Blake in line for top MLS awards
Published:Saturday | October 15, 2022 | 12:06 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Ahead of another title run in the upcoming Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs, national goalkeeper and captain Andre Blake secured himself nominations for the league’s top individual awards, including another chance at being the league’s best player.
Blake is nominated for the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, as well as the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player awards which were announced yesterday by the league. While it has been a difficult year internationally for the 31-year-old shot-stopper, Blake enjoyed another strong regular season for the Philadelphia Union recording 15 clean sheets, the most in the league this season and conceded the fewest goals of any goalkeeper (22). It is the second time in three years that Blake has been given an MVP nomination and similar to the 2020 season, he is the only goalkeeper in the field that has been nominated for the award. Blake faces opposition from Los Angeles Football Club’s Cristian Arango, Austin FC’s Sebastian Driussi, MLS Golden Boot winner Hany Muhktar of Nashville SC and Javier Hernandez of the Los Angeles Galaxy. No goalkeeper has been named MLS MVP since 2000 when Tony Meola won the honour.
Meanwhile, Blake will face Drake Callender of Inter Miami FC and Dordje Petrovic of the New England Revolution for Goalkeeper of the Year honours, an award that he has won twice in 2016 and 2020. Currently, he is among a list of five players that have won the award twice including former national goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. Should Blake win, he would become the first goalkeeper to win the award three times. MLSSoccer.com writer Matt Doyle said that Blake’s 2022 body of work has been a banner year which has seen him consistent for the last five years.
“Basically, since 2018, he’s had four outstanding seasons in five and this might be the best of them,” Doyle said on the Extratime Podcast this week. “The traditional numbers, goals against, shutouts, saves-all of that is through the roof.”
Blake’s exploits helped the Union to finish atop the Eastern Conference with 67 points and earn an MLS playoff first-round bye. Blake’s season also saw him win the John Wanamaker Athletic Award, recognising a team, athlete or organisation which has done the most for the city of Philadelphia. He made his 200th MLS start for the Union on August 31. Blake will hope that this season will see him lift the elusive MLS Cup title when they host their conference semi-final match-up on October 20.