MLS year-end award predictions: Larin top rookie, Giovinco wins biggest prize

The end of the 2015 Major League Soccer season is fast approaching, as the Eastern and Western Conference Championship matchups have now been set. As the year winds down, there are a few individual accolades to be contested and awarded in the upcoming days, too.

With that in mind, here are some predictions for the winners of the MLS regular season year-end awards:

Rookie of the Year: Cyle Larin

Nominees:

• Cyle Larin (Orlando City)
• Matt Polster (Chicago Fire)
• Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes)

The least-contentious pick among the bunch at the end of this season, Larin isn't just an obvious selection - he's also a record-breaking rookie, too.

That Larin scored 17 goals in 27 games in his debut season isn't just good for the all-time rookie scoring record, but he nearly helped propel an expansion Orlando City team to a playoff spot. Larin won the spot amid injuries at the club and held firmly to it without question, displacing a Designated Player in Bryan Rochez.

It makes this Canadian international an easy selection for the Rookie of the Year award, and puts him right up there as one of the best rookies in MLS history, period.

Newcomer of the Year: Didier Drogba

Nominees:

• Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact)
• Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)
• Mike Grella (New York Red Bulls)

This award was seemingly locked up for Toronto FC forward Giovinco, if not for the sudden, overnight appearance of Drogba at the Montreal Impact.

The former Chelsea striker came into Stade Saputo hungry for goals, and boy did he feast: Drogba scored an astounding 11 goals in 11 games at the tail end of the 2015 season, then scored one more in the MLS postseason to bring his total tally to 12 goals.

Sure, it's not as much as Giovinco and Columbus Crew forward Kei Kamara's tally of 22 goals each, but the way by which Drogba turned this struggling Impact team into a playoff contender makes him a surprise pick for the Newcomer of the Year award.

Coach of the Year: Jesse Marsch

Nominees:

• Jesse Marsch (New York Red Bulls)
• Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas)
• Carl Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps)

There's a reason why the New York Red Bulls were so clinical and effective in 2015, and that reason is the tactical acumen and application of theory provided by Marsch.

See, MLS is undergoing a bit of a transformative period in its 20th season since inception, with a large focus on shifting the playing philosophy from physicality and speed to technicality and skill. Marsch and the Red Bulls organization took one look at that trend, which had been subconsciously agreed upon across the league, and went against the grain instead.

The Red Bulls attack with speed, high pressure, and physicality, fully aware of the defensive gaps they leave behind when the players do push up, but knowing that the opposition, by and large, don't have the skill to exploit those holes efficiently and consistently.

As such, the Red Bulls rage through enemy sides with ease more often than not. It's a strategy that won't work in the next five-to-10 years, as teams become more adept at moving the ball about the park, but it's not 2025 yet - it's 2015. Marsch lives in the here and now, and, because of it, he earns the nod among his fellow managers this season.

Most Valuable Player: Sebastian Giovinco

Nominees:

• Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)
• Kei Kamara (Columbus Crew)
• Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City)

When you look back at the 2015 season, you look at the story of Giovinco.

The Atomic Ant scored 22 goals and recorded 16 assists in the 2015 season, accounting for a combined 38 points, a new league high. Sure, Kamara may have the same number of goals and Feilhaber may have just as many quality assists, but those same numbers tell only half the story.

Giovinco's goals weren't just tap-in efforts; the Italian international scored from almost every angle, from free kicks, from cheeky chips, from bullets outside the box, and, yes, from the penalty spot. He has four goals nominated for Goal of the Year because of it.

At only 5-foot-4, Giovinco stands above everyone else across the league in terms of pure quality. There is no one who scores the kinds of goals Giovinco does so consistently. It's why he's the league's most valuable player, bar none.