AGR's High Press: Revealing my 2024 CPL Awards ballot
It’s that time of year again - it’s awards season.
On Thursday, the Canadian Premier League will reveal all of the awards winners from the 2024 season, honouring those who shone throughout the campaign.
Always a fun occasion, leading to debates about who won, who should’ve won and who wasn’t even nominated, it’s a good way to spark discussion about a memorable season.
From there, the focus will shift back to the CPL Final, which goes down on Saturday, where some of the stars from this award show will look to prove they were worthy of the honours bestowed upon them.
For sure, we know at least one winner will be playing on Saturday - Tobias Warschewski has already secured one of the seven trophies that will be up for grabs on Thursday, as he claimed the CPL’s Golden Boot as top scorer with his 13-goal haul in regular season play.
Other than that, however, the other six awards remain up for grabs, with the winners set to be revealed later this week.
With that in mind, here’s a look at my picks for each award now that the nominees have been announced.
Coach of the Year:
Nominees: Bobby Smyrniotis, Benjamín Mora, Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
Here are the nominees for the 2024 #CanPL Coach of the Year! 🏆
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) November 1, 2024
👑 Benjamín Mora, @yorkutdfc
🔨 Bobby Smyrniotis, @ForgeFCHamilton
🐎 Tommy Wheeldon Jr, @CPLCavalryFC
The 2024 CPL Awards will be broadcast live from Calgary on Thursday, Nov. 7, ahead of the 2024 CPL Final.… pic.twitter.com/xwDDjSGM2S
AGR’s pick: Bobby Smyrniotis
Surely, this is the year that Bobby Smyrniotis finally gets his hands on the CPL’s Coach of the Year award?
For various reasons, this award has proven to be elusive for Forge’s head coach, who has suffered from multiple changes to the voting criteria. Despite that, he’s been nominated in all six years of the Canadian Premier League’s existence, but he hasn’t been able to win this trophy.
He won’t mind - he’ll look at his haul of two regular season titles and four North Star Cups and suggest that is worth more to him, but there’s no doubt that he wouldn’t mind also having this honour find a prominent place on his mantle.
Certainly, it feels like this year is when that will happen. Having won the CPL Shield in dominant fashion despite juggling a deep run in the Canadian Championship, several injuries and the sale of one of their best players, this might be one of Smyrniotis’s most impressive campaigns yet at the helm of Forge.
We're ready to run through a wall after this postgame speech from @ForgeFCHamilton head coach Bobby Smyrniotis last night 🗣️#CanPL pic.twitter.com/uPkDa2d2OR
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) November 3, 2024
No doubt, Mora and Wheeldon Jr. offer plenty of intrigue, as Mora helped reinvigorate York with his midseason arrival, while Wheeldon Jr. led a Cavalry side who lost just four times this season. At the same time, it’s worth noting that York tailed off to end the season, while Cavalry ended up drawing too many games to win the title, which is why Smyrniotis is my pick.
Not only is this one of his best cases to win the award, but the fact that he also hasn’t won will only strengthen his nomination, so don’t be surprised if that vaults him to finally earn this trophy.
Defender of the Year:
Nominees: Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson, Daan Klomp, Themi Antonoglou
The nominees for the 2024 Defender Of The Year are in!
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 30, 2024
🔨 Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson, @ForgeFCHamilton
🛡️ Themi Antonoglou, @ValourFootball
🐎 Daan Klomp, @CPLCavalryFC
The 2024 CPL Awards will be broadcast live from Calgary on Thursday, Nov. 7, ahead of the 2024 CPL Final.… pic.twitter.com/FVsc0Ijwpr
AGR’s Pick: Daan Klomp
The Defender of the Year is back for a third straight year, and each option offers an intriguing choice - both of the first two winners are nominated in Achinioti-Jönsson (2022) and Daan Klomp (2023), joined by a unique new name, Themi Antonoglou, who is the first full back nominated for this award.
That on its own offers up an intriguing debate - how does one judge the impact of a defender, especially a full back, who is quite involved on both sides of the ball? Is it important to vote on who one thinks is the best defensive player? Or the best overall player who happens to be listed as a defender?
Ultimately, I fall in the latter camp, as defending in modern football can be just as much about keeping the ball away from your net with good possession play as it can be making traditional defensive actions.
Using that criteria, I had to go with Daan Klomp, who had another massive season for Cavalry, playing all but one regular season game in 2024. Given that Cavalry finished the season with both the lowest goals against (27 in 28 games), and xG against (26.96 xG in 28 games per WyScout), with Klomp playing a central role in their defence, that shows how key he was defensively, as he was top five in blocks (1st with 25), clearances (5th with 93), and aerial duels won (2nd with 89).
FEATURE 🎥
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 15, 2024
Coming off the back of an exceptional 2023 season, @CPLCavalryFC standout Daan Klomp is looking to take another step as the pressure mounts in this #CanPL playoff race 🔥
PLUS: @GarethWheeler shares his TOP 5 CBs of @CPLsoccer list 📈 pic.twitter.com/GRCGjNUvAR
Yet, his value extended far beyond his defensive play, as he also chipped in with six goals and one assist and attempted the fourth most passes in the CPL, showing his importance to Cavalry in possession and on set-pieces.
Because of all that, it was hard to ignore Klomp, although it feels like this vote was the toughest, with both Achinioti-Jönsson and Antonoglou offering plenty of compelling reasons to also vote for them, but that’s where Cavalry’s overall defensive success gave Klomp a key edge.
Goalkeeper of the Year:
Nominees: Emil Gazdov, Callum Irving, Thomas Vincensini
Starting today we will be revealing the nominees for the 2024 CPL Awards!
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 28, 2024
Up first are the nominees for the Golden Glove 🧤
🔱 Emil Gazdov, @Pacificfccpl
🦅 Callum Irving, @vanfootballclub
👑 Thomas Vincensini, @yorkutdfc
The 2024 CPL Awards will be broadcast live from… pic.twitter.com/DhcM2jwpJC
AGR’s Pick: Emil Gazdov
It’s tough to analyze goalkeepers, as it’s hard to know if someone should be punished for how good or bad someone’s defence is.
For example, if a goalkeeper leads the league in saves, that’s usually a sign their defence did them no favours. At the same time, a goalkeeper can lead the league in saves and have a good season, especially if those saves are of high quality - whereas someone can make a lot of easier saves that pad their numbers.
Ultimately, one good metric to use is ‘goals prevented’, which takes xGOT (a metric that takes a shot that reaches the target and re-calculates the xG based on where on target it is - for example, a low xG shot that goes into the top corner of the goal is re-calculated to be much higher, whereas a high xG shot that goes right at the goalkeeper is re-calculated to be much lower), and subtracts the goals they conceded from that number.
By doing that, it gives an idea of the quality of shots a goalkeeper has faced, and if they’ve done a good job of preventing them relative to what they’re expected to. There, Gazdov leads this trio - he prevented 3.58 goals, whereas Vincensini prevented 0.1 and Irving prevented -2.42.
Gazdov was helped by being one of the least busy goalkeepers in the CPL, as he faced just 21.58 xG in 21 appearances, but he conceded just 18 goals in those appearances and made several huge saves to ensure that when he was tested, his team didn’t get punished by that.
Because of that, he earned my vote, as ultimately, those prevented goals ended up being the difference between Pacific making the postseason and missing out altogether (although it was a surprise to then see him miss out on Pacific’s lone playoff game for a tactical decision).
Emil Gazdov's absolutely incredible stop picks up tonight's @AllstateCanada Save of the Match 👏 #CanPL pic.twitter.com/XGI9M5ufuO
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 19, 2024
For what it’s worth, this vote is very close, however. A vote for Irving is very reasonable, given that he faced the most xGOT in the league (a whopping 40.58 in 28 games), making it impressive that his prevented goals numbers were what they were - and by the eye test, Irving certainly did his part to ensure Vancouver’s defensive record wasn’t any worse.
Then, with Vincensini, not only were his numbers quite solid considering he was second in xGOT faced behind Irving (35.66 in 28 games), but they don’t even consider that he was the best sweeper-keeper in the league, doing an incredible job of cleaning up a lot of dangerous chances for York before they even reached his net by playing aggressively off his line.
Ultimately, this vote can come down to preference in terms of how one assesses goalkeeping - is it about being busy and withstanding that test, about good proactive positioning, or standing tall when called upon even if it’s not often - and when crunching the numbers, Gazdov, who falls into camp #3, ended up emerging as my pick.
U21 Canadian Player of the Year:
Nominees: Kwasi Poku, Noah Abatneh, Emil Gazdov
The nominees for the 2024 Best Canadian U-21 Player are in!
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 29, 2024
👑 Noah Abatneh, @yorkutdfc
🔱 Emil Gazdov, @Pacificfccpl
🔨 Kwasi Poku, @ForgeFCHamilton
The 2024 CPL Awards will be broadcast live from Calgary on Thursday, Nov. 7, ahead of the 2024 CPL Final. Catch them live on… pic.twitter.com/vdn5qjr1G3
AGR’s Pick: Emil Gazdov
Quickly, this has become one of the most intriguing awards in the league, and for good reason - among past winners and nominees, some players have become stars in the CPL, some have gone to MLS and Europe, and some have even played for their National Teams.
This year’s crop offers similar intrigue, as Poku has already made his move to Europe and has played for the CanMNT, while Gazdov and Abatneh were among the best in the CPL at their positions already this year.
Ultimately, due to some injury woes for Abatneh, this feels like a two-horse race between Poku and Gazdov, and it’s one that comes down to one’s perspective.
On one hand, Poku is a very deserved shout. He only played 1253 minutes before being sold to Belgium for a record fee, but still scored eight goals, playing a big role in Forge’s title push. Had he stayed the entire season, he would’ve been a shoo-in for the award, but even despite his early departure, it’s easy to make a good argument for him.
Here's what RWD Molenbeek can expect from Kwasi Poku 🤩 | @ForgeFCHamilton 👏#CanPL pic.twitter.com/R6HVHMDEbP
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) August 21, 2024
Meanwhile, with Gazdov, he’s the lone U21 nominee to be nominated for another award, which strengthens his argument to win this. Especially given that the other award is ‘Goalkeeper of the Year’, which is typically an award that goes to older players, it’s a credit that he’s not just up for that award, but among the best candidates to win, too.
And when voting, that last point ended up being key. Considering he earned my vote for Goalkeeper of the Year, it made sense to also give him a shout for the best U21 Canadian player.
Between Poku’s move and his call-up to the CanMNT, those are worthy awards in their own right, one that shows that he was a top U21 Canadian player in the CPL, but the edge went to Gazdov in the end thanks to his play relative to his peers at his position.
Player of the Year:
Nominees: Kyle Bekker, Alessandro Hojabrpour, Tristan Borges, Brian Wright, Tobias Warschewski
Here are the five nominees for the 2024 CPL Player Of The Year!
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) November 4, 2024
🔨 @ForgeFCHamilton: Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges, Alessandro Hojabrpour
🐎 @CPLCavalryFC: Tobias Warschewski
👑 @yorkutdfc: Brian Wright
The 2024 CPL Awards will be broadcast live from Calgary on Thursday, Nov.… pic.twitter.com/BFg59jBPVQ
AGR’s Pick: Tristan Borges
For a second straight season, it was an incredibly competitive crop of players nominated for Player of the Year, as each of the five players could earn a shout given their individual performances, which helped their various sides earn team success.
In this race, however, it ended up coming down to two players - Forge teammates Alessandro Hojabrpour and Tristan Borges. Wright and Warschewski had great arguments to be made given their outstanding individual contributions (13G/2A for Warchewski, 9G/6A for Wright), while Bekker quietly had another great season (2G/7A for a midfielder who does a lot of important work in possession is impressive), but Hojabrpour and Borges felt like they separated themselves with their play.
On one hand, there was Hojabrpour, who was central to everything Forge did in midfield, doing all sorts of work on and off the ball to keep his team ticking. It might not have been as eye-catching as what the attackers around him were doing, but it was essential in Forge’s title push.
Meanwhile, Borges ended up having a strong campaign, as he finished with 8G/6A, playing a big role in Forge’s title surge as a key piece in their league-leading attack. As a result, Forge stumbled to end the year as he picked up a knock, showing his importance to the group, as he seemed to emerge as the key orchestrator in the attack, with a lot of dangerous actions going through him.
GOAL 🔨@ForgeFCHamilton star Tristan Borges scores a gorgeous goal to give his team an early 1-0 lead over @CPLCavalryFC in our @tonybet_Canada #CanPL Match of the Week 👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 7, 2024
🔴 TUNE IN on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/D13fTY8Z5F
Ultimately, when it came to picking a winner, however, Borges ended up getting the slight edge, as Forge’s big strength this year ended up being their offensive game, given that they led the CPL in goals. Because of that, it made sense to reward their most important offensive contributor, one who put together one of his best seasons yet - impressive for one of the past winners of this award from back in 2019.
Player’s Player of the Year:
Nominees: Beni Badibanga, Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges, Lorenzo Callegari, Ruben del Campo, Alessandro Hojabrpour, Daan Klomp, Ali Musse, Tobias Warschewski, Brian Wright
Here are the finalists for the 2024 Players' Player of the Year!
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 31, 2024
⚒️ Beni Badibanga, Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges, Alessandro Hojabrpour @ForgeFCHamilton
🐎 Daan Klomp, Ali Musse, Tobias Warschewski @CPLCavalryFC
🔵 🔴 Rubén del Campo @atletiOttawa
⚓ Lorenzo Callegari… pic.twitter.com/xOofNJrfnn
AGR’s Pick: Tobias Warschewski
The last of seven awards, this is the only other one I didn’t get a vote for (last I checked, I didn’t play any CPL minutes this year), but it’s still a fun one to speculate about.
Interestingly, the voting for this award has gone in different directions in both years since this award came out in 2022 - in 2022, Ollie Bassett won, as the players agreed with the Player of the Year vote, which also saw Bassett win the race decided by the media.
In 2023, however, the players went in a different direction, as Ali Musse won the Player’s Player of the Year, while Daan Klomp won the Player of the Year. That wasn’t too surprising to see, however - Cavalry was a dominant regular season side, with Klomp and Musse sitting as the heartbeats of that team - ultimately, the media felt Klomp’s overall impact was more worthy of their vote, whereas the player’s felt Musse’s attacking skills gave him the edge.
Yet, that’s the big thing to watch out for in this vote - this won’t be a player who’s an analytical darling or someone who dominated the stat sheet, but instead a player who dominated games by the eye-test. Typically, those players will stick in the back of the minds of their peers, who will have not-so-fond memories of seeing that player dominate games against them.
When looking at this list, a few players stand out in that regard. For example, Béni Badibaga is sure to garner plenty of votes, as he can take over games with his skill, and will have frustrated a few defenders who will have remembered him while voting. In a similar vein, Wright, Borges, Rubén del Campo and Ali Musse should also earn plenty of votes after strong offensive performances.
Despite that, it feels like Warschewski has a key edge here. Not only did he score 13 goals (defenders will remember having to pick the ball out of the net several times when facing him), but he was a nightmare to defend, as he’s very technically gifted, and can drift all over the pitch.
GOLDEN BOOT GOAL ✨
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 19, 2024
Tobias Warschewski moves to No. 1 in the top-scoring race for the 2024 #CanPL season as he scores his 12th goal, this one from the penalty spot ⭐️@CPLCavalryFC go up 2-1 on @ValourFootball 👀
🔴 Watch The Outcome! presented by @tonybet_Canada on OS YouTube pic.twitter.com/FJWlRU6sFO
Because of that, it feels like he strikes that balance between eye test, performance, skill and numbers that one will need to win this award, so look for him to be a favourite to win (or at least be in the top three) when the final results are tallied.
