Power Rankings are back. That’s right, it’s an even more subjective rankings column than the regular Power Rankings. It's a place where voters not only get to arbitrarily define “power,” but “most valuable” too.
Each month of the season, we check in with MLS talent, staff, writers and editors to get their thoughts on the 2024 Landon Donovan MLS MVP race.
Twelve ballots were cast for this one. A first-place vote received 10 points, a second-place vote received five points, a third-place vote received three points, a fourth-place vote received two points and a fifth-place vote received one point. Seven players received at least one point.
Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF
It’s our first “not receiving votes” section. But we’ve got to mention him. Yes, of course for Messi purposes. But also there’s still a real chance he gets back in this.
Messi has 25 goal contributions despite making only 11 starts. If he keeps that same pace and makes six more starts, he’ll finish the season with 38 goal contributions. That would very likely make him the league leader in goal contributions.
Does that make him the most “valuable” player? That’s tough to say. But would anyone really be surprised if Messi goes on an incredible run through Decision Day?
Cristian Arango - Real Salt Lake (2 points)
Chicho is still hanging around in the discussion thanks to his absurd start to the year. At one point, he put up the kind of numbers that had us wondering if he would challenge Carlos Vela’s record for single-season goal contributions (49). On top of that, he had a moment there where he contributed to something like 95% of RSL’s goals.
Instead, a few missed games and a little bit of a regression to the mean have him sitting tied for second in the league with 28 goal contributions. He’s also sitting second in the Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 17 goals.
Arango is still in the midst of a Best XI-caliber season. He’s just lost a little narrative momentum in the MVP race. That's in part because his teammates eventually started contributing to goals, too.
Christian Benteke - D.C. United (4 points)
If we’re talking “most valuable” in the strictest terms, Benteke has a real argument. He’s carrying a just alright D.C. United team as far as they will go.
Benteke's 18 goals have him leading the Golden Boot race and he has six assists on top of that. D.C. have 43 goals this season and it feels like Benteke has contributed to every meaningful one.
As of today, his performance has D.C. above the playoff line. There’s a chance they’d be a Wooden Spoon team without him.
Riqui Pugi - LA Galaxy (4 points)
[Chanting that grows increasingly louder] CHART! CHART! CHART!
Your monthly update on the Riqui Puig FBref chart* is your reminder that scoring goals is all that matters and that defense is for nerds.
(*I know he should be listed as an attacking midfielder and not just a midfielder, but that would ruin the chart. All hail the chart.)
It’s about time he shows up, right?
The folks in Portland certainly think so, and for good reason. Evander is up to 12 goals and 16 assists on the season. His 28 goal contributions are the second most in the league and a few of those have been absolute stunners. He’s the catalyst behind Portland’s high-octane attack and it really feels like he’d be even closer to the top of this list if the Timbers were higher up the standings.
Let’s put it this way…
Diego Valeri won the 2017 MVP award with 21 goals and 11 assists. That’s 32 goal contributions. Evander will likely pass that mark by the end of the year. That Timbers side finished first in the Western Conference, though. And Valeri didn’t quite have competition like…
If we were playing by the normal “just give it to the best No. 10” rule, Acosta would have a great case at repeating as MVP. But some early-onset voter fatigue might be weighing down his title defense.
Even still, Acosta might actually be better in 2024. Yes, Cincy won the Supporters’ Shield in 2023. However, Acosta is arguably doing more “valuable” work to carry an injury-laden team that dealt with a ton of offseason turnover to one of the top spots in the East.
In 2023, Acosta finished with 17 goals and 14 assists for 31 goal contributions in 29 starts. This year, he has 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 goal contributions in 22 starts. It kind of feels like the only reason he’s not a favorite to repeat is he’s taken a couple of knocks.
I mean, look at Acosta’s per-90 stats:
Acosta's slightly improved on nearly everything. All that he’s missing is a little more time on the field. And he still might end up with better numbers when all is said and done.
With all of Miami's injuries, they needed someone to lean on in their most difficult moments. Suárez has been that player. He has 16 goals on the season – a goal for every start – and has the best per-90 numbers of anyone in the league that isn’t Lionel Messi. Suárez has averaged 1.32 goal contributions per 90 without taking a single penalty.
That being said, he still has fewer goal contributions than Messi. And he’s only played about 400 more minutes. Sometimes MVP votes come down to being the most productive (and available) player on the best team. I think that’s why the voters have him third.
Bouanga is up to 16 goals and eight primary assists. Only Acosta and Evander have had more direct goal contributions.
However, we should probably factor in how Bouanga has converted more penalties than anyone else this season. He’s taken and converted seven. The next closest players all have four.
However, we should probably also factor in how, per FBref, no one has a higher non-penalty xG total this year than Bouanga. We could just call the penalties a way to manually force a regression/overperformance relative to the mean.
This is a bit of a weird one. Bouanga is clearly one of the most dynamic and talented players in the league though. LAFC wouldn’t be anything close to the same without him. He’s the main reason they’re first in the West in points per game. That seems pretty valuable.
Is this the least clarity an MVP race has had in a while? For so much of the year, it felt like we were on track to finding a clear standout among the bunch. Those standouts kept changing, and now we don’t have any true standout.
He scores. He makes things happen in the final third. He even puts up elite defensive numbers for a forward. The Crew as we know them would not exist without Cucho. And the Crew as we know them are arguably the most outstanding team in MLS history. That’s the clearest case for him to take home the award.
It gets murky when you think about the 2024 MLS MVP Award, though. Do his performances in Concacaf Champions Cup and Leagues Cup count? It seems about as straightforward as the words “most valuable.” In the end, I don’t think there’s a clear answer. Either way, Cucho is as good as it gets in MLS.
