Welcome in for another edition of How We Voted, where I recap why I voted for the two players included on my MLS Player of the Matchday ballot following each round of league games.
I talk through the votes I cast with North American Soccer Reporters and also share the winner of the final Player of the Matchday vote as well as the Team of the Matchday.
For Matchday 11 it's a first in the short history of this column: My votes went to two players on the same team. I had to pick one Player of the Matchday and did, and it's not the one who ultimately won the media and fan vote, but I explain below my rationale for going with the less-heralded half of San Diego FC's deadly attacking duo.
The HRB Ballot, Matchday 11
1. Anders Dreyer, San Diego FC
Dreyer's second time this season on my Player of the Matchday ballot but his first time occupying the top spot and being my designated, actual Player of the Matchday vote recipient.
San Diego beat FC Dallas 5-0 and Dreyer had his hands all over the win, scoring one goal and assisting two other goals. Chucky Lozano scored one more goal than Dreyer in this game, but Dreyer also assisted Lozano's one non-penalty goal in an impressive display of patience and vision.
Lozano returned the favor by assisting Dreyer on his one goal of the match, but Dreyer wasn't done – he added a second assist on Onni Valakari's goal to give San Diego a four-goal advantage, another great assist following a moment where Dreyer drew in multiple defenders but coolly laid the ball off to his unmarked teammate to finish the move.
The game got blown open largely through the individual efforts of Dreyer, who has been a revelation in his first season in MLS and is now up to nine goal contributions through 11 matches played (four goals, five assists). He's not as big of a name as his attacking partner Lozano, a star of Mexico's national team, but Dreyer has been instrumental to San Diego's early success in MLS.
2. Hirving 'Chucky' Lozano, San Diego FC
Is it a copout to choose two players from the same team? It's certainly the first time I've done it this season, but this felt like a case where these two players were equally excellent and equally instrumental in the most lopsided result of the Matchday, thus they deserved some extra credit.
Lozano didn't earn the top spot on my ballot because his first goal came from the penalty spot and because Dreyer had a greater individual creative influence on the game. Still, this was a brilliant performance from Lozano, as his PK in the 21st minute ended up being the only goal San Diego really needed to win, and set the gears in motion for their big blowout. Lozano's second goal was a great finish after he dribbled around Dallas's goalkeeper – but I mentioned above that I was more impressed by Dreyer's vision from midfield and passing touch on that play.
Including two San Diego FC players meant snubbing worthy standouts elsewhere in MLS. I'm thinking in particular of Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese (eight saves in a clean sheet) and San Jose Earthquakes attacker Cristian Espinoza (two goals), who each had legit cases for spots on this ballot.
My dilemma: I couldn't easily choose between Dreyer and Lozano and instead decided to vote for them both.
Official Player of the Matchday: Chucky Lozano
This time my vote for Dreyer was more like one lone voice out there screaming into the void on behalf of a Danish attacker, as Lozano always seemed like a heavy favorite to win this award. Scoring twice and adding an assist while carrying more name-recognition value than his teammate Dreyer likely pushed Lozano over the top. A deserved win for San Diego's star even if he had a lot of help from his European co-star.
Official MLS Team of the Matchday
Starters: Pedro Gallese (ORL) - Nouhou (SEA), Tristan Blackmon (VAN), Marcelo Weigandt (MIA) - Carles Gil (NE), Joaquín Pereyra (MIN), Dylan Chambost (CLB), Indiana Vassilev (PHI) - Chucky Lozano (SD), Anders Dreyer (SD), Cristian Espinoza (SJ)
Coach: Wilfried Nancy (CLB)
Bench: Matt Freese (NYC), Robert Voloder (SKC), Daniel Lovitz (NSH), Mohamed Farsi (CLB), Obed Vargas (SEA), Ryan Kent (SEA), Nathan Ordaz (LAFC), Chicho Arango (SJ), Christian Benteke (DC)
Matt Freese of New York City FC makes his second appearance in a Team of the Matchday this season, on the bench this week to follow up on the time he was named starting goalkeeper after his clean sheet in Columbus on Matchday 5. I'd consider New York City FC's Julián Fernández slightly unlucky to not at least earn a spot on the bench after his goal to beat FC Cincinnati, but maybe all the voters were swayed by Matt Doyle's dramatic tweet about Julián and a moment of questionable final-third decisionmaking. Both my Player of the Matchday vote-getters from San Diego earned places in the Starting XI, so my SoCal ballot gets a little validation in Team of the Matchday, at least.
