Soccer <\/p>\n
Most of all, All-Star games are showcases. They\u2019re opportunities for a selection of a league\u2019s best players to demonstrate their skills in front of a packed crowd. When you see an All-Star roster, you want to be entertained \u2013 and you want to see the best.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The same is true for the MLS All-Star Game\u2019s highest honor: the captain. The All-Stars\u2019 All-Star, if you will. And with this year’s roster announced<\/a>, it’s time for the 2025 MLS All-Star Captain Fan Vote presented by Captain Morgan.<\/p>\n The four nominees are:<\/p>\n Here’s why each one deserves your vote to lead the charge against the best from LIGA MX on July 23 at Austin FC<\/a>\u2019s Q2 Stadium (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Campaign slogan:<\/strong> You want fun? I\u2019ll give you fun.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve got a stat for you, dear reader: no player with more than 200 minutes to his name in MLS this year completes more dribbles than Denis Bouanga<\/a> on a per-90-minute basis. With his 4.05 successful dribbles per 90, according to FBref, the LAFC<\/a> winger is the league\u2019s dominant one-v-one attacking force. And in an All-Star game with an audience just itching to \u201cooo\u201d and \u201cahh\u201d on every touch, there\u2019s no player more likely to take the game to the opposition and draw those very sounds from the crowd than Bouanga.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just Bouanga\u2019s love for one-v-one (or one-v-two) dribbling that makes him a perfect candidate for the captaincy. It\u2019s also his love for shooting. Only Lionel Messi<\/a> has taken more shots on a per-90-minute basis than Bouanga this year, among players who have started regularly in MLS this season. At 4.79 shots per 90, Bouanga is ready to let rip at a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n If you want top-speed attacking action in this month\u2019s All-Star game, you want Bouanga.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Campaign slogan:<\/strong> I did it in Portland, I\u2019m doing it in Cincinnati, let me do it in Austin.<\/em><\/p>\n By \u201cit,” of course, I mean changing games in the attack.<\/p>\n While Evander<\/a> isn\u2019t quite on pace to equal his numbers from last season with the Portland Timbers<\/a>, he\u2019s still been incredibly productive as the No. 10 in Pat Noonan\u2019s FC Cincinnati<\/a> team. The Brazilian is in the 99th percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes among his positional peers, according to FBref. He\u2019s also in the 98th percentile for shot-creating actions among that same group of players, finding looks for himself and threading through balls into his teammates at a top-level clip.<\/p>\n That Evander has maintained so much of his productivity despite a change of scenery late in the offseason is a testament to his skill. Throughout MLS history, seeing a player of Evander\u2019s quality have success at two different stops within the league has been wildly rare. Now, thanks to MLS\u2019s new cash trade rule, we\u2019ve seen Evander put up impressive numbers for two different teams, in two different conferences and over multiple seasons.<\/p>\n If you want a reliably excellent \u2013 and downright mesmerizing to watch \u2013 attacking midfielder leading the way against the LIGA MX All-Stars, Evander is sitting there waiting for your vote.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Campaign slogan:<\/strong> Vote for the GOAT.<\/em><\/p>\n Allow me to repeat what I wrote about Lionel Messi in last year\u2019s version of this piece: If the captain’s armband indeed goes to the All-Star\u2019s All-Star, it should go to Lionel Messi.<\/em><\/p>\n Whenever the final whistle blows for a game featuring Messi, he\u2019s No. 1 on every player\u2019s postgame jersey swap list. He\u2019s your favorite band\u2019s favorite band, if that band were the most famous band in the world. But because Messi couldn’t participate in 2024\u2019s All-Star festivities after suffering an injury while playing with Argentina in the Copa Am\u00e9rica final, we\u2019re yet to see him with the armband for this event.<\/p>\n That could change come July 23 \u2013 and for good reason.<\/p>\n Inter Miami<\/a>\u2019s superstar leads MLS players with at least 400 minutes played in goal contributions per 90 minutes, according to FBref, sitting at a staggering 1.21. Translation? The guy is good for a scoreline-changing play more than once every game<\/em>. And it\u2019s not just the box-score stats that adore Messi. It\u2019s the underlying numbers, too. No player in MLS does more to create chances for himself and his teammates than Messi, who leads regular starters in MLS in non-penalty expected goals plus expected assisted goals per 90 minutes this season.<\/p>\n Messi isn\u2019t just the most popular player in MLS or the most well-known player who\u2019s up for this year\u2019s armband. He\u2019s also the best one.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Campaign slogan:<\/strong> Give the people what they want.<\/em><\/p>\n Last year, Lucho Acosta<\/a> was voted in as captain of the 2024 MLS All-Stars for their battle against LIGA MX at the Crew<\/a>\u2019s Lower.com Field, despite suiting up for Columbus\u2019 in-state rivals FC Cincinnati. Lucho wore the armband in front of a heavily pro-Crew crowd. This year, Brandon Vazquez<\/a> could reverse that trend by becoming the latest hometown captain for the MLS All-Stars.<\/p>\n If All-Star games are supposed to entertain \u2013 and they are! \u2013 what better way is there to entertain the home crowd at Q2 Stadium than by placing the armband on Austin FC\u2019s leading goalscorer?<\/p>\n Make no mistake, Vazquez\u2019s best argument to be made captain is a narrative one. Between his hometown status and previous stop in LIGA MX for CF Monterrey, plenty of the striker\u2019s past experiences make him the perfect fit for this honor. Give the good folks down in Austin what they want: hand the captaincy to Vazquez and watch him go to work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n