Laurent Ciman’s first season in MLS turned out to be an aware-winning one.
MLS announced Wednesday that the Montreal Impact centerback has been recognized as the 2015 MLS Defender of the Year.
Ciman led the way with 34.55 percent of club votes and 21.02 percent of player votes, while Vancouver Whitecaps’ Kendall Waston won the media vote with 29.58 percent to Ciman’s 25.05 percent. As a result, Waston finished second in the voting, beating out FC Dallas’ Matt Hedges and New York Red Bulls centerback Matt Miazga, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
Ciman’s 2015 campaign saw the Belgian appear in 27 matches for the Impact. With Ciman leading the way, the Impact conceded 14 fewer goals in 2015 than the year prior en route to a postseason appearance.
In addition, Ciman contributed two goals on the attacking end to help lead the Impact to a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference after finishing dead last in 2014.
What do you think of Ciman’s victory? A deserving victor? Who was your MLS Defender of the Year?
Share your thoughts below.
He might be the best player of the four, but with three red cards, he had arguably the worst season. This was the wrong choice. I’d put Waston, Hedges, and Miazga all in front of him (close between him and Miazga).
Red cards or not, he was far and away better than any other center back in the league. Ciman should have been in the discussion for MVP he was so good this season.
no brainer. It’s as much about his distribution out of the back as anything else. Anyone saying that teams have to use dp spots on attacking players only (I know Ciman isn’t even a dp) does not understand how important the back four are to building the attack.