The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Martinez, Almiron are MVP finalists
Martino (manager), Parkhurst (defender) also up for awards.
Four Atlanta United players are finalists for MLS end-of-year awards, including two MVP candidates, the league announced Wednesday.
Each category includes between three and five finalists. The winners will be announced in coming weeks.
Josef Martinez, who set the league’s single-season scoring record with 31 goals, and Miguel Almiron, with 12 goals and 14 assists, are two of the five finalists for MVP. They helped lead Atlanta United to a tie for the second-most points (69) in MLS history, as well as being the league’s highest-scoring team with 70 goals.
The other finalists are L.A. Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney and LAFC’s Carlos Vela.
Michael Parkhurst is among three finalists for Defender of the Year. He was named to the All-Star team for the second consecutive season and was among the most accurate passers at his position. Seattle’s Chad Marshall and New York Red Bulls’ Aaron Long are the other finalists.
Gerardo Martino is one of three finalists for Manager of the Year. Martino led Atlanta United to a CONCACAF Champions League finish by accumulating the most points over the past two regular seasons. The other finalists are LAFC’s Bob Bradley and Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes. Martino recently announced he will not be back with Atlanta United next season.
Voting groups are MLS players, clubs (coaches, technical directors/general managers) and media members who consistently covered the 2018 regular season. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a policy that prohibits voting on
awards.
Almiron update: Atlanta United could have its firstchoice 11 for Sunday’s playoff game with the return of Almiron. The influential mid- fielder returned to training with the first team Tuesday in preparation for Sunday’s playoff game. However, he didn’t train with them Wednesday. It’s not uncommon for the team to give players return- ing from injuries a day off after a full training session the previous day. He is listed as day to day by the team.
Almiron sustained a strained hamstring three weeks ago that forced him to miss a win against Chicago at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and this past Sunday’s 4-1 loss at Toronto in which the Five Stripes lost out on the Supporters’ Shield, top seed in the East and setting a single-season points record in MLS.