The 2025 MLS regular season wrapped up on Saturday, bringing to a close a memorable slate of 1,020 games played, 1,530 goals scored, and 1,402 points earned.
With the end of the regular season comes end of year awards voting. Players, technical staffers and media members are due to submit their ballots today for awards like MVP, Defender of the Year, and Best XI. I'm privileged to be among those media members given a vote, an honor I take very seriously.
I officially submitted my ballot this morning. Here's the full breakdown of who I selected, as well as the rationale behind some incredibly difficult decisions.
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Most Valuable Player - Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
Others receiving consideration: Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC), Evander (FC Cincinnati), Dénis Bouanga (LAFC), Phillip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire)
My thoughts on this award? Duh.
Lionel Messi just had one of the single greatest seasons we've ever seen in MLS. His 48 goal contributions are just one shy of Carlos Vela's all-time record. That on it's own is a no-brainer for MVP. There's also a really strong argument to be made that without Messi, Miami are nowhere close to the playoff line.
Others, like Anders Dreyer, Evander and Dénis Bouanga had really impressive seasons. Messi had at least 13 more goal contributions than any of them. This should be unanimous.
Coach of the Year - Jesper Sørensen (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Others receiving consideration: BJ Callaghan (Nashville SC), Bradley Carnell (Philadelphia Union), Mikey Varas (San Diego FC)
For me, Coach of the Year was the most wide open. Mikey Varas won the Western Conference in San Diego's first season as a club. That's insane! Bradley Carnell almost doubled Philadelphia's point total and won the Supporters' Shield in his first year with the team after being unceremoniously dumped by St. Louis. BJ Callaghan took Nashville from missing the playoffs to being one of the best teams in MLS and winning their first-ever trophy. I could have voted for any of them.
To me, though, Jesper Sørensen has the strongest argument. In his first time coaching outside of Denmark, the 52-year-old remade Vancouver's entire philosophy in just two months. They took down juggernauts like Saprissa, Monterrey, Pumas and Inter Miami before a food-poisoning induced collapse in the final. They also won the Canadian Championship for the umpteenth time.
Yeah, I know only MLS results are supposed to factor into this decision. Looking at it from that angle, even being able to keep MLS results steady while playing more games than every other Western Conference team, while losing an MVP candidate in Ryan Gauld for essentially the year, losing two Defender of the Year candidates in Tristan Blackmon and Ranko Veselinović for the year, selling Pedro Vite in the summer... it's insanely impressive.
There's no wrong choice among these for, but Sørensen pulls ahead on my ballot.
Goalkeeper of the Year - Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United)
Others receiving consideration: Kristijan Kahlina (Charlotte FC), Sean Johnson (Toronto FC), Carlos Coronel (New York Red Bulls)
Minnesota United are one of the best defensive teams in MLS this year, and Dayne St. Clair has been a major part of it. The Canadian international has been the best shot-stopper in the league, saving nearly 10 goals over expected, making the fourth most saves, and having multiple match-winning performances.
The other goalkeepers on this list were either inconsistent (Kristijan Kahlina) or didn't make the playoffs (Sean Johnson and Carlos Coronel). St. Clair feels like the clear choice.
Defender of the Year - Andy Nájar (Nashville SC)
Others receiving consideration: Michael Boxall (Minnesota United), Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps), Olwethu Makhanya (Philadelphia Union), Alex Freeman (Orlando City)
I'm going out on a limb with this one, voting for a fullback for an award that is essentially a center back award. I came close to voting for both Michael Boxall and Tristan Blackmon, who were both crucial pieces to their team.
But Andy Nájar was uniquely important to Nashville, logging 10 assists and playing as a de-facto No. 10 at times. His connection with Hany Mukhtar was what their entire attacking game model was based around. It's hard to pick a defender who had more impact on their team than Nájar.
Newcomer of the Year - Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC)
Others receiving consideration: Phillip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire), Marco Pašalić (Orlando City), Heung-min Son (LAFC)
This one is easy. Dreyer was second on my MVP ballot in his first MLS season. He takes it by default.
Young Player of the Year - Alex Freeman (Orlando City)
Others receiving consideration: Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders), Owen Wolff (Austin FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Olwethu Makhanya (Philadelphia Union)
In his first season in MLS, Orlando City's Alex Freeman had a Best XI-caliber year, playing a key defensive role but excelling going forward. He scored a whopping six goals, the second-most of any fullback, and looks like he'll challenge for starting minutes with the United States at the World Cup next summer.
Seattle's Obed Vargas nearly took this one for me, and Owen Wolff was the most important player for Austin this year. But we haven't seen a youngster drop into MLS and have such an outsized impact in years.
Comeback Player of the Year - Nick Hagglund (FC Cincinnati)
Others receiving consideration: Pablo Ruiz (Real Salt Lake), Richie Laryea (Toronto FC)
Nick Hagglund came back from a devastating leg injury last year to become an important rotational piece for the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Audi Goals Drive Impact Award - Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
Others receiving consideration: Brad Stuver (Austin FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC)
MLS Best XI
Ok, some heavy caveats for this one.
First of all, it is completely impossible to pick 11 players from a 30-team league. There's simply no way to even come close to representing every player who's played at a Best XI level in this ballot. MLS needs to introduce first, second and third teams each season to better represent the whole of the league.
Second, the MLS ballot is formatted in an incredibly restrictive way. Voters must select from five formations: 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, and 5-3-2. That on its own isn't too bad, but the positional designations are far too rigid. For example, Lionel Messi, Sam Surridge, Dénis Bouanga and Anders Dreyer are all listed as forwards. There's no possible option to include the four best attackers in MLS on a ballot. Even MLS Season Pass analyst Dax McCarty's Best XI, published on the league website, isn't eligible to be submitted.
This is my actual Best XI, the one I wanted to vote for and think is the most representative of the 2025 season:
Without that as an option, I've gone a different route. I've chosen a bog standard 4-3-3, trying to make this as functional a team as possible, and gone with the best player at each individual position; the best No. 9, the best wingers, the best left winger, the best No. 10, the best No. 8, the best No. 6, etc.
There are some very notable players to miss out from my ballot, and I hate that. There also just isn't a good way to do this. While it won't count at all on my official ballot, I've included a second and third team here to try and give whatever credit I can to some of the very deserving players who have been exceptional this season.
It's a crime that Dénis Bouanga isn't in this XI. I went back and forth for the last two weeks on including Bouanga, Anders Dreyer or Sam Surridge in my XI. I went with Surridge and Dreyer. I wanted to have an actual No. 9 in my team. It's possible to shoehorn Bouanga in there, but I really think these things should be representative of something that could function on the pitch. It's far from perfect, though. Just know that as annoyed as you may be with my vote, I'm even more frustrated by it.
With all that being said, here's my final Best XI vote:
Dayne St. Clair; Kai Wagner, Olwethu Makhanya, Michael Boxall, Andy Nájar; Evander, Jeppe Tverskov, Sebastian Berhalter; Anders Dreyer, Sam Surridge, Lionel Messi
I've also included an unofficial second and third XI to at least give some recognition to other players around MLS who are incredibly deserving in their own right, too.
Second XI
Sean Johnson; Jordi Alba, Adilson Malanda, Tristan Blackmon, Alex Freeman; Cristian Roldan, Mark Delgado; Dénis Bouanga, Hany Mukhtar, Philip Zinckernagel; Petar Musa
Third XI
Kristijan Kahlina; Anthony Markanich, Thiago Martins, Jackson Ragen, Mathías Laborda; Ashley Westwood, Dylan Chambost, Martín Ojeda; Diego Rossi, Alonso Martínez, Pep Biel
