USL Tactics Awards: Midseason Edition

If the USL season ended today, who would take home the hardware?

Because the good folks at the league site are great at stirring up conversation, they’ve written up the top candidates for each of the major awards races for the 2024 USL Championship season. There’s a fan vote aspect as well, which will be an honest reflection of public opinion and not a fanbase size contest.

Still, I figured I’d weigh in. Who am I picking as the major award winners with half the season in the books?

Most Valuable Player

League Nominees: Nick Markanich, Wilson Harris, Danny Vitiello, Cal Jennings

…how crazy am I to choose Elijah Wynder? The midfielder is second on the Louisville roster with just under 1,400 minutes played, and the lone match Wynder didn’t start - an April loss to Charleston - was his club’s worst blip of soccer all season long. In that game, LouCity desperately missed a player that could man mark in the press, track deep behind an elevated wing back in recovery, and look unflappable on the edge of the box. Wynder gives you all of those abilities and then some; it’s why he’s a superstar and my MVP.

Taylor Davila may create more chances and find the ball more regularly. Wilson Harris may steal headlines with his goalscoring. None of it clicks without Wynder, who balances Louisville out in every phase of play. He’s a relentlessly progressive passer, and more than 35% of his attempts are aimed upfield. That’s a top-third mark among USL midfielders, and it’s especially impressive when you consider how much time LouCity spends in the final third. The 21-year-old has three goals, too, owing to uncommon aptitude in crowded areas. Wynder is tight on the ball, and he’s never afraid to make a daring run that makes himself available in the box to meet the end of half-space action.

Wynder’s 200 duel attempts are more important than any finishes. That’s the tenth-highest count in the USL, and it paints the picture of a No. 8 that’s constantly active. Louisville’s direct style of build-out wouldn’t work if #23 wasn’t there to contest every knockdown and second ball. Their counterpress would lose its edge without his careful positioning and intelligently applied physicality. Counterattacks would become more dangerous without his long stride in recovery. Wynder is in LouCity’s tactical throughline.

I view the MVP award as a title for someone who’s doing the most to make their team’s tactics work. There are plenty of worthy nominees, but Elijah Wynder just has that extra something, and he shows it every week for the best team in the Championship.

(If I wasn’t a hipster asshole had to choose from the league list, I’d go for Nick Markanich.)

Defender of the Year

League Nominees: Leland Archer, Kendall Burks, Phanuel Kavita, Matt Mahoney

Akeem Ward is my guy here. Ward outstanding, I’m bearish on the Memphis 901 defense. The club is tied for the tenth-best goals allowed tally in the USL, and that modest success has come in spite of oft-changing selections at center back and right back. Amidst it all, Ward has been utterly unplayable on the left, bringing a level of poise that makes this team come together beyond their on-paper potential.

Per FotMob, Ward has been beaten on the dribble nine times this season. That shocked me. The numbers are what they are, but I’ve never seen the 28-year-old beaten on the dribble in a position that truly endangered the defensive shape. He’s a rock in one-on-one situations (in a back four or back five!) and does meaningful work to halt wide moves. Ward makes sure that opponents never get a chance to challenge the rest of the Memphis defense, and he does so with minimal back-up. 901 hinge their wingers high upfield, meaning that the former Oakland and RGV man is often going it alone.

Memphis doesn’t rely on Ward to drive offense, but his pinpoint passing gives them a base to build upon. He boasts an 80% pass completion rate that supports interchange and flow further ahead, and he’s also sitting on a supremely good 39% crossing accuracy. Whether you need an entry pass from a tight angle or a serve in the final third, Ward gives you what you need. There’s a reason 901 is 1.75 goals per 90 better with Akeem Ward on the pitch this season.

For what it’s worth: give me Matt Mahoney amongst the options in the poll. Defense is Colorado Springs’ strength, and he’s undeniable in a high line, in the box, and as a carrier.

Goalkeeper of the Year

League Nominees: Danny Vitiello, Antony Siaha, Damian Las, Jordan Farr

This is an exceptionally tight race, but it’s Danny Vitiello for me. Sacramento is tied for the USL lead with just 13 goals allowed, but they’re actually seventh in terms of expected goals allowed. Trying to explain the gulf? Look no further than Vitiello, who’s one of two goalkeepers with at least 5.0 goals saved above expected (GSAx) this season. In more conventional terms, the Republic man is sporting an 82% save percentage. That’s incredible work.

Rocco Rios Novo deserves a shout, while we’re at it. Yeah, he’s 12th in GSAx among regular starters, but he was in the top five before last week’s mess in Memphis. Rios Novo has completed 722 passes this year, 10% more than any other goalkeeper in the league. His 86% completion rate is 9% better than any other starter. The Argentinian goalkeeper does things that no one else in the USL is asked to do. I’m not giving him this award, and I’m about to pass him over for Young Player of the Year, but he’s a superstar.

Young Player of the Year

League Nominees: Ray Serrano, Rocco Rios Novo, Abdellatif Aboukoura, Kobe Hernandez-Foster

If you make a comprehensive list of USL players with more than four expected goals and four expected assists in 2024, you end up with:

1. Ray Serrano

That’s it. That’s the list.

The 22-year-old midfielder is an exceptional dual threat in the final third, but he’s also Danny Cruz’s favorite player to re-locate if he needs to strengthen LouCity’s shape in the center of the pitch. Serrano has the guile to operate as a winger (see 22 completed crosses) plus the wise positioning and individual fearlessness (see a 52% duel win rate despite a 5’7” frame) to drop into a midfield threesome. He’s an exceptional player.

Shawn Smart is my outside-of-the-box pick. He hasn’t missed a game for Las Vegas in his 20-year-old campaign, splitting time between right back and the right wing. All the while, he’s beaten opponents on a USL-high 35 dribbles, taken 25 shots, and registered 43 takeaways in a high-possession system. Smart’s rookie season out of Clemson has been astounding.

Coach of the Year

League Nominees: Danny Cruz, Ben Pirmann, Eric Quill, Sean McAuley

I’ll be real honest, y’all: I predicted that New Mexico would finish 10th in the West. That they’ve exceeded those expectations to such an immense degree is why Eric Quill must be the Coach of the Year.

Per American Soccer Analysis’ expected points model, New Mexico is outperforming their underlying numbers by about 10 points. That’s the most in the league, and it brings up an interesting conundrum. Does the overperformance denote unsustainability, or is it a credit to superior game management? Your answer to that question probably decides how you’ll vote in this category. I think Quill has been unbelievably good with his lineup choices and in-game changes; he’s making New Mexico’s luck, not benefiting from random chance.

Listing the names on the teamsheet and judging off of reputation is a fool’s errand, but indulge me. If you look at Louisville, Charleston, or Sacramento, they’ve got players with all-league nods, awards nominations, and years of USL tenure. New Mexico doesn’t. Quill has taken a bunch of guys known as supporting pieces (Avionne Flanagan, Nanan Houssou), new faces without Championship proof of concept (Marco Micaletto, Anthony Herbert), and a few key returners from a mid-table side (Daniel Bruce, Alex Tambakis, Greg Hurst) and somehow forged them into one of the USL’s best and most tactically coherent teams. That’s the work of the Coach of the Year.

League One Honor Roll

Consider this an MVP shortlist for League One, from which you can extrapolate about the various awards.

• Lyam MacKinnon is the obvious shout in that classic “who’s the best offensive player?” vein. I wrote about his arsenal of skills a few months back, and the production has only continued since then. MacKinnon is second in the division with 9.1 total xG and xA, and he’s attempted 23 more shots than any other League One player. He’s also one chance created off of the league lead. No one out there matches MacKinnon’s all-encompassing offensive threat.

• Bruno Rendon is back to being a human supernova, weaponized as a vertical threat to an unreal degree for Northern Colorado. His positional growth from “most offensive full back in world history” to “winger and/or striker” is more impressive than he’s being given credit for. Rendon’s the only player with more expected contributions than MacKinnon, and he gives Eamon Zayed ample room to innovate tactically.

• Charlotte is fourth in the league and second in their Jagermeister Cup. With apologies to Juan Obregon, that’s primarily a credit to Austin Pack. The veteran netminder is rocking a 75% save rate, and he’s got the best GSAx among all regular starters. Pack’s the sort of goalie that keeps you alive when the going gets tough, and he deserves all his flowers.

• Timmy Mehl is the unsung heart of Forward Madison. He’s taking 90 touches a game and winning 67% of his duels in the league, and he hasn’t erred on a single tackle attempt in the Jagermeister Cup. Statistical volume can be misleading for some players, but not Mehl. The 28-year-old is the beating heart of Madison’s back three.

• I’ll specifically shout out Luis Alvarez in the Young Player of the Year race. As dismissive as I am of Charlotte as a contender, Alvarez’s contributions in the attacking midfield make them a compelling watch. The 21-year-old ranks in the top 15 for total xG and xA, is occasionally audacious with the ball at his feet, and doesn’t get enough love for his defensive energy. Big things ahead for Alvarez.

• In the category of “guys I like watching,” shout out to Tyler Polak (king of doin’ things on the left), Preston Kilwien (normalize center backs being great passers), and Angelo Kelly-Rosales (we’ll always have that first month of the year when he was a forward).

Credit to Connor Cunningham for the cover photo!