Jorge Campos, Luis Hernández, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Rafa Márquez were some former Mexican players that had the chance to show their skills in the MLS, but Carlos Vela managed to improve everything they did by leading LAFC to a historic season.
The former Real Sociedad man claimed the 2019 MLS MVP award by earning over 80% of the player's vote. Only 6.89 % of his peers thought Zlatan Ibrahimovic deserved to collect the award, while 2018 MVP Josef Martínez finished third in the ranking with 5.90 % of the preference.
All in all, Vela made history by winning the award with a 69 % of the vote, which includes polls among clubs and members of the media.
Vela made history by becoming the first Mexican player to win this award, and how was he going to miss out on this one if he managed to score over 35 goals during the regular season? Unfortunately for him and LAFC fans, Seattle Sounders was able to oust them from the title race, which left Vela a bit broken-hearted.
"If we had won the title, it would have been the perfect year. To own all the league's records would have been something," Vela said after being handed the award by Mexican icon Fernando Valenzuela.
Vela looked back at his playing days for Arsenal and what he learned during his time under Arsene Wenger, which relates to the advice he wants to give to those around him.
"I used to think: 'I play for Arsenal and I'm the coolest cat, so no one can come and tell me anything'. When I was young there were people that offered me advice, but I did not listen, I played along and I wanted to live my life. Now I regret having dismissed their advice. That's why I want the young kids around us to understand that our words come from the heart," Vela concluded.
