Damn, I was sure I'd be the only one to put Nelsen in front of Pope and Agoos. Across the back, our best lineup would be...Agoos Nelsen Pope Sonora
What JH6 and SerieZed said, with serious love for Llamosa too. If it's the best 4 players, it's Eddie, Carlos, Ryan, and Goose. If it's by position, it's Eddie, Ryan, Goose at left back, and Sonora at right back. If you're only picking one, Eddie in his prime wins.
I would take Namoff over Senora - even moreso in a 3 back alignment. Never really thought much of Diego - seemed like a wingback in a 5 man midfield playing out of position to me...
Pope and Nelsen and Agoos are automatic. And those are your 3 backliners if you're playing 3-5-2 (which I would--that's our current formation). If you add a 4th backliner, I'd make it Llamosa. If you insist upon positions, than I'd make it a tossup between Namoff (who was quietly excellent this year), Diego Sonora (proved that being a right back for DCU wasn't the Bermuda Triangle of MLS) or Milton Reyes (who I thought was superb in his initial season--especially with a gawdawful team. For defensive irony, I'd pick David Vaudreil (who Cacho Cordoba picked in the expansion and then insisted he had the potential to be one of the 3 best right backs in the world), Judah Cook (probably the highest hand-ball to minutes played ratio in MLS history), Jeff Agoos (gave up the first goal in MLS history to Eric Wynalda) and Thor Lee (he of the "Brian McBride heads it over his head, runs around to collect the ball and scores" play). No wait, I've got to find a way to get George Gelnovatch in here. Perhaps worst all-time defender in DC United history?
Agreed, when they played for DC they were about equal during their respective tenures. But today they are headed in different directions with Nelsen on a upward swing and Pope on a downward slide.
How could you forget the "baby faced assassin", Geoff Aunger? As a defender, I always liked Aunger and his crunching tackles. I was at the exhibition match in Va Beach when he broke his leg(IIRC). I think that was the end of his career. Sad really. On a side note, I was also at the pre-season game where Milton Reyes tore his ACL. I wonder if I'm bad luck?
Llamosa because he probably played in more games than Pope, due to his durability. Carlos was a sure tackler who rarely let an attacker with possession get by. If Pope had been less injury-prone, he would have my vote after Nelsen, who also needs to be less prone to injury. GM
I'm with you 100%.. I just don't get the Diego Sonora lovefest going on.. Carey Talley ended up replacing him as right back by the time MLS Cup came around..
Milton Reyes is not on the poll list. Could you envision Milton at RB and Ben Iroha at LB? What a track meet! GM
That would be something to behold.. Unfortunately, so would our GAA average which would hover around 2.0 or 3.0 per game if that indeed did happen.