Agudelo is MLS POTW, but Bernier establishes himself as Player of the Month favourite

Patrice Bernier PHOTO: JOHANY JUTRAS/CANADA SOCCER

Juan Agudelo was named the MLS Player of the Week Monday. The Chivas USA forward got 10 first-place votes out of the 28 ballots cast by the members of the North American Soccer Reporters.

Agudelo set up Edgar Mejia’s goal and scored on a lovely curler as the surprising Goats won 4-1 over the Fire, who can claim to be the league’s worst team through four weeks.

But, for Canadian soccer followers, the interesting story is who finished second. Montreal Impact midfielder got five first-place votes as his team shut down the New York Red Bulls 1-0 to keep its perfect start to the season alive.

This week, Bernier got five votes and finished second in POTW voting. Last week, he got seven votes and finished second. Three weeks ago, Bernier finished third in POTW voting. Every week, Bernier is getting votes, and they are coming from all across North America.

Because he’s been in the conversation week after week, you have to think that Bernier is the favourite for Player of the Month consideration. And it’s clear he’s established himself as the best holding midfielder in MLS. The voters see it week, in week out. He plays one of the most misunderstood positions in soccer, maybe the most under-appreciated position in soccer, but the voters are still coming to him week after week, despite the fact he’s got far more glamourous teammates (Marco Di Vaio, anyone?).

So, with the consistency in POTW voting, the evidence suggests that the soccer reporters who are experts in the North American game see Bernier as not only the best holding midfielder in the league through the first month of the season, but maybe the best player in the league for the first month of the season. Sure, it’s way too early to really be discussing this — but could Bernier join Dwayne De Rosario in the “Canadian MLS MVP” club?

How The 11 voted: Just to prove that we’re not homers, our first place vote went to Chivas’s Mejia, who also had a goal and an assist in that win over Chicago. Mejia’s goal was a screamer from outside the area. And the second place went to Nana Attakora; the Canadian went into a makeshift San Jose backline — which also including ex-TFC mates Ty Harden and Dan Gargan — and then absolutely shut down the Seattle Sounders in a 1-0 win. Attakora was singled out for his excellence.