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The media ballot for the 2009 MLS All-Star Game has finally made its way to my inbox, which means its time to seriously consider which eleven players will be getting votes.
Selecting this year's group isn't easy, nor it should be. There are several worthy candidates in the pool, with only a few positions easy to call.
So what can you do? I am going to list my current ballot and I want each SBI reader to submit the one player they would change and who that replacement would be. Think I have the wrong forward or defender on my ballot? Let me know. Let me state clearly that this ballot is my CURRENT ballot. I will submit a final ballot just before the July 6 deadline.
Here is the SBI MLS All-Star Ballot:
SBI MLS All-Star Ballot
FORWARDS- Conor Casey and Landon Donovan. Yes, Fredy Montero has had a good year, but he went cold for almost two months so he doesn't get the nod. Brian McBride was a lock a month ago, but has also gone cold. Donovan was having a great year before national team duty, as was Casey.
MIDFIELDERS- Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Shalrie Joseph, Brad Davis, Amado Guevara and Paulo Nagamura. Plenty of ways you can go here, but I can't see how anybody can argue against the top three. Guevara has enjoyed a very strong season for TFC and edges out Santino Quaranta, who ha has been the key spark for D.C. United this year, though Chris Pontius merits his share of consideration. Nagamura has been a bulldog in midfield, but has also provided clutch goals. He gets the call ahead of teammate Jesse Marsch and Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso.
DEFENDERS- Geoff Cameron, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Brian Namoff. Cameron has pulled away at the mid-way point for Defender of the Year, while Hurtado is still in the conversation. Namoff has been a rock in the back and D.C. United's steadiest defender, playing every minute of the season. Wilman Conde was on this list before being sidelined recently with an injury.
GOALKEEPER- Zach Thornton. Seattle fans will clamor for Kasey Keller but Thornton has more saves, shutouts and victories. He's made more tough saves than any other goalkeeper as well. Pat Onstad is putting up insane numbers, but faces much fewer shots.
Here is the lineup:
—————–Donovan———–Casey—————-
Davis——————Schelotto—————Guevara
————-Joseph—————Nagamura————-
——–Cameron——Hurtado———-Namoff——–
————————Thornton————————-
That is eleven players representing nine teams. Only Houston and Chivas USA have multiple selections. No surprise they are currently the top two teams in MLS.
Now it is your turn. I'm NOT asking you to give me your All-Star Ballot. I want to know which one player on my ballot you think should come off, and what player you would replace him with.
Share your suggestions below.
Too bad Tim Ward isn’t on this list. Ward for Hurtado. Gino Padula for Namoff.
Alonso to replace Nagamura. As a Sounders fan, I’d love to make the case for Keller and Montero … but Alonso is really the secret sauce in this team.
Ives,
Two weeks ago I would have said that Dave van den Berg deserved to be given a hard look. He’s done everything possible to try to get Dallas some wins. He’s crossing the ball well, tracking back on D, and hustling up the flanks. Not his fault no one on his team can score at all.
I have to jump into the Pat Onstad wagon, though. Early on Thorton was a beast (and still is, despite the small slump Chivas is in). Pat has been a rock and kept his players in line. His numbers are superhuman.
Montero may be flashy, but Conor was been the better, consistent, forward all season long.
Glad to see Hurtado rewarded. If anyone in Seattle deserves the nod, it’s him.
Great picks Ives. My one change:
DeRo in Guevara out.
If you think only one seattle player should get the nod, it should be alonso. Hurtado deserves it too but alonso gets more credit for seattle success this far.
Alonso to replace any mid-fielder
Those are great picks. DeRo has had a great year. I think he’s been more consistent then Guevara.
Anyone suggesting to switch out namoff clearly hasn’t seen him play. Namoff has been a monster. Almost every game he has been up there to be named man of the match. He hasn’t made a major mistake all year and his distribution’s been solid. He hasn’t made the runs going forward as a ward because he is playing in a 3-5-2.
I agree Alonso has to be on the team; not sure for Joseph however. It depends on your criteria; Joseph is obviously, at this point, a better player. A rock in the middle, with great vision and passing as well. Alonso is probably having the better season, and is on track to be a star in this league.
So, maybe Joseph and Nagamura to start, Alonso on in the 2nd half?
By George (comment 3 above), you are retarded. Osvaldo over Joseph…you are nuts…the Revs would have 2 points without Joseph…This year SJ has 5 goals and 4 assists in 12 games…playing anywhere the Revs need- None of these goals by penalty…he has been a beast…Osvaldo (1g, 3A)in 13 games…If anything Joseph has increased his “MYSTIQUE” … I think this might be his best season ever- and maybe he can finally go over the Europe soon and then I think a lot of these fans would realize his true value…
I mean its like he has to do a give and go by himself on the Revs
I’d put De Rosario in for Davis and Arnaud in for Joseph.
But TFC has a CCL qualifier that day in Toronto so I don’t think anyone from the squad will be there.
extremely underrated–>ARNAUD for Davis<–overrated
Chad Marshall for Bryan Namoff.
Omar Cummings???
Ives,
I think your inclusion of Shalrie Joseph really comes at the expense of Osvaldo Alonso. While I appreciate Joseph’s efforts helping out the team by playing up top as a striker at times, I don’t think the Revolution’s form this season merits Joseph’s inclusion. Granted the Rev’s dip in form isn’t all on Joseph, it still has to weigh in against him. New England is second from BOTTOM in the East at 16 pts.
Let’s not get up in the mystique that a player carries, especially Joseph who has always been a great player in MLS. I just don’t appreciate players getting into the all-star team based on their stature, results should matter more in MLS.
Keep up the great work IVES, I love the site!
Forwards: McBride, Cooper
Midfield: Schelotto, Davis, LeToux, Joseph, Nagamura
Defense: Heaps, Marshall (Chad), Bornstein
Goalie: Keller
Bench: Thornton, Donovan, Montero, Holden, Wynne, Thorington, Mastroeni, Casey, Conde, Marshall (Tyrone), Clark (Ricardo), Hurtado
On a side note, the Gold Cup roster has been posted:
http://www.concacaf.com/competitions/goldcup/2009/rosterDetail.aspx?id=10
Let me clarify the above – Landon deserves to be on the all star team. My point about strikers is that we don’t discount strikers simply because they are on a good team, so why do we discount keepers?
“Tom, it’s not about punishing Onstad, it is about rewarding the keeper who has had to do more to record the stats he has.”
So by that logic, we find the keeper that has the weakest defense in front of him, but still manages to put up “respectable numbers” and call him an all star. Do I need to list the candidates?
Or what about this – find the striker that has the most woeful team behind him, but still manages respectable numbers and nominate him (well, I guess that gets you Landon, but you get my point).
Whatever happened to heaping kudo’s on the keeper that can maintain focus for 90 minutes despite not having to flail all over the place because the ‘backs in front of him are questionable?
As others have pointed out Onstad’s saves have been clutch and his numbers are better than Thornton’s. If the All Star nod is to reward performance, then Pat’s the man between the pipes.
Bottom line – its a travesty that Pat keeps getting passed over for recognition simply because the team around him is strong. They are strong precisely because he’s the best in MLS.
Other than the Red Bulls, I haven’t seen any other team play more than 3-4 times.So I’m fine with Ives choices. Alonso did look good the couple times I’ve seen him, so maybe him for Nagamura, though I’ve only seem Nagamura play 1-2 times.
While not deserving an all-star nod, I’ll give a shout out to Kevin Goldthwaite who has been great for a terrible Red Bull team.
Onstad is the best keeper in the MLS and should be included in your line up.
As noted by others, good arguments can be made for Tino and Alonso.
Some longer shots:
1. How about CHRIS LEITCH or DREW MOOR over Namoff?
Leitch leads all defenders with 5 assists. True, MLS “assists” are often fishy… but maybe they still deserve some credit. Plus Leitch has been a steady player on a defensive unit that has seen its fair share of upheaval — the CB situation has been one of the most muddled in the league (along with NYRB and FCD).
Like Leitch, Moor is on a bad team, but he has performed well and been a leader at times while being shuffled from CB to RB. Plus he has three goals (most among defenders).
2. How about OMAR CUMMINGS over Conor Casey?
Omar has stepped up while CC was away. His 6 assists are second only to Brad Davis and he has looked good scoring 5 times, too. And he’s started every match so far for Colorado (granted, CO has had very little fwd depth after Conor and Omar).
PAT ONSTAD over Thornton
True, it’s hard to know whether to give credit to a GK to overall team defense, and Zach has some numbers in his favor (shots faced, total saves) but some numbers favor Pat:
Goals Allowed (Avg)
PO: .60
ZT: .80
Shutouts:Games Played
PO: 7:14
ZT: 7:15
Losses:Games Played
PO: 2:14
ZT: 4:15
Fat?
PO: No
ZT: Yes
and props to putting *Hurtado* in there, as he is the best CB in the league. can take any striker out of the game.
Montero for Casey.
Conde should definitely be on it. I could name other changes but that is the biggest one.
No big issues.
Seattle leaks too many goals for Hurtado to make it. I’d go with Talley. Or Marshall
And Nagamura is a hack. I’d go with Alonso.
Osvaldo Alonso should have made it, despite missing a couple games with injury.
No love for Carl Robinson after three years of brilliance at holding midfield for TFC? Flashy? No. Rock solid? Absolutely. However, if you aren’t going to take Robbo, Alonso over Nagamura.
Actually I’m a Sounders fan, and I’d take Thorton. Hell, up until about a month ago, he’d have been my league MVP.
What about Ward for Chicago (instead of Namoff)? I haven’t seen him play over the last several weeks, but he looked good early on.
What a boring team this year.
Take all the TFC players out….. we need them for CCL!
so take out Guevara and put whoever else in… cause we need EL LOBO!
DeRo any day over Nagamura.
Seattle’s Montero over Casey.
San Jose’s Ryan Johnson over Donovan. The kid’s been scoring important goals consistently. As much as I like Donovan, not one of his best seasons, take away the PKs, and his output is questionable.
And you actually considered Jesse Marsch, I mean, Jesse Marsch? He is an absolutely talentless hack, and personifies everything that is wrong with the MLS and American soccer.
1. Casey out, Montero in (much better skill and finisher)
2. Scheloto out, Pontius in (best rookie in the league bar-none)
3. Guevara out, Quaranta in
*DC is atop the East and doesn’t have any offensive players????
Beckerman, no freaking way. he has cost RSL more points this season than any other player on the squad.
I do think Clint Mathis should be considered, he has 5 assists and has been the creative force for RSL as Morales has been taken out of matches by opposing defenses.
Findley is hurt but if he is healthy, his speed would be a great assest against Everton. Umm for Bonji, Pablo has been gone for most of the last month with the national team, and will spend most of july at the Gold cup.
Alonso has to get the nod. He’s the best defensive mid in MLS, in my opinion.
Keller, Ricketts over Thornton.
Exchange Nagamura for Mastroeni. Pablo is showing his leadership and hasn’t lost a step. He’s one of the major reasons the Rapids are surging into July as opposed to limping. He has been dominant. Not to be a Rapids homer, but I think you’re missing him.
Drew moor has been consitent all year but bc he plays in Dallas he gets no love. Holden should be in there. As far as Alonso goes last year I went and watched him play for charlston against fcd and it was clear by far that he was the best player on the pitch. Good ole mls scouting.
I am a Sounder’s fan. I voted Casey Connor over Montero and Ljungberg is great but slow rounding into form. The one Sounder who is truly a game changer is Alonso and if he is not on the allstar team, it is a sham.
i think Mr.Beckham will feel offended..
Ives — I agree about Donovan’s MVP-like performance early in the season — I’m actually one of the (few) Landon fans in the SBI Mafia. The only change I would make to your lineup is Keller for Thornton. Thornton made a few gaffes in weeks 1 and 2, and Keller has been steady from Day 1.
Jakovic has been better than Namoff in the back for DCU. But that’s not to underscore Namoff’s play; he’s been spectacular as well.
I say conor casey should be replaced by quaranta and quaranta should move to midfield with joseph playing forward. haha
In all seriousness I haven’t seen guevara play much as he was out against DCU and im a DCU supporter. Quaranta has been a monster, and his volley to set up emilio against the Red Bulls was just beast.
Ives- I’d definitely look for a way to get Osvaldo Alonso in there. Before the season he was just another “one of those cuban deserter guys” who sadly tried to follow in Galindo’s footsteps but wasn’t good enough to make an MLS roster… now, we’re far more convinced than ever that MLS does a terrible job of recognizing talent. He controls the midfield like no other player in MLS- well, besides Joseph, but he’s playing up top a lot these days. I hate to do it, b/c he’s had an incredible season as well, but I think Alonso should take Nagamura’s spot. Reason being that Preki has shown a propensity for putting Chivas in a position to grind out results no matter who is on the field. So it is somewhat of an extrapolation, but I’m going to say that Nagamura may be more a product of the system, whereas with Osvaldo Alonso, it is simply proof that the cream will always eventually rise to the top.
^^ “… give the Dynamo 2 points…” means 2 MORE points than they would have had with a draw.
@Ives
Onstad hasn’t had to work as hard for his numbers. That’s true. But every save he does make is a CLUTCH save. There have been a lot of games where the Dynamo’s opponents gets two shots on goal, and Onstad makes great saves on both that give the Dynamo 2 points. Can you say the same about Thornton? Not as often as you can about Onstad. You’re rewarding Thornton for making more saves, not because he’s been the better keeper.
Conde for namoff
Holden for Davis. I’m not super high on him, but he has 3 game winning goals and two game winning assists. That means he has been part of the GWG for more than half of their wins. Not bad.
Ives,
I think you should consider Donovan Ricketts in goal. He’s kept the Galaxy in a lot of games they didn’t deserve to be close in, and is probably singlehqandedly responsible for at least four of their teis.
Onstad for Thornton.
I agree with Ives about Holden. As an avid Dynamo fan, I was extremely worried about Holden toward the beginning of the season. Thank goodness he finally came into his own. That said, if I were basing this on current form, I’d definitely say he deserves the call.