Mark Dodd - GK - Dallas Burn Robin Fraser - DEF - LA Galaxy John Doyle - DEF - SJ Clash Leonel Alvarez - DEF - Dallas Burn Marco Etcheverry - MF - DC United Preki - MF - KC Wiz Mauricio Cienfuegos - MF - LA Galaxy Roberto Donadoni - MF - NY/NJ Metrostars Carlos Valderrama - MF - Tampa Bay Mutiny Eduardo Hurtado - FWD - LA Galaxy Roy Lassiter - FWD - Tampa Bay Mutiny For the record - I think a traditional table would have crowned Tampa as Champions. However, DC United overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat LA 3-2 in the pooring rain at Foxboro. We've come a long way. James
MLS has come a long way but the main improvement has been through the average and reserve players, not the star players. The best 11 in 96 is a solid team. It would do a reasonable job of stacking up to any other MLS best 11. Don't forget the midfield was closer to their prime and Donadoni is one of the MLS all time best players.
2002 Pepsi Best XI FORWARD - CARLOS RUIZ - LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD - TAYLOR TWELLMAN - NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER - JEFF CUNNINGHAM - COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER - STEVE RALSTON - NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER - MARK CHUNG - COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER - RONNIE EKELUND - SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER - OSCAR PAREJA - DALLAS BURN DEFENDER - WADE BARRETT - SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER - CARLOS BOCANEGRA - CHICAGO FIRE DEFENDER - ALEXI LALAS - LOS ANGELES GALAXY GOALKEEPER - TIM HOWARD - METROSTARS
I think that's the biggest change. The league is younger and driven more by talented Americans than by foreign stars.
I'll chime in in agreement with the notion that the original best 11 is about as good as any other year's best 11. The quality of the league as a whole has gone up, but the quality of the MLS Cup champions is probably lower from 2000 to 2002 than it was from 96-99 overall as well.
I agree. If I remember correctly, the Galaxy started Arash Nouamuz (sp?) in the midfield at MLS Cup 96
It's ironic to see Lalas in the 2002 best 11, you would think he might have been in the original 96 best 11 coming back from Italy. James
Chung had a phenomenal year last year. He scored some beautiful goals (I believe a personal high), chalked up a healthy number of assists for a midfielder without any semblance of a target forward on his team, dribbled around so many players who could ever count them all, and had to track back so much covering for Valderrama that he probably ran more than anyone in the league. I believe he was 3rd in MVP voting. (I could be mistaken about that last tidbit.) Early reports are he looks better than ever in the Rapids camp.
probably got a bit of irony in there... but i'm not sure if thats the best choice of words *talking out of my ass yet again*
One thing I noticed is that the foreign players in the original XI are bigger names and more talented at that time, than the foreigners in the 2002 XI. I mean what does Pareja, Ekelund, the exception being Ruiz since he is young and a prospect have over A younger Valderama, Donadoni, Etcheverry?
Exactly. With the younger guys (Lalas, Chung excepted) the future of the league is brighter. And, no one that went to Japorea is on the 2002 list. If DmB and Donovan have halfway decent years, the list may grow even more American. And, that is good.
The league is better now but that 1996 best XI would kick ass over the 2002 best XI no matter what member of the Dodd family plays keeper.
That's correct. And worse yet, Harut Karapetyan. But they also played Jorge Campos, Robin Fraser, Greg Vanney, Chris Armas, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Cobi Jones, Ante Razov and Eduardo Hurtado. Overall, not a bad squad.
I think in '96 you had 5 or 6 spectacular midfield generals (don't forget Novak in '98). These players could hold their own even on the international stage. (donadoni started for the WC '94 squad). However, most of the other players in the league seem to have been subpar. I think it would be interesting to see how good the play would be if those 5 midfielders were as young as they were then and playing now. The league would be pretty intense. Also, now we are going for younger foreigners which in my book is a big plus. These guys know that if they mess around, they are screwed as their image will be tarnished. There is no time for Hurtados or Valencias in the league anymore.
Already been noted, but two things stand out to me. 1. Truly great international players of 1996 are being compared to American players in 2003. That speaks volumes for the progress of MLS developing players. 2. In 1996 there was a massive drop-off of talent from the premier SI's and the rest of an MLS roster. Today there are a lot of good players from which to pick the Best XI, depending upon what kind of year they have. It's a little mind boggling, but MLS manages to get better every single year. That's quite a testament to the MLS front office. -Tron
Well......no. Granted, you're right that it's a pretty impressive lineup and features guys who were much closer to their prime back then than they are right now. But a forward line that features Eduardo Hurtado and Roy Lassiter is not going to score against any MLS team - probably not many A-league teams. Preki, Donadoni, and Etch would have had to score all the goals. Possible, but not likely. The backline was also pretty questionable (Alvarez is/was a great defensive player - but no fullback) and, well, then there's Dodd. Fact is, MLS defenses sucked pretty badly in 1996. Honestly I think the current best 11 would smoke these guys pretty badly (even if we transported them back to "96 in a time machine).
Lassiter and Hurtado couldn't score against a "real" defense if they had Zidane and Rivaldo feeding them.
Lassiter couldn't score... Only 88 goals over a 165 game stretch, scoring in double digits his first 4 years and then slowing down to only 15 goals over the next 2 years. Was his lack of goals in those two years due to his fading form, playing on poor teams, the fact he just isn't good enough, or that the defenses were getting better? Its all of the above, but come on. He played for KC and only took 29 shots in an entire season. He had been getting 75 or more shots per season in his great scoring run and then he runs out of service with Miami and KC (does KC even try to score?) and his shot total goes down to about 40% and his goals fall off to 8 and 7. That's expected. Lassiter in his prime playing on a team with quality midfielders would score as much as players like Jeff Cunningham easily if we could get him into MLS now. Lassiter at his current ability isn't good enough for MLS, but there are a lot of people who stayed around past their productivity like perhaps John Harkes.
You forget, in 1998, after the World Cup, we had the MLS All Star Game featuring "USA players vs Foreigners in MLS", the foreign team was very close to resembling the 96 best 11, less the american players of course, and the all US team opened up a can of whoop a$$ winning 6-1. So anyway, not that it's that relevant, but I think this years best 11 would be the 96 best 11. James
Just to add fuel to the fire, has any of the midfielders and forwards from the original MLS XI ever made a tackle? It's not all about goals people.. At some point, defense does have to be played.. As someone pointed out quite nicely above, an all international team with a midfield consisting of Etcheverry, Valderamma, Cienfuegos and forward line of Moreno and Diaz Arce got torched for 4 goals in about 20 minutes against a US all star team... My money is on the current crop of players absolutely waxing the team from 96'...