All five Major League Soccer MVP finalists — Diego Valeri, David Villa, Nemanja Nikolic, Sebastian Giovinco and Miguel Almiron — have been named to the 2017 Best XI squad.
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The attacking talent doesn’t stop there, as the above quintet is joined by Toronto FC midfielder Victor Vazquez and Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez.
Tim Melia and Ike Opara, who were previously named Goalkeeper of the Year and Defender of the Year, respectively, for their parts in leading Sporting Kansas City to the best defensive record in 2017, were chosen alongside Kendall Waston and Justin Morrow of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC, respectively.
The dream team of 2017.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 1, 2017
Meet the MLS #BestXI! 🎨: @stan_chow pic.twitter.com/yfbDMu2Te6
Yes, that is indeed a rarely-seen 3-3-4 formation which very closely borders on being a 3-0-7. My personal ballot, which features a defensive midfield-type and was submitted on Oct. 22, reads as follows:
Goalkeeper: Tim Melia
Defenders: Ike Opara, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Kendall Waston
Midfielders: Diego Valeri, Ignacio Piatti, Victor Vazquez, Cristian Roldan
Forwards: David Villa, Nemanja Nikolic, Josef Martinez
Reserves (not on ballot): Alex Bono, Chris Mavinga, Sacha Kljestan, C.J. Sapong