Commissioner Garber selected Edson Buddle (forward, Los Angeles Galaxy) and Dwayne De Rosario (midfielder, Houston Dynamo) as the two "Commissioner's picks." Link:http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080715&content_id=172831&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp
Excellent choices. The team actually looks pretty strong this year, with a lot of the players in very good form. There's a decent chance they'll thrash a pre-season West Ham, which would be nice. Honestly never thought Buddle would be one of three Galaxy players to make the team. Extremely pleasant surprise, and very good to see. Here's to hoping Franklin continues to develop to the point where he's in contention next year or the year after.....
Great choice from the Commissioner. Buddle was a well-deserved callup. His choice of DeRo, though....eh, it's because he's Canadian, not based on merit. DeRo hasn't been the same DeRo for 2 years now. But judging by what I'm reading over on the MLS N&A thread about TFC and their proposed "protest" at the All-Star game - actually, it seems it's an army of 1 that's going to protest ....I'm fine with throwing them a bone. They get both DeRo and Onstad - who I can't believe got picked over Busch.
agree. i'd say DeRo has been quite poor all year. he takes a ton of really bad shots (not only are they wasted opportunities, but he's missing by a LOT), his passing is generally quite bad, when he's started in midfield he has played no defense whatsoever and his game this year i would generally characterize as "lazy". he hasn't been working off the ball or generally putting in much effort except when he receives the ball around the 18 and is working to get himself a shot. the only standout area for DeRo this year is aggression. he's been starting fights and generally acting like his sh!t don't stink. i can't believe he hasn't been thrown out of any MLS games. one game, i think it might have been dallas or chivas, he went over and picked up the player from the other team off the ground to attack him. i can't see one player on the lineup less deserving of an all-star spot. shame about this TFC thing.
Angel was Nicol's pick. I'd say from a team composition standpoint, I might pick Angel over Emilio (though Emilio's certainly had a better season thus far and would seem to be more deserving of a spot). Angel seems to have a few more tools at his disposal, though Emilio is great at full on attacking the goal.
No kidding, and especially the bolded part. Not to pull this thread off on a tangent, but I'm glad DeRo finally got the red card in the SuperLiga that he's been deserving for the past 3 games now. He's been starting fights and then walking away from it and getting off scott free while the others players are carded. What took the cake was the other day in MLS, he starts a fight, walks away and 2 players - one from each team - gets a red. His teammate got a red card for coming to defend DeRo in a fight DeRo started! And I've always said he takes way too many ill-advised shots (I think he actually leads the league, or is No. 2, in shots taken; and given the amount of goals he's actually scored, that's not a good thing) - they're way off target, and he wastes scoring opportunities for his teammates as they're left wide open hoping for the ball that never comes. He does score a spectacular goal every now and then...but it's only spectacular because it's amazing that it actually went in this time. His ill-advised-shot-to-spectacular-goal-scored has got to be astronomical.
I hope Edson has an "All Star" bonus in his contract. Otherwise this is a complete waste of time and energy.
It's Pando-esque. I'm really impressed by the team. The only possible exclusion I can see is Emilio. But since he plays for The United, I really don't care.
Edson Buddle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a nice return to Toronto it will be !!
Now if MLS respected the FIFA dates I would wish this guy got nominated for the NT. But since we don't I am glad he will be with us during the hard times(no becks, fish, landon, jazic)
I know West Ham, among others, are looking for some talented new recruits and I remember reading that a lot of clubs are looking abroad (MLS included). If Buddle impresses we might find that our star player ends up going abroad for trials at the very least. Especially if the transfer window is open now, I hope that Buddle is not picked up late meaning a loss in one of our star players at the end of the transfer window!!