While I think Avery John is a decent defender, no NE defender deserves top 11 honors. But, other than that, I wouldn't argue too heavily with their list.
Considering they never made it on TV, why am I not surprised that the team that won the US Open Cup, lost the Supporters Shield on tiebreakers, and was an MLS Cup finalist only had one "Best XI" player.
And DC the MLS Cup champ had two. Columbus the team tied for the most points had two - no other team had more than one (except New England and the writer had to have been from NE to put John and Ralston on there). Please - drop your whole martyr act - its getting old.
Ralston had his best season in a number of years for the Revolution, and contributed both at his usual midfield position, as well as providing some emergency cover at right back. He was New England's team MVP, but was he the best right-side midfielder in MLS this season? No. The Magpie
Avery John? A nice player but no First XI. That's a very odd selection. Maybe I'll have to watch him closer next time around. As a sub I would have taken Eskandarian over Ruiz. Ruiz had a lousy year, way below previous norms...
Picking all central defenders annoys me in that minor, petty, embarassing way that I get annoyed when they give all 3 Golden Gloves for outfielders to centerfielders. If they had to pick 2 central defenders, I'm sure it would have been between Nelsen, Conrad, and Fraser. Who would the fullbacks have been?
It's a very silly list. Avery Johns? Moreno as a midfielder? I know he tends to drop back a bit and seeks to create but he's still a striker. Buddle is a stupid pick--don't get me wrong, he's an amazing talent and I bet every team in the league would love to have him on their side (imagine what physical matchup problems Buddle and EJ would create any defense in MLS). But unless you're picking this team on potential, Buddle doesn't deserve to be on it. Heck--Martino had a better season than did Buddle. KC is successful b/c they play as a team and stick to their system. In such circumstances, that whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. If Klein stays healthy, he's my first choice at MF for an "MLS Team of the Season". But frankly, it's hard to pick out KC players as stars. The team played very well and very consistently and very cohesively. But that doesn't mean it was full of individual studs. In fact, I'd argue that the MLS Final was a partial reflection of all the injuries eventually catching up with KC. I understand the rant about the defenders but realistically it's true about the midfield as well (where there are no holding or D-mids and no outside mids). Here are a couple of players that I thought deserved a spot on the team (or at least much more serious consideration): --Eddie Gaven --Ronnie O'Brien --Kerry Zavagnan --Kyle Martino If you insist upon having a D-mid on the team, you probably have to go with KZ. If you inside upon true outside mids, you probably go with Gaven and O'Brien. If you insist upon true fullbacks/outside defenders, I'd argue for probably Tyrone Marshall and either Chad Marshall or Bryan Namoff.