Chicho Arango, Lionel Messi headline the Best of MLS in Week 9

By Justin Ruderman and Favian Renkel

Welcome back to week nine of Justin and Favian’s Weekly MLS Awards where SBI staff writers Justin Ruderman and Favian Renkel bring you a glimpse at the best of each week in MLS. Rivalries were renewed and the MLS MVP race is heating up.

Let’s discuss!

Player of the Week

Justin Ruderman: Chicho Arango (RSL)

Lionel Messi’s name recognition may grab all the headlines but it is Chicho Arango leading the MLS goalscoring charts through Matchday 10.

Both players produced a brace and assist on Saturday but Arango gets the nod for me because he didn’t need a penalty to do it. He also played a big part in the creation of RSL’s first goal with the second-assist through a give-and-go with Alex Katranis. Soon after, Arango capitalized on a poor Fire backpass for 20, quickly making it 3-0 with a header from a corner kick. As the game got stretched near the end, Chicho added his assist by feeding Diego Luna at the top of the box to get the youngster back on track with his first goal of the season.

With all due respect to Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, Chicho Arango is leading the MLS MVP race. All three have racked up a league-leading ten goal contributions thus far in 2024 (Arango leads with 14 if we’re counting secondary assists, which MLS officially does) but while the other two have been feeding off of each other, Arango has done it primarily on his own. That along with fitness will be his biggest advantage in the race for MVP or Golden Boot throughout the season. I’m eager to see if he can use it to keep pace with the Barcelona legends.

Favian Renkel: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

Honestly, I feel like this is a trend that will continue throughout the season. I think Justin and I need to alternate choosing the best player in MLS every week, or else this can get pretty boring. Maybe we should rename the section “Player of the Week outside of Lionel Messi.”

It’s truly…

Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/04/chicho-arango-lionel-messi-headline-the-best-of-mls-in-week-9

Author : Justin Ruderman

Publish date : 2024-04-23 13:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.