The best player in Major League Soccer this season has been an Argentine, but not that Argentine. While 2023 will forever be remembered as the year Lionel Messi changed the American soccer landscape by joining Inter Miami, compatriot Luciano Acosta has shone brightest of all for the best team in the league.
FC Cincinnati finished dead last in each of their first three seasons as an MLS franchise. Their improvement since then, however, has been dramatic. Acosta has been the central component around which Pat Noonan’s Supporters’ Shield-winning team revolves. His 17 goals and 10 assists are should earn the 29-year-old this year’s MVP award.
There have been other standout performers. Hector Herrera has caught the eye for the Houston Dynamo while Los Angeles FC’s Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga certainly deserves consideration. Thiago Almada, Cucho Hernandez, Hany Mukhtar and Ryan Gauld have also been put forward as MVP candidates.
Nobody has had a greater impact on the outcome of as many matches as Acosta who is a one-man difference-maker in all areas of the game. He is a finisher and a creator, a passer and a dribbler. Noonan has even managed to get his most talented attacking threat to help out on the defensive side. He’s grown into a leader too.
When Cincy needed one of their players to step up in the first half of the season amid some roster uncertainty, Acosta obliged. His goals alone accounted for 12 points by July, when it started to become clear FC Cincinnati wouldn’t be caught in the Shield standings. Without Acosta, Cincy almost certainly wouldn’t have built the momentum that ultimately carried them through the entire campaign.
Acosta’s numbers have masked a significant drop in Brendon Vazquez’s output from last year as well as the mid-season sale of Brenner to Udinese. Aaron Boupendza has chipped in with five goals, but he only arrived at TQL Stadium in June. For a long part of the campaign, it was on Acosta to drive the team forward.
Highlight reel moments were plentiful. Acosta’s sensational solo dribble and finish from inside his own half against Charlotte FC was one of the goals of the season as was his one-touch lob over Yohei Takaoka against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The give-and-go strike away to Atlanta United in late August wasn’t bad either.
Related: MLS playoff predictions: The championship road runs through Luciano Acosta and Cincinnati
Noonan has built around Acosta, not…