The fact that Lionel Messi makes the shortlist for this year’s MLS MVP award has sparked a lot of controversy.
Not so much because of his inclusion, but because the Inter Miami superstar is the big favorite to be crowned the winner.
Having played just 18 times for Miami so far in the regular season, many believe Messi does not deserve an award given to the league’s best player over the course of an entire campaign.
Others, however, are convinced he is the most obvious candidate after recording 17 goals and 15 assists in just 1,453 minutes of action.
So should Messi be named MVP? DailyMail.com writers have argued for and against Leo adding another honor to his collection.
The entry of Lionel Messi to the list of candidates for the MLS MVP has generated great controversy
The case against Messi (Jake Fenner)
Firstly, it must be made clear that Lionel Messi has been, by far, the best player in terms of pure scoring production in MLS this season. Messi reached double figures in goals (17) and assists (10), his 1.77 goals and assists per 90 are more than 0.5 points better than everyone else in the league, and he’s done all that while playing just 18 games .
That’s exactly why he shouldn’t win the 2024 MLS Most Valuable Player Award.
Look at the name of that award. “Most Valuable” does not mean “Best Player.” Sure, by pure goal contribution average, Messi has the field beat, but he’s missed a LOT of time.
A serious argument can be made that because of all the injuries he has accumulated and all the time he has missed, Messi’s impact on Inter Miami has not been as strong as that of the rest of his teammates. At the time of this publication, Messi has played less than 1,500 minutes with the Herons. What value can a player have if he has been off the field for just under half of the games his team has played?
Put it this way. In the 18 games that Messi has played, he has won 11 games, tied six and lost one for a total of 39 points and 2.16 points per game. Without him, Inter Miami has won 10 games, tied 2 and lost three. More losses, but a similar points per game mark of 2.13.
Messi has played less than 1,500 minutes due to injury problems and international commitments
Miami has rarely struggled without the 37-year-old, winning 10 of 15 in his absence.
This is to illustrate the point that even without their best player, Inter Miami has done perfectly well in Messi’s absence. His value to the team is there, but it is not as high as other players in the league.
Take Christian Benteke at DC United as a perfect example. The Screaming Eagles are (at the time of this publication) tied on points and in potential danger of missing out on the playoffs entirely, with a shocking goal difference of -15. But Benteke has scored 23 of DC’s 52 goals this season, making him the likely winner of the league’s golden boot and is (arguably) the main reason the team has any chance of reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Other players like Evander at Portland Timbers (15G+18a), Cucho Hernández of the high-flying Columbus Crew (19G+13a), or Luciano Acosta of FC Cincinnati (league leader in goals+assists with 33 combined) have played significant. more minutes than Messi and have played an equally key role in their respective teams’ fight to reach the playoffs.
Even Messi’s teammate at Inter Miami, Luis Suárez, has scored more goals than the Argentine and has played almost 400 more minutes than him this season. He has carried the load while Messi was away and deserves an MVP shoutout.
Do I hope Lionel Messi wins the award? Yes, because on average he is the best player in the league this year. But if I were voting, I couldn’t consciously do so for a player who has been absent for so long considering there are many others who have done just as well (if not better) for their teams.
Luciano Acosta has the most combined goals and assists this season with 33 for FC Cincinnati
The case of Messi (Oliver Salt)
Even as he juggles club soccer with a hectic international schedule and various fitness issues, Lionel Messi, 37, remains by far the most valuable player in Major League Soccer.
Their numbers speak for themselves. In just 1,453 minutes of action this season for Eastern Conference leaders Inter Miami, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has contributed 32 goals, roughly one every 45 minutes.
The only players who have contributed more goals so far in 2024 are Luciano Acosta of FC Cincinnati (34) and Evander of the Portland Timbers (33). However, Acosta has done so by accumulating 2,617 minutes, while Evander has played 2,369 minutes.
That equates to one goal every 72 minutes for Evander, who is eight years younger than Messi at 26, and one every 77 for Acosta, who is still in his prime at 30.
Given the injury problems he continues to face after recently turning 37, it says a lot about the unrivaled impact Messi is still having on the MLS field that his offensive output is the best in the league.
But Messi averages a goal contribution every 45 minutes, which is by far the best in MLS.
Cucho Hernández (left) and Evander (right) average a contribution every 64 and 72 minutes
It is inconceivable to give an award to the most valuable player in MLS and snub Messi
Yeah, he hasn’t been as involved with Miami this season. But it is not Messi’s fault that he remains Argentina’s captain, a duty that has forced him to miss five games in 2024 alone. Evander and Acosta, meanwhile, are not even called up for Brazil and Argentina respectively.
Even Cucho Hernández, from Colón, who also has 32 goals this season after having played 2,056 minutes, has not played with Colombia since 2023.
Excluding his status as one of the most marketable players in MLS history, it is inconceivable to hand out an award to the league’s most valuable asset and snub Messi given how valuable he is still proving on the field.
When fit and in peak form, and not out on international duty, the Barcelona great remains the undisputed king of the division, both athletically and commercially.
He is the only logical choice for the coveted award.
