In one of those bizzaro moments, he had been kicked in the foot and broken off a toenail. If given more than a minute, he would have been okay, but that minute was all it took.... Are you kidding me? Or are you one of those people who don't think defensive midfielders belong in All-Star games? Other than Shalrie Joseph, he is the best d-mid in the league. I can count his mistakes this season on one finger - and yes, it was getting turned around by your guy, Clarke. Other than that, he has been the glue that allows us to play the 4-3-3. I would compare him easily with Pablo (without the injuries) or anyone else in the league at that position.
Actually, I'm guessing this is how they molify the labor union - they send the "next 18" all stars to that game (the ones who would have been the other team had the league stayed with the old two-team, East v. West system). Note that in 2003 (the year they played Chivas) they added a second group of "all-stars" who didn't play in the game but were considered all-stars nonetheless. I'm sure the labor union wouldn't be pleased to all of a sudden have half as many All-Star bonuses handed out. So your guys who haven't (don't? if they don't get named as replacements for Guevara, Pope, etc.) been named, they get to go play Real - which, frankly, might be a better deal than playing Fulham. But realistically, I've got to think that either Califf or Davis will be named to replace Guevara or Pope. (I am pretty sure Amado is completely out - his knee injury was, I think, two to four weeks.) If not both.
Thanks DB for the response.....no, I'm not one of those who thinks defensive midfielders don't belong, I just haven't been that wowed by him in what I've seen. But, I have to admit, it's harder (at least for me) to notice a strong d-midfielder than an offensive player, as I'm usually watching the offensive play more. I've seen enough Revs games to notice Joseph, but since Dallas has not been on TV much out here, I haven't seen Simo that much. I've seen several other posts questioning whether he was deserving, and was just curious what you thought as you seem to be fairly objective (for a Dallas fan ) about the FCD players.
Yes, no Quakes player is selected, but we have representatives as starters and on the bench. WHo? The jersey.
D-Mids are like defenders - the better they are, the less you hear their names. People don't like Valakari as a pick either because they don't think d-mids belong in an all-star game (as in, they don't appreciate their importance to the game) or because they think it was a nepotism pick. Frankly, I think it was a pick made because Colin wants to win the damn game. He didn't go for guys on other teams, he went for what he percieved to be the best remaining five (other than hey-DUCK-'cause-I'm-gonna-cross-the-ball-into-the-stands!). I know there were those who bashed the Albright pick, but did you see what Roberto Carlos said to him after the game with Real? "Hey, don't run so much." Damn. And you know what, at the MLS level, he doesn't make mistakes. So for an MLS All-Star Game, methinks he was a good pick. (And fwiw, I think that may help shore up LA a bit. His return and Landon's return, combined with the confidence of Hercules Gomez - they could have a better second half. Of course, we'll know more after August where they play all on the road.) BTW, thanks for the compliment. Back to d-mids - I was saying before all this that I hope Shalrie made the team because he really is that important to one of the best teams in the league.
That's why he belongs on the All-hack team, not the All-Star team. he'd fit right in with Dema in the mid on the All-hacks.
Well, we know what camp you fall into. How about playing a complete game - or does your team not have d-mids? Someone with Danny O on their team saying someone else is a hack - that's a joke.
I haven't been agreeing 100% w/some of FAS' posts lately, either. One of the disservices of the internet and sports talk in general is that if a player plays a certain way, he's forever labeled. In this case, Valakari's a "hack" because he played rough against the Quakes a couple times. If you read enough of this semi-echo chamber here, you'd get the idea most Quakes fans think there should be 8 or 9 Quakes starting the all-star game. Which is somewhat understandable, considering many Quakes fans only see Quakes matches... ...kind of like how Colin Clarke must not watch many matches other than those involving your beloved FC Cows. The two Quakes who could've been easy coaches choices have both played like crap against Dallas this season. Davis got completely shut down in the 0-0 injury bowl at Spartan (and missed the Cotton Bowl match), while Califf got two yellows in the game at the Cotton Bowl (and missed the Spartan match). If that's all Clarke used as reference points when selecting, it's understandable. Unfortunately, those matches were Davis and Califf's worst as Quakes. I think since Guevara went down, and he's an a-mid, the obvious replacement choice is DeRo. A few weeks ago, before the caution troubles, I said Califf should be selected, too, but if they pick a Quake for defense, I'd go with E-Rob.
Good point on how Califf and Davis played against Dallas, I hadn't thought about that. Davis actually had a stretch of 3-4 games in June where he didn't play as well as he had been before that. About the same time that Ching went down, Brad definitely seemed to miss having Ching as a target. But his set pieces and crosses in general were not anywhere near as good in that stretch as they had been early in the year. Hopefully the stretch with the USMNT has gotten him back into top form, and he'll come back strong after this weekend. As has been pointed out, none of the Quakes has been strong the entire year; Robinson started off very slow, and Califf has missed more games than he has played. DeRosario started on the bench, and people are not yet used to him as an a-mid. Davis started strong but then hit a lull. If Ching weren't hurt, based on the games he played, he'd clearly be an All Star. I don't really think it's an obvious injustice that nobody made it, I can argue for and against each of them. Most of the conjecture seems to be that the "MLS Select" team that will play Real Madrid will be largely constructed of the guys who didn't make the Fulham All Star game, so some of our guys may get that chance. Unfortunately, that means they would not play against the Galaxy in the rematch at Spartan, which would be too bad.....
My $3.98 on dis itchUE: 1/ Foistly unt most impotently (IMHO, hmm, IMHO) C-bus got tre' screwed over here. Fer sure if de game was at csud or de Swamp or even a new and Gehryesque take on Soldier Field, no hweigh MLS would be playing dat reknowned European, World, Galactic and Universal power known as FC Fullham; not dat de Cottagers are crap; jes Arsenal or Boca; or even Chelski unt Milan mit whom SUM was OBVIOUSLY negotiatin' would bring in more of a profile. But the "Jewels of Europe" are saved up for "MLS/AEG/SUM Family Jewels". 2/ Garlick stinks, simple unt pure, to pick him over Joey or Paddy is beyond "reason defyin'". 3/ Le's take a look see at our record : As dem Wings once shpieled :"Mit a little luck..." our 8 - 4 - 7 couldda, wouldda, shouldda been 10 - 2 - 7 good enough for : as good as it currently gets; mit "a lotsa luck" we couldda been 13 - 1 - 5; yet me, like I'sure 99.9% of dis board visitors, is quite happy mit what we got; creative midfield solid D + Pad-dy strong teamwork a chance for a good playoff spot. 4/ Wholeheartedly I sign under every statement made before me which stated that rest in SJ is far more valuable, den prancing in C-bus, let's save dat task for exhalted creatures fin "Jewels" mit SSS'S. We're heading into a superduperpuperpacked ticker of a schedule which features US Open tilts (I'd really enjoy dat trophy's addition to de case) + dat "Alaves" thingy - which should be quite entertaining on it's own, may be SSV can subcontract Alexi to pitch Quake ownership idea in Mothertongue over a "cup of tea" or "grannennyiy of Osobaya" to Messr. Piterman ? + C-bus unt Crap-its at home - which can go a long way towards the final standings . Having said all of the above haloimes and sincerely thanking anyone who preseverd so far; I really don't think that "Team Sierra Mist" vs. "Dem Cottagers" will be on me telly 7/30.