There have been some wonderful players over the 25-year history of MLS, but who ranks in the top five of the current crop of strikers in the league?
Here at MLS Multiplex, we have gone over the statistics, the awards won, the games played, the goals scored and the shutouts made to work out who we think are the best five players in the seven major positions in Major League Soccer right now. We have gone through the best players of all-time across seven different categories, and now we are taking a look at the best current players in the league, in those same seven positions.
In the all-time lists, the likes of Tony Meola, Carlos Bocanegra, Preki, Chris Wondolowski and Landon Donovan all took top honours for their respective positions. Meanwhile, in the rest of the current lists to date, three Sounders players, in Stefan Frei, Cristian Roldan and Nicolas Lodeiro have taken the top spots in their categories, with Ike Opara, Diego Rossi and Ryan Hollingshead also having earned the spoils in their areas of expertise.
In this piece, we take a look at the best strikers that are currently in the league. The likes of Jozy Altidore, Kacper Przybylko, Chris Wondolowski and Sporting Kansas City new-boy Alan Pulido all narrowly miss out, but who makes it in?
5. Javier Hernandez
The first member of our list has spent just a few months as part of an MLS side, playing twice before the suspension of the league due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LA Galaxy’s new frontman, Javier Hernandez.
The Mexican spent the majority of his playing career in Europe before moving back to North America, having started his playing time with Guadalajara in his home country. He then played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham United and Sevilla before signing for the Galaxy.
MLS Career & Honours:
- LA Galaxy (2020-)
———————
- CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP – 2011
- CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Boot – 2011
- CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year – 2015
- Mexico’s all-time record goalscorer (52)
———————
- CONCACAF Gold Cup – 2011
The main reason that “Chicharito” made it into our list is due to his constant goal-scoring ability at all levels across his career. He scored 53 times in the Premier League, and he has one of the best goals-per-minute ratios in the English top flight’s history.
Hernandez is also his country’s all-time leading goalscorer, having netted 52 times in 109 appearances for the Mexican team, helping them to the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011. That tournament showed his qualities to the world, as the striker took the Golden Boot, and was named MVP for his efforts. He was also named into the CONCACAF Men’s Best XI in 2015, picking up the Men’s Player of the Year award in the process.
The Mexican moves to the United States after a brief stint in Spain, and he captained the Galaxy in both of their opening two fixtures of the 2020 term before the suspension due to COVID-19. Although he has big shoes to fill after the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another former Manchester United forward, Hernandez is more than capable of being a key part of any success the Galaxy have over the next few years.