The Unofficial 2020 MLS MVP Finalists

The Unofficial 2020 MLS MVP Finalists

The finalists for the Landon Donovan MVP award were announced this past week. The nominees are Andre Blake, Nicolas Lodeiro, Jordan Morris, Alejandro Pozuelo, and Diego Rossi. The winner will be chosen by current MLS players, MLS club employees, and select media members. There is no set criteria for how the MVP is chosen; voters can choose whoever they think is most deserving of the award. Luckily, American Soccer Analysis developed the robust goals added (g+) metric that will add another layer to the debates. Since g+ measures every single action completed on the pitch, we can use this metric to be able to determine the most “valuable” field player. That brings us to the question: what does it mean to be most valuable? I propose five methodologies that can be used to determine the 2020 MVP using g+.

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An Analytical All-American MLS Youngster Starting Eleven

An Analytical All-American MLS Youngster Starting Eleven

The Major League Soccer season is almost over, which means that it is time to dish out some awards. Today, we are going to put together the official “Analytical All-American MLS Youngster Starting Eleven”. There are only three criteria that a player must fulfill to be in contention for the “AAAMLSYSE” (the trademarks for the name and abbreviation are pending):  

  • All players must be American

  • All players must have played at least 500 minutes in MLS this season

  • All players must be 22-years-old or younger

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