2023 MLS Aces Team of the Season

At this point you’ve hopefully read our 2023 MLS Aces Award winners for this season. If you haven’t please go and do so as we highlight the players that the group here at MLS Aces and respected folks from around MLS voted upon to take home a variety of awards. Another reason why I think you should go and read it is because there are three award winners that have secured their place within the MLS Aces Team of the Season. Final warning here to go back and read that article here. The 2023 MLS Aces Goalkeeper of the Year, 2023 MLS Aces Defensive Player of the Year, and 2023 MLS Aces Most Valuable Player have all locked in their spots in our Best XI… but who else made it.

Okay so by now you’ve read why Roman Burki, Matt Miazga, and Lucho Acosta have secured their spots. But let’s see who else has made it. And just for you to be aware of when reading through this, I have a few rules:

1. I will create my Best XI out of an actual payable formation

2. I will do my best to adjust to getting the best eleven players onto this team

3. In respect to rule #2, I will not play players wildly out of position to get the best eleven players onto the team

Goalkeeper: Roman Burki - St. Louis City SC (2023 MLS Aces Goalkeeper of the Year)

Left-Back: Kai Wagner - Philadelphia Union

Centerback: Matt Miazga - FC Cincinnati (2023 MLS Aces Defensive Player of the Year)

Centerback: Tim Parker - St. Louis City SC

Right-Back: Brooks Lennon - Atlanta United FC

Defensive Midfielder: Obi Nwobodo - FC Cincinnati

Central Midfielder: Hector Herrera - Houston Dynamo FC

Attacking Midfielder: Luciano Acosta - FC Cincinnati (2023 MLS Aces Most Valuable Player of the Year)

Winger: Denis Bouanga - LAFC

Striker: Cucho Hernandez - Columbus Crew SC

Winger: Thiago Almada - Atlanta United FC

Now, I can feel the comments loading into your brains; “Where is…”, “How do you have *insert player here* in there?”, etc. Just remember… I’ve had over 20 people vote alongside me on this. And to be honest, this Best XI has some players in it that I did not vote for. I will release my personal Best XI votes on my Twitter over at “MLSAces” there. But as far as the Best XI we have for the 2023 season, let’s go through some players. The attacking three of Bouanga, Cucho, and Almada have stood out as some of the best in the league. Heading into Decision Day, the Golden Boot race belongs to star winger for LAFC, Denis Bouanga. The Gabon international has 19 goals and 7 assists for LAFC as they head into the final week of the season and MLS Cup Playoffs. Another player with a pretty high “goals plus assists” total is his winger partner here, Thiago Almada. The World Cup winner is heading into Atlanta’s Decision Day with a total goals contributed total of 28. His 11 goals and league leading 17 assists just prove what he means to this league, but more importantly to Atlanta United. Finally, completing the front three is Columbus’s Cucho Hernandez. The 24 year old striker has 15 goals and 11 assists heading into the final week. This man has shown his ability not only to finish, but set up his teammates (Rossi, Ramirez, Zelarayan, Matan, and company). Now who just missed out on the Best XI in the front three? I can let you know that; Giorgos Giakoumakis, Cristian Espinoza, and Facundo Torres were all just short.

We chatted about the attack, we’ve chatted about Lucho’s impact within the Year End Awards article, so let’s chat about the rest of our 2023 Best XI midfield. Lucho Acosta sits in their as our number 10, but sitting just behind him (tactically) would be Houston’s star man Hector Herrera and Cincinnati’s stud number 6, Obi Nwobodo. The 33 year old Herrera had a major bounce back in 2023, not only winning the U.S. Open Cup, but in his performances on the field as well. Herrera is heading into Decision Day with 4 goals and 15 assists to his name. His 15 assists are one of the best creative marks within MLS this season. Being paired with Herrera is the 26 year old Nwobodo. Cincinnati’s defensive stallworth in the midfield is known for his crunching tackles and play breaking up abilities. Nwobodo did all of that in 2023 and on top of that tacked on 2 goals and 5 assists. Who just missed out on the Best XI in the midfield? Eduard Lowen, Artur, Aidan Morris, and Riqui Puig. 

Finally, the backline and goalkeeper position. With Matt Miazga and Roman Burki locking down 2 of the 5 spots, let’s just chat about the fullbacks and one centerback spot. At left-back, the voting was the tightest of any position on this Best XI, but Philly’s Kai Wagner won the title. Wagner has arguably been the best left-back in MLS over his entire time stateside, and this season he was not short of that again. The 26 year old will finish 2023 with over 2,300 minutes played, 1 goal, and another 7 assists. From balancing both his offensive and defensive abilities, he was unmatched in MLS in 2023. At right-back the voting was close as well, all 5 finalists received a vote. But ultimately, Atlanta’s Brooks Lennon took the spot and it is totally deserved. Compared to Wagner, he is probably less of a defensive impact, but he can completely hold his own. The American will finish 2023 with over 2,800 minutes, 4 goals, and 10 assists. His impact for Atlanta was 100% felt and arguably the second largest on the team outside of Almada. Finally, let’s break down this other centerback spot next to Miazga, Tim Parker. The 30 year old MLS veteran was the defensive stallworth for St. Louis in their historic inaugural season. With over 2,400 minutes played for one of the most cohesive and strongest defenses in 2023, Parker is completely deserving of this spot. On top of the defensive leadership, Parker added another 4 goals to the MLS newbies. Who just missed out on a MLS Aces Best XI spot in voting? Alvaro Barreal, Ryan Hollingshead, Shaq Moore, Jakob Glesnes, and Robin Jansson.

Congratulations to those eleven players listed above and to the others listed in our 2023 Award Winners article. If your name was not listed here, it doesn’t mean you weren’t an absolute stallion in 2023, you were!