A data-driven search for the 2022 MLS mid-season MVPs – data analysis

Were just over halfway through the MLS season and the All-Stars are less than two weeks away from their mid-season contest with the Liga MX All-Stars.

The league table is also starting to give us a glimpse of the favourites, playoff hopefuls and the teams already planning for next season.

With half a season of data to look at, this data analysis will look at the most valuable players from the first half of the MLS season. While the common trend is to prioritize goal scorers, possibly extending the search to the top-rated goal contributors, this analysis is looking for the players with the most complete data profiles. Using statistics from each positional group, we have identified the five most valuable players from the first half of the MLS season.

Process

While a great player can elevate a bad team to the middle of the table, and there are a few who have in the 2022 MLS season, this data analysis intends to find early candidates for the leagues Most Valuable Player award. Typically, the award goes to the best player from one of the top teams or another candidate who has produced obscene stats, generally focusing on goals scored.

To narrow the player pool, this analysis focuses on players from the top eight teams in each conference. Seven teams from both the Eastern and Western conferences make the playoffs, giving us 14 in total. Our search was limited to the top 14 clubs, plus the first team out to have a look at players one spot outside of that threshold.

Since an MVP candidate gains that status through consistent performances on the pitch, weve also reduced the player pool to those with a minimum of 1,500 minutes played.

With the reduced player pool, all players were sorted by position and their statistics were converted into a positional percentile ranking. Identifying top performers in targeted metrics relative to the position was the next step. This brought our pool down to 44 players.

Further parsing was needed. To get the list down to a top 20, data profiles were created to give a direct comparison of the selected players. Again, the first step was to narrow the list by positional comparisons. With only the top few players at each positional group available, the next step was to identify the most complete profiles.

In the end, five players were selected based on their statistics, as well as five honourable mentions. Lets have a look at the top five performers to emerge from the data analysis.

Andre Blake, Philadelphia Union

Andre Blake is a 31-year-old goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union. Arguably the most complete goalie in the league, he leads the leagues top defensive team as Philadelphia has only conceded 15 goals over 22 games.

The Jamaican international is the leagues leader in prevented goals this season with a mark of 11. The nearest competitor, Brad Stuver, has a 6.7 rating in this category. Keep in mind that the one blemish in Blake’s goalkeeper actions category, conceded goals and conceded goals p90, are actually showing that he is near the top of the league in both categories. A top shot-stopper and an incredible leader on the pitch, Blake is not only the top goalkeeper in the league but perhaps the best overall player.

Philadelphia leans heavily on hi