On Thursday it was MLS assist leader Sacha Kljestan who declared that Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips deserved to win the Landon Donovan MVP Award.
"But for me, personally, if I had to choose, I’d vote for Bradley Wright-Phillips," Kljestan said on Wednesday. "He led the league in scoring, he was hugely important for us in more ways than just getting goals. And the work he’s done every day, I think he’s the MVP."
However, on Friday the Red Bulls' all-time leading scorer insisted that his star teammate deserved the award instead of him.
Everybody knows @SachaKljestan the real MVP c'mon 20 assists and balling all season #nobrainer https://t.co/suIoikQWZm
— Brad Wright-Phillips (@TheRealBWP) October 28, 2016
BWP has maintained throughout the season that the individual accolades do not concern him and he would rather win an MLS Cup with the team than any personal awards. The English striker shattered the MLS record for goals in a three-year span, adding 24 to his total to give him 69 since making his full-season debut in 2014.
Kljestan, meanwhile, broke the Red Bulls' single-season assist mark with 20 - becoming only the 2nd player in MLS history to record that many in a single season.
Wright-Phillips was nominated for the MVP Award back in 2014 in the year he won his first MLS Golden Boot. He tied the MLS scoring record that year but curiously finished outside the top three in MVP voting. It may be a similar case for both Kljestan and Wright-Phillips this year with strong cases for the vote coming from NYC FC's David Villa and Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco.