It’s back. A somehow even more subjective rankings column than the regular Power Rankings. Not only do voters get to arbitrarily define “power,” but they get to do the same with “valuable.” You know you missed it.
Each month we check in with MLS talent, staff, writers and editors to get their thoughts on the Landon Donovan MLS MVP race. We’re five matchdays into the 2023 season, so let’s get the conversation going. It’ll be fun. Trust us.
Sixteen ballots were submitted 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.
Also receiving votes
- Djordje Petrovic, New England Revolution (9 points)
- Obinna Nwobodo, FC Cincinnati (7 points)
- Eduard Löwen, St. Louis CITY SC (2 points)
- Ilie Sánchez, LAFC (1 point)
- Caleb Wiley, Atlanta United (1 point)
Let’s be honest: it’s tough to say anything definitive about one player this early in the season, let alone five players. You can kind of tell how when people got past the more obvious votes, they defaulted to the tried-and-true “under-praised but highly-effective central midfielder who deserves some appreciation around here” method (Nwobodo, Löwen, Sánchez) or the “most notable goalkeeper who deserves some appreciation around here” gambit (Petrovic).
A word to the wise: you should always go with the midfielder if you’re trying to play it safe. We know all three midfielders mentioned have been excellent, but we generally can’t actually quantify the things they do well. You, dear reader, just kind of have to believe we know what we’re talking about. We can, however, do a pretty decent job at this point of quantifying the impact of a goalkeeper with statistics like Goals Allowed versus Post-Shot Expected Goals Against and, well, apologies to the voters here, but the best shot-stopper so far has been Brad Stuver. Petrovic has been good, though. And a few one-goal wins for New England doesn’t hurt the Serbian international’s case as far as “most valuable” goes.
Anyway, shout out to 18-year-old Caleb Wiley for showing up here after a three-goal, two-assist month. He’s fourth in the league in total goal contributions.
There's also time for last year's winner (Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar) and runner-up (Austin FC's Sebastián Driussi) to pick up steam. A lot of time.
Acosta is here after – and not to dox anyone’s ballots or anything but… – a pretty heavy push from the good folks at Extratime. He’s been good. Cincy are second in the Eastern Conference. He also has no goals, two assists (one primary, one secondary), and a lower non-penalty xG+xA than good-but-not-quite-MVP-caliber Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Brian White. We all define “most valuable” in our own way I guess. And sometimes most valuable means “three fewer direct goal contributions than Austin fullback Jon Gallagher.”
OK, fine, that’s far too dismissive of a player who impacts the game in far more ways than what shows up on a stat sheet. We all know Lucho is one of the best players in the league. In the end, you need a little more end product to truly contend for these kinds of awards. Also, in the end, it’s been five whole games. He’s got time.
