Thursday, July 14, 2005

MLS Allstar team announced



link

Starters: Reis, Vanney, Pope, Conrad, Joseph, Dempsey, Donovan, Guevara, O'Brien, Johnson, Ruiz

Bench: Garlick, Hejduk, Albright, Valakari, Gomez, Noonan, Twellman


So that's 11/18 from Dallas and New England, which actually seems about right. Garlick and Valakari are questionable, but was their coach Colin Clarke who selected them as reserves. Hejduk is there because the Columbus fans deserve to be one of their own. Don Garber's commish picks were Gomez and Twellman, and of course everyone's shocked because he didn't pick Freddy Adu, as he did last year. I think maybe they're trying to keep him out of the spotlight a little bit, because he's probably a little burned out and because he's not a great player yet. So it's probably for the best, since he doesn't deserve to be there.

What's more interesting is the four teams which didn't have players selected (thankfully the league doesn't force every team to be represented like MLB). Colorado and Chivas are totally understandable, although Joe Cannon probably would've been a better choice as a reserve keeper. The other two teams are Chicago and San Jose, which are in 1st and 2nd place in their conferences. Both of them have really succeeded as teams this season, without any huge stars. That's not to say that they don't have talented squads, it's just that they're getting solid play from everybody. I mean, Justin Mapp, Thiago, Ivan Guerrero and Nate Jaqua are good players, but are borderline allstar picks. Same thing with Danny Califf, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan and Ronald Cerritos. They don't have a leader like Guevara with the Metros, but when the whole team is working together, they win and that's what matters.

The Allstar game itself against Fulham should be fun, but the real excitement will be Don Garber's state of the league address, and any other announcements. Just today we learned that teams will be allowed to keep some players that they develop. There's also the San Jose to Houston rumors that may finally be confirmed, and maybe some other expansion related news (we just heard about Milwaukee. I'd like some confirmation on Toronto). The league also has broke the bank (relatively) to sign Donovan and Johnson to big deals, and there's been talk of MLS spending more money on player acquisitions. It should be an eventful weekend.

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