I know it's early in the season, and we may still see some players shine later on in the year, but do any of you care to take a stab at what the MLS roster versus Real Madrid will be? You can include the subs bench as well... I think there's a few no brainers that will be in the starting XI (Donovan, Ruiz, Guevara, etc.), and I think the hype machine will have Freddy make a later appearance.
Will it be fan voting for this? Because if it is Freddy will start as will many other non-deserving players. If we're going to play Real, I think the coaches should pick the team so we have a better shot at getting our best 11 on the field. we all know how fan voting turns out here in america ... the popular players play, the deserving ones sit.
i hope bob bradley or dave sarachan as the coach... but all in all, it should be a good game to watch
Pope and Curtin in central defence. That's all I care about. Hopeully we'll get some extra training time this year as well. If we're gonna play a world class team, the guys could use a little more time to gel.
Johnson over Spencer? Nope. Spencer is a FAR more dangerous striker. He'd be having Roberto Carlos for lunch...and then some desert too.
i don't know what sort of a formation we would run, so i'll just throw out a standard 442. there isn't much defense in this lineup, but its what i feel is ideally the best 11 possible without taking into account tactics. ------------ruiz---twellman------------- -beasely---guevara-donovan----cancela- -gibbs-----pope-----nelson----mastroeni- ---------------walker------------------- bench: onstad, ralph, convey, armas, curtin injury replacements: klein, spencer, hartman, noonan, petke possible newcomers: kirovski, taylor, galvan rey, glen, scott, parke, carroll, marshall, peguero, de la torre
You don't even have Curtin as a back up? The Fire have held clean sheets in 3 of their 4 games this season and Curtin is THE reason. He's been dominating in the back. He didn't get any respect last year because he was next to Bocanegra. Now our defence is all his, and it's been doing pretty damn well. There's no way Nelson should be starting over him. And leaving him off the bench for Petke(!) is insane. BTW, who in our league wouldn't be "skinned alive by ronaldo and raul". Lets not kid ourselves. These two guys are as "word class" as you can get.
i think you may have somehow let my post and revpowa's meld together... because if you will look closer, i put curtin on the bench. also, i'm basing my spots largely on last year's performances. nelson was the next best thing to bocanegra and an oft-injured eddie pope last season. petke is listed as an injury replacement and did not make the bench. sorry if you disagree with curtin not starting, but i'm not willing to give conan-- er, jim curtin ()the driver's keys after three solid games. however, i will concede that he has a very good chance of earning that spot by mid-season.
-----------------------Walker-------------------- ------------Pope--------Curtin-------Gibbs------ -----------------Nelsen---------Mulrooney------ --------Guevara--------Donovan-----Beasley--- --------------------Ruiz--------Ralph------------- That is tough to come up with a lineup, you almost want to go with reliable national teamer types, even if they aren't having good seasons. I can't even think of reserves for defense (is MLS' defender pool really that shallow?)
With the All-Star game being as prominent as it is, I have to agree that the fans cannot pick the players. The coaches would have a much better perspective and would most likely put together a squad that could compete against one of the best clubs in the world.
Let see now. Danny Califf is playing pretty regularly for the USMNT and you can't even think of him as a rerserve? Says more about you than it does MLS defenders.
you were that kid who sat in the back of class and made fun of everyone weren't you? i should know... i was too. but here's a little news flash. you are posting on a soccer message board. you're not cool anymore.
--------ruiz----------------ralph-------- --beasley--guevara--donavan--convey-- --gibbs----pope-------nelson---mastroeni- --------------onstad--------------------- bnc: Twellman, Hedjuik, Kirovski, Spencer, Curtin, Walker
I could probably pull off a half-decent Mike Mills. I've read Miles' autobiography, though. Fun stuff. Uses the m-f word roughly twice a page. I wouldn't mind seeing Freddy get a run in this game. I don't know if he'll be one of the 18 best MLS players at the time, but he'd be one of the most interesting.
I can tell you right now that we BETTER have a solid keeper in the box if Beckham is going to be playing. Let's admit it, on set pieces that guy is nearly unstoppable. If we don't have a quick, instinctive keeper in the box Beckham is gonna be burning him all day long.
GK - Walker LB - Corey Gibbs CB - Pablo Mastroeni CB - Eddie Pope RB - ???(Heydude) or LB - Corey Gibbs CB - Eddie Pope RB - Pablo Mastroeni Jim Curtin - I almost threw up when i saw that Anyone that would want Curtin to play against Real Madrid is not being fair. We want to compete here. Its not a popularity contest Who will coach the team?
As long as no one is picking Super Ron, I'm inclined to agree with you. (Photo courtesy of Yellow Card Journalism)
Well, you have a couple of players who you know are going to play. Up top the lock is Ruiz. I bet Landon will lineup next to him. After that is a toss up really. I think any of the new trio of Metros forwards can make the team. Toss in Razov or Ralph, and probably Twellman. That is a pretty good bunch of forwards right there. In the midfield, you are going to have to start Gueverra. DMB will man the left flank. I think a couple of other players should be considered. I look at Cancela, Ekelund, Ralston, Ronnie O, Herzog, and Convey as players who will be vying for spots. Toss in Armas and Mulrooney for good measure. In defense you have a lock in the center with Pope and Gibbs. They are by far the best two defenders in MLS, and can handle Real I think. At RB I would slide in Mastroeni. At LB? Big question there. I actually like the back 4 of Gibbs, Nelsen, Pope, and Mastro. That's a solid group right there. You also have Califf (who I think is looking superb this season) and Hejduk. In goal, your starter is Walker. Hartman or Brown are his backup.
The season is young. Let's wait and see him play some more before we say he does not deserve a spot on the team. I do agree that fan voting doesn't put the best team on the field, but it may put the most entertaining. If the fans perfer that, they should get it. It's nothing more than a meaningless exhibition for the fans.