Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has been named Montreal Impact's best player for the Major League Soccer is Back tournament.
Wanyama started in all of Montreal Impact’s games in Group C until they qualified for the play-offs and went down to Orlando City a week ago in the first round of the knockout phase.
The former Celtic midfielder was named Man of the Match when Montreal Impact fought hard against DC United to secure the only win in the group that helped them sail to the knockout round.
Wanyama, who joined the MLS side early in the year, was part of the squad that engaged in the MLS is Back tournament and lost to New England Revolution and Toronto FC as well.
Although the former Tottenham Hotspur star has had an encouraging start at his first MLS club – winning Man of the Match and Man of the Tournament awards – his manager Thierry Henry cautioned that the team needs balance if they are to assure themselves of good performances.
Victor Wanyama : notre joueur Helix du tournoi #MLSisBack, présenté par @Videotron 👏
— Impact de Montréal (@impactmontreal) July 31, 2020
Congratulations @VictorWanyama: you are our Helix player of the #MLSisBack tournament, presented by Vidéotron!#IMFC pic.twitter.com/BvAwXapRSI
“Yes, we do have to improve, that’s for sure,” Henry said in a previous interview. “I don’t know if you follow us since the beginning of the season, but we score goals. Have a look.
“We score goals, but we also concede. So, we have to find the right balance.
“It’s like the end of the preseason. Obviously, some things can be improved. I am proud of my players. We came here [to the MLS is Back tournament], we did what we did despite having restarted to train later than other teams.
“I have to look after my players, but we’re only five games into the league [season] and obviously we had games here, but it’s still early for me here. The process is still on.
“We still have to try to find the right balance defensively and offensively. We need to find the right balance, but I just arrived here.”
The Harambee Star left Europe after stints with Beerschot, Celtic and Southampton.
His time at Tottenham Hotspur saw him fall down the pecking order, with injuries taking a toll before he switched for MLS - a league that is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation - in March 2020.