Lionel Messi is nominated for the MLS MVP award, but should he be? Our writers discuss whether the Inter Miami star deserves to win

Lionel Messi’s inclusion on the shortlist for this year’s MLS MVP award has sparked major controversy.

Not so much because of his inclusion, but because the Inter Miami superstar is the overwhelming favorite to win the title.

Having only appeared 18 times for Miami in the regular season so far, many believe Messi is undeserving of an award given to the league’s best player over the course of an entire season.

Others, however, believe he is the obvious candidate after scoring 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 case against Messi (Jake Fenner)

First of all, it must be made clear that Lionel Messi was by far the best player in MLS this season in terms of pure goal performance. Messi has hit double figures in both goals (17) and assists (10), his 1.77 goals and assists per 90 is over 0.5 points better than anyone else in the league, and he’s done it all , despite only playing 18 games.

This is exactly why he shouldn’t win the 2024 MLS Most Valuable Player Award.

Take a look at the name of this award. “Most Valuable” does not mean “Best Player”. Sure, in terms of purely average goal contributions, Messi is ahead of the field – but he has missed a LOT of time.

It can be seriously argued that Messi’s influence at Inter Miami has not been as strong as the rest of his teammates due to the many injuries he has accumulated and the many absences. At the time of publication, Messi played less than 1,500 minutes for the Herons. How valuable can a player be if he has spent a little less than half of his team’s games off the field?

Put it this way. In the 18 games that Messi has played, he has won 11 games, drawn six and lost one, for a total of 39 points and 2.16 points per game. Without him, Inter Miami won 10 games, drew 2 and lost three. More losses, but a similar points per game of 2.13.

Due to injury problems and international appearances, Messi has played less than 1,500 minutes

Miami was rarely affected without the 37-year-old, winning 10 of 15 games in his absence

This is to illustrate that Inter Miami did well in Messi’s absence even without their best player. His value to the team is there, but not as high as other players across the league.

Take Christian Benteke of DC United as a perfect example. The Screaming Eagles are tied (at the time of publication) and potentially in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs altogether – with a shocking goal difference of -15. But Benteke has scored 23 of DC’s 52 goals this season – making him the league’s likely Golden Boot winner and (arguably) the main reason the team has a chance of making the MLS Cup playoffs.

Other players like Evander of the Portland Timbers (15G+18a), Cucho Hernandez of the outstanding Columbus Crew (19G+13a) or Luciano Acosta of FC Cincinnati (leader in goals+assists with a total of 33 goals+assists) have all achieved significant achievements more minutes than Messi and played an equally important role in their respective teams’ push into the playoffs.

Even Messi’s Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez has scored more goals than the Argentine this season, logging almost 400 more minutes than him. He has carried the load while Messi was away and deserves an MVP award.

Do I expect Lionel Messi to win the award? Yes, because on average he is the best player in the league this year. But if I were to vote, I couldn’t in good conscience cast my vote for a player who has been absent for so long, considering there are so many others who have performed just as well (if not better) for their teams have.

Luciano Acosta has the most combined goals and assists for FC Cincinnati this season with 33

The case for Messi (Oliver Salt)

Despite juggling club football with a hectic international schedule and multiple fitness concerns, 37-year-old Lionel Messi is still by far the most valuable player in Major League Soccer.

His numbers speak for themselves. In just 1,453 minutes of play this season, eight-time Ballon d’Or winners Inter Miami, leaders of the Eastern Conference, have still managed 32 goal involvements, or about one every 45 minutes.

The only players to have more goal contributions so far in 2024 are Luciano Acosta (34) of FC Cincinnati and Evander (33) of the Portland Timbers. But Acosta did this, logging 2,617 minutes while Evander played 2,369 minutes.

That equates to a goal contribution every 72 minutes for Evander, who at 26 is eight years younger than Messi, and a goal contribution every 77 minutes for Acosta, who at 30 is still in his prime.

Given the injury problems he continues to battle after recently turning 37, it speaks volumes about the unrivaled influence Messi still has on the field in MLS that his attacking output is easily the best in the league.

But Messi is averaging a goal contribution every 45 minutes, which is by far the best in MLS

Cucho Hernandez (left) and Evander (right) contribute on average every 64 and 72 minutes

Giving an award to MLS’ most valuable player and snubbing Messi is unthinkable

Yes, he wasn’t as committed to Miami this season. But it is not Messi’s fault that he remains captain of Argentina, a duty that has forced him to miss five games in 2024 alone. Evander and Acosta, meanwhile, aren’t even nominated for Brazil and Argentina, respectively.

Even Columbus’ Cucho Hernandez, who also scored 32 goals and played 2,056 minutes this season, hasn’t played for Colombia since 2023.

Aside from his status as one of the most marketable players in MLS history, handing out an award for the league’s most valuable asset and snubbing Messi is unthinkable given how valuable he still is on the field.

When he is fit and performing and not on international duty, the Barcelona star remains the undisputed king of the league, both sportingly and commercially.

He is the only logical choice for the coveted award.