It was a decent finish to the season for Lionel Messi. In addition to lifting the MLS Shield with Inter Miami, the Argentinian superstar claimed the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award for being the league’s best player, making him the 11th foreigner to earn this prestigious title, which has been awarded for 28 years. However, unlike many others, Alexi Lalas has expressed disappointment with Major League Soccer over Messi’s award win.

Well, it’s not that the US icon didn’t see the Inter Miami skipper as a contender for the award; it’s rather the nominations of the top 5 MVP finalists that have forced Lalas to call out the American domestic league. Aside from Messi, Luis Suarez, Cucho Hernández, Evander, and Christian Benteke were among those who made the cut for a list that had only foreign names.

On the latest episode of State of the Union podcast, David Moose alleged the MLS is ‘selling league for Americans, buying league for foreigners.’ That saw Lalas question the realistic goals of MLS to grow themselves as a league, stating, “If your best players in your domestic league aren’t actually American, then where is the aspiration?”

“And how it is only a league of choice for players that are coming outside the league and outside the United States and are not grown in this culture that you’re talking about. If that’s the case, then Don Garber and whoever is in the MLS, don’t BS me. If that’s how you want this league to be, fine,” added Lalas.

The former defender underlined the fact that the majority of the American soccer public out there also looks at these foreign players better because they’re coming from the outside. But such hasn’t been the case for the home-grown talents for a while. For context, the last time a States-based player won the MLS MVP award was back in 2013 by Mike Magee as a Chicago Fire player.

“Until we get rid of those, I think we’ll struggle on the pitch as a soccer-playing nation and off the pitch as a soccer nation trying to grow. We don’t need to be apologizing for what we are and what we think we aren’t,” concluded Lalas.

Seems like it’s another reminder for MLS to really reflect on this issue that Lalas is trying to convey. But this brings up a question of how good Messi was among other contenders to win the award.

Was Lionel Messi the real MLS MVP winner?

With more than 36 goal contributions, including 20 goals and 16 assists, Lionel Messi had an outstanding season. Despite playing only 19 games due to injuries, Inter Miami lost just one regular season match with the Argentinian on the field. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner averaged 2.18 goal contributions per 90 minutes during the regular season, setting a new league record.

Not to mention, he also helped Inter Miami finish the regular season with a record 74 points. Additionally, Messi is the first Argentinian to win the MLS MVP award. While he came close to finishing the season as the top scorer, falling just two goals short of Christian Benteke, there’s no doubt that his performances and triumphs with Miami make him a truly deserving recipient.

That said, it remains to be seen whether next season will feature some American-based stars among the nominees or even be in contention to finally end the decade-long drought.