Captain Carlos Vela and head coach Bob Bradley both earned distinctions on Tuesday as finalists for the end-of-year MLS Awards, which highlight the top talent and performances from across the league over the past season of play. Bradley is a finalist for the MLS Head Coach of the Year after his efforts in leading LAFC in its inaugural season. Vela, meanwhile, is nominated for two awards — the Landon Donovan MVP award and the MLS Newcomer of the Year.
The performance of Bradley’s club speaks for itself when it comes to his nomination. LAFC finished No. 3 in the Western conference with 57 wins, a league-best for an expansion team in its first season. Bradley has previously won Coach of the Year twice, with the Chicago Fire in 1998 and Chivas USA in 2006. If he wins this year’s award, he will become the first coach to ever win with three separate clubs, but he’ll have to beat out “Tata” Martino from Atlanta United and Peter Vermes from Sporting Kansas City to do it.
Vela was a standout from the start, leading LAFc with 14 goals and 13 assists on the season. He was a constant threat to opposing defenses, taking 97 shots and placing 44 of them on goal. His performances was noted throughout the season, earning six Team of the Week awards and a Player of the Week distinction after he notched two goals and two assists against the Houston Dynamo in October. He finished the season in the top 10 in goals scored, assists, goals away from home, shots and shots on goal despite missing six matches while playing in the World Cup.
Vela is among elite company, as well, selected for MVP and Newcomer alongside the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Wayne Rooney. His competition represents a standout year of international stars in the MLS, as both Ibrahimović and Rooney ignited fanbases in the Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United.
However, Vela stands out as distinct from his pair of competitors. Both Ibrahimović and Rooney are aging stars, those who have passed their prime and came to the MLS to revive some of the magic of the earlier years of their career. There’s no doubt that their influence on the league has been deeply impactful — take, for example, Ibrahimović’s wild comeback against LAFC or Rooney’s full-field, on-the-money pass for an assist against Orlando.
But these are stars with an end in sight. When the World Cup rolled around this summer, they stayed home with their MLS teams, while Vela started and starred for the Mexican national team. And the stats remain for Vela — he outscored Rooney and out-assisted Ibrahimović, all while leading his team to the No. 3 spot in a tight Western Conference.
The odds might be against Vela, especially when going against the lion-sized influence of Ibrahimović. But no matter the results, the Black and Gold at least will know that Vela’s presence was felt throughout the league this season.