I say Tony Meola, Nick Garcia, and Josh Wolff should reprsent the West in the all-star game. Chris Klein is VERY hard to leave out, because he currently leads the league in assists with 6. But the West has a very deep group of mids and 6 assists isn't a huge amount even if it does lead the league. If Landon Donovan were on the ballot as a forward (in which he should be) instead of a mid Klein would make it in my book.
This may just be me having my over-zealous admiration of anyone that comes through our system, but i think Arnaud deserves a look or two. He's Matched Josh Wolff for goals so far this year, and is without a doubt THE hardest working forward in the league. Other than him, though, i think a solid case can be made for Shavar Thomas and Chris Klein as well. Shavar has been kool and the gang at the back, and Chris has truly become the key to our midfield since Preki went down. As much as i love Garcia, i just don't think his form thus far this year really warrants an all-star selection. He hasn't been horrible, but he certainly hasn't been the defensive-shut-down-commando-force we all know he CAN be.
I agree with this, I don't know if Meola would be the starter, or if Cannon could possibly get it, but I think Meola should be on the team. Thomas or Conrad have easily been two of our best players this year, you could make a case for either one or both being on the team. I also agree that Klein should be on the team, he's been one of the best winger/midfielders this season so far. I wouldn't personally go with Wolff or Arnaud, although they should both get looks, I think with Ruiz, Ching, and Moreno have all played well enough up top to get the nod over them. Or even Eddie Johnson for Dallas.
My non Wizards fan input would be Klein and maybe Diego Gutierrez as a fullback. Thomas, Conrad, Meola, Wolff and Zavagnin have all had nice years, but I think there are probably better options ahead of them at their positions. Wizards have benefitted from not having any millstones to lug around with the team, everybody has played fairly well. No Orlando Perez, David Stokes or Ian Russell type players to screw things up.
I say Zavagnin, Thomas, Conrad, Klein. But, since I'm always up late and I'm waiting on laundry, I'll go into reasons for each player... Meola: There obviously has to be two keepers from the West, and I think Onstad and Cannon are having better years. Don't get me wrong, Meola has great numbers, but his defense is doing most of it, not him. Sure he has something to do with the organization of the defense, but he has let in a few goals that he could/should have saved. Maybe I'm being too hard on the guy. Garcia: No way. IMO this is Garcia's worst year besides 2001 (??) when he got all the red cards. He's getting beat by forwards on a consistent basis, something he used to never let happen. I've been considering him a weak point for the team the last couple of games, hardly an All Star. Thomas: No one who's seen any number of Wizards games can dispute this. His tackling has to be one of the top 3 in the league. He manages to take the ball in situations when an average defender would have fouled. As has been said, this has to be the best trade CJ has ever made. Conrad: I think he is benefitting from Thomas. He'd be a 50/50 vote if you ask me. Having a decent season, but I'm not sure he's been quite up to All Star performance. That said, I'd hate to not have him. Zavagnin: He should be an All Star, although Mulrooney and Masteroni might keep him from it. KZ controls our midfield and denies nearly every attack that comes his way. As has been said 1000 times, when you don't hear his name he is probably having an A+ game. He's having a great season and deserves to be selected. Gutierrez: Hasn't done enough for me to be selected. IMO he's becoming a utility player. Not a star, but not a burden. It would be hard to convince me that a good scouting staff couldn't find a young US talent that could be a utilty midfielder that could perform up to Diego's standards. Klein: Tough here. I didn't know he lead the league in assists, but with only 6 after so many games that isn't saying a whole lot. He's had really great games and he's had games where I wondered if they should take him off or not. Again considering there's only 5 teams' midfielders going for 6/7 All Star spots he might have a chance, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get selected. Arnaud: Maybe I'm biased because he's my favorite player on the team (except for Preki) but I think Davy deserves a spot. He won't get it, I'm almost certain of that, but he does deserve a spot. if you factor in everything (salary, production, desire shown) this guy is amazing. Every team would kill to have a player like this and we're fortunate to have him. Wolff: No way. Back when we traded for him they were saying "We expect 10-15 goals a year..." We're not even getting close to that, although he has turned it on in the last month or two. Definitely not one of the top 3-4 strikers this season.
If Josh Wolff finishes the season at his current productivity he'll have about 10 goals and 10 assists. Ruiz, Kirovski, and Ching are locks in the West at the forward spot. Alejandro Moreno won't make it, cuz he's not even on the all-star ballot and with Ruiz's return he's back on the bench. That leaves one spot open and 2 guys: Wolff and Eddie Johnson. Wolff has shown better playmaking ability with his 4 assists so he gets it in my pick. As for the Wizards defense, I picked Garcia, cuz he is a bigger name than Conrad or Thomas. I live in New England so unfortunately I sadly don't get too see to many Wizards games . Can yu beleive that there are only 2 Wizards games on National TV this season? That's CRAZY!! And yes, in what I've seen Thomas has been the best in my opinion and Conrad's been better than Garcia. I just thought that maybe Garcia was better in other games. But I have seen improvement from the video I've seen from MLSnet.com.
And one of those happened only because the Baltimore Orioles had a rain-out which cancelled the CSN DC United broadcast that FSW was planning on using, leaving the KC/CLB game the only other broadcast in that timeslot.
After that hat-trick, Davy Arnaud is definately now an all-star. So's Chris Klein. Here's who I think are all-stars: Arnaud, Klein, Conrad, Wolff, and Meola.
Unless I'm mistaken, won't this be the first All Star Game without Preki? If so, it's a horrible shame. That would have been a tremendous statistic!
I'm sure they'll either add him to the 94WC/Foreign Stars game or he might be a commissioner's pick. That would make sense. Add Freddy to the east and Preki to the west.
Let's not forget... Ben Olsen made the All Star game after not playing a single minute a couple years ago. Maybe Preki still has a chance.
Arnaud: Blue Collar Player of the Year. This Texan is starting to toast the opposition. Klein: Making plays and is not a playmaker. After 15 games he already has matched his career high for assists in a season. Zavagnin: Sorry Pablo, you are a defender now. Only the East's Armas is ahead of KZ in the dmid category. Thomas: Calm is not necessarily laid back. He is workin'. Preki as Commissioner's Pick: It's not an MLS All Star game without him.
When did that happen? And I don't like the commissioner's pick thing. Cienfuegos WAS NOT an all-star last year, but cuz of the commish he was! Adu and Preki don't deserve it.
Adu most certainly deserves it. He's the biggest name in the league right now. The "All-Star" game is for the fans, and the fans want to see Adu. It's also a marketing vehicle for the league, and having Adu on ABC makes sense. I personally vote based on what players deserve it based on their play. But - and this is important - I think the All-Star Game should both reward the players who are playing well AND let the fans see the players they want to see. I'd be shocked if most of the player specific merchandise sold this season was not Freddy Adu merchandise. Like it or not, he deserves to be an All-Star. Not because of his play, but because people - not necessarily the hard core - want to see him.