If you were to put together a team of the MLS top 11 players today to face a team from say the EPL, who would you have. G: Howard D: Boca, Pope, Llamosa, Barret M: Mastroeni (Def), Beasley, Ralston, Donovan (attacking) F: Twellman, Mcbride
Not a bad side. However, I would put Ruiz out there instead of McBride. He won the golden boot during the regular season and his finishing has only improved in the playoffs.
Roberto Donadoni was light-years ahead of anybody in MLS in terms of vision and poise on the ball. And let's not forget our first major sale, Stern John!
Mods, maybe this should be merged with the other Best MLS XI or whatever the other thread is titled....
Deekay - I think NikeBlues was just referring to 2002 MLS palyers. So perhaps this thread should remain separate. NikeBlues - My non-U.S. entrants would be Carlos Ruiz and perhaps Andy Williams.
Honestly, most of the american players who went to the WC did little to justify their prominence in MLS play. Landon's point total is nothing spectacular. Same with McBride. He was the third best striker on the Crew this season!!! Albeit with fewer games. Other examples are Mathis and DMB. Both in my opinion should have had stronger seasons, although Mathis was injured, and the Chicago Fire were always in a state of flux which could impact one's results.
This is the best XI I've seen listed so far. A couple of people I might have to put into consideration for this list would be: GK: Hartman Mid: Cobi Jones, Chris Henderson, Mark Chung
I agree. I don't think Donovan's been best XI over a player like Chung who's had a much larger MLS impact then Donovan has.
no i believe twellman did howard bonseu - kante - pope - boca/reyes ralston - mastro - donovan - beasley twellman - ruiz subs- adin brown(current form) mcbride kreis buddle boca/reyes
No, Twellman won the scoring title. MLS doesn't officially have one, but Ruiz won the Golden Boot, which is given to the top goal scorer, not points leader, in such things as the World Cup. Since this is basically the 2002 MLS Best XI, here's mine... GK - Rimando, WSH DF - Suarez, DAL DF - Bonseu, DAL DF - Lalas, LA DF - Barrett, SJ MF - Jones, LA MF - Mulrooney, SJ MF - Valderrama, COL MF - Chung, COL FW - Ruiz, LA FW - Twellman, NE Bench... GK - Hartman, LA DF - Bocanegra, CHI DF - Pope, WSH MF - Elliott, LA MF - Ralston, NE FW - Cunningham, CLB FW - Graziani, SJ
Let's play a 4-3-1-2 GK Howard RB Reyes LCB Pope RCB Kante LB Boca RM Jones DM Pablo LM Chung In the hole: Donovan F Twellman F Ruiz After yesterday's performance, I should probably go with Lalas for Kante. And although I'm not that big of an Elliot fan, he could replace Pablo. Jones has been on absolute fire since the WC; I'd take him over Ralston in a second.
What is it with people wanting so desperately to give Ruiz this nonexistent award? I certainly don't recall there being this much noise about it last time this happened, and that time the actual award winner would have come in third for a "golden boot." Hell, Ruiz didn't learn how to pass the ball until about 3 weeks before the end of the season. C in SJ
I'm not giving him the award, but clarifying what people are talking about. People talk about the Golden Boot as the goal scoring champion. Oh, did I take the Bud Scoring Champion away from Twellman? No, I just clarified that Ruiz led the league in scoring goals. I also said MLS doesn't have an award (Golden Boot) for the goal scoring title. Or did you not read this? I think maybe the "C in SJ" says it all. You just don't like Ruiz (don't even go into the diving crap, since your beloved Landon Donovan does the same thing). Who cares if he didn't learn how to pass, or even passes at all until October 25th. The dude's job is to score goals. Can't you or anybody that complains about his lack of assists realize this?
Hell, Ruiz didn't learn how to pass the ball until about 3 weeks before the end of the season. C in SJ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, Ruiz's first assist was not on a pass. It was a shot that hit the post and rebounded to Cobi.
But Twellman excels in the precise pass right? Give me a break. La w/o him is (rap. He was absolutely brilliant this year, and a MLS top 11 without him is a joke.