Acosta Has Never Been Better

In 2023, Luciano Acosta won the MLS Most Valuable Player. And in 2024, he is having an even better season.

To say that Acosta is Cincinnati's most valuable player is an understatement. Lucho has been the whole team. His play has helped his team to win 6 straight games and getting FC Cincinnati back towards the top of the Eastern Conference standings. There was a point in this season where it wasn't clear where the goals were going to come from. With some key contributions from youngster Kevin Kelsy and Lucho's MVP form, it looks like FC Cincinnati is back and track to compete for the MLS Cup.

Superior Production

After Saturday's 1 goal, 2 assist performance in the 3-1 win against St Louis, Luciano is up to 7 goals, 9 assists on the season. These 16 goal contributions are the most ever by Acosta through the first 14 matches of the season. Acosta's 2023 MVP season got off to a much slower start where through the first 14 matched he had 5 goals and 2 assists. Even with that slow start, he finished with 19 goals and 12 assists when it was all said and done.

If only there wasn't another superstar Argentinean named Lio Messi in the league, it would be an easy repeat victory for Acosta for Most Valuable Player. Especially with the departures of Brandon Vazquez and Alvaro Barreal, Acosta is even more valuable. In all honesty, FCC might need Lucho to keep this production up for the remaining 20 games. In a season where Lucho has been setting records, there is one trophy that he hasn't won, the MLS Cup.

FCC's Outlook

CIncinnati most likely is not going to repeat as Supporter's Shield winners. And that may be for the best. The reason being is that a runaway Shield winner has not won MLS Cup since Toronto in 2017. There is an argument that being the most consistently excellent team in MLS is the greater accolade than winning a knock-out tournament. Yet, the MLS Cup is the more sought after trophy in North America and hopefully Acosta can bring FC Cincinnati to the promised land.