Luciano Acosta named to MLS 24 Under 24

D.C. United fans have known for most of 2016 that Luciano Acosta is a special player. We saw flashes when he was being used out-of-position as a second forward in a 442 to start the year, and any doubts have been laid to rest since Ben Olsen retooled his system around the 22-year-old Argentine.

The rest of MLS has noticed, too, as la Joya was named the league’s 14th best young player on MLSSoccer.com’s 24 Under 24 list.

I’ll take some issue with one unnamed MLS technical staffer’s statement that Lucho “doesn’t give a whole lot for you defensively” — to my eye, United’s best front-foot defending begins and is nearly dependent on Acosta’s intelligence and work rate -- but outside of that, it’s hard to take too much umbrage from a piece that compares United’s little jewel favorably with reigning MVP Sebastian Giovinco.

D.C. United’s comm’s team celebrated Acosta’s inclusion with some Tasty! social media I think we should all take 40 seconds to appreciate:

Acosta came in at #14 on the list this year. With his strong growth curve in the league so far this year and United looking to purchase the on-loan midfielder from Boca Juniors, it bears asking how high he could end up on next year’s edition.

For now, though: ¡Felicitaciones, Lucho!