Houston Dynamo standouts Brian Ching and Brad Davis will have the chance to play in front of their hometown fans at the MLS All-Star Game after being selected as reserves for the match against Manchester United on July 28th.
New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel and D.C. United legend Jaime Moreno were among the other selections for the the bench Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena will have to work with.
Here are the MLS All-Star Team Reserve selections:
Nick Rimando, Kevin Alston, Jonathan Bornstein, Wilman Conde, Heath Pearce, Brad Davis, David Ferreira, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Sebastien LeToux, Juan Pablo Angel, Brian Ching, Jaime Moreno.
Ching and Moreno were Don Garber's Commissioner's picks.
So what might the starting lineup look like?
Here are the MLS All-Star First XI:
Donovan Ricketts, Omar Gonzalez, Jamison Olave, Chad Marshall, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Dwayne DeRosario, Kyle Beckerman Marco Pappa, Javier Morales, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle.
Here is a lineup we could see:
————Angel———Buddle—————
DeRosario——-Schelotto———-Donovan
——————–Joseph———————-
Bornstein–Marshall—-Gonzalez——-Alston
——————–Ricketts———————
With the LA Galaxy and Toronto FC playing in Champions League action the night before, there's a chance Bruce Arena chooses not to start any Galaxy or TFC players, rather than start them and have them leave the match early. If so, here's a starting lineup we could see:
————Angel———Ching—————
Davis————Schelotto————–Pappa
——————–Joseph———————–
Bornstein—Marshall—-Olave———-Alston
——————–Rimando———————
Here are some quick thoughts on the selections:
I realize Jamie Moreno is a legend, and this could be his final All-Star appearance, but Andy Najar was more deserving.
Shalrie Joseph is still one of the best players in MLS, but when you miss a good chunk of the first half of the season due to substance abuse rehab, it's probably not a wise move to select him for the all-star game.
Alvaro Saborio absolutely should be on this team.
With Kyle Beckerman ruling himself out of the All-Star Game, Columbus midfielder Brian Carroll is the most deserving defensive midfielder not on the roster (and I'd argue he's more deserving than some others on this roster).
————
What do you think of these selections? Who were the biggest snubs? Who was the biggest surprise?
Share your thoughts below.
We as in US Soccer. Because its my team…
Greg Garza from Sporting Lisbon who, by the way, will be playing at the Milk cup in Northern Ireland for the US U20 team. But complacent US fans wouldn’t know anything about that…
Its not MLS, but you did miss the fact that the Portland Timbers hosted Manchester City at Merlo Field (University of Portland) in front of a sold out capacity crowd of a bit over 5000 on Saturday. (Game couldn’t be played at Timber normal home PGE Park as it was already booked.) Pretty amazing to see such top flight talent that up close and personal and a very nice little field. Sadly my Timbers lost 3-0 but it was still fun.
as stated above, Seattle has a game that same night, so all Sounders are unavailable.
Actually, if available, the only Sounders I would say warrant a call for the Allstar game would be Montero and Zakuani.
I am happy for Sebastian but it is quite possible that if he would have stayed on the Sounders, Sigi would have played him the same way he did last year and have him not produce as much.
On the other hand, with Jaqua out, we probably could have got an entire half season with Le Toux up top with Montero, instead of the revolving forward rotation of Levesque, Noonan and one time forward Brad Evans.
Its just sad…so sad, but on we go with Nkufo!
Where is Montero? One of the true yound talents in the league.
It’s funny how some people go berserk when Bornstein gets named to the All-Star team, but have nothing to say about Heath Pearce being named, who, by the way, was beaten out by Bornstein for a spot on the WC roster. And does anyone honestly believe that Pearce would have done better than JB at the WC? Hint: Pearce was dreadful in the friendlies leading up to the WC.
I’m not suggesting that Bornstein is a world-class defender (we all know that he’s not). But puhleeze, let’s put this in perspective- this is about being named to the MLS All-Star game, not to a world, or even CONCACAF, All-Star team.
Ching has 3 goals, 1 assist – he’s only played 9 games. He was out for much of that time with a bad hammy. Ching deserves to be there and should have been in S.A.
I agree he’s a real find for Philly. I wished Mwanga had gotten a nod as well. he and Najas both….
heck in some leagues they give you a ration of herb as incentive to play!
okay maybe that’s totally made up.
i am not advocating the use of weed in any way….
yep. but I wouldn’t put it past him to give henry and beckham the nod to sell a few more seats
yeah. he might not be worthy of Brac’ first team, but sadly he’s one of the best in the US system right now, so I say give him all the minutes you can since we’re stuck with him until he dies or someone better comes along…. and no I am not advocating his death in any way.
There are no “reps” from teams. Jaime is clearly simply being honored as the MLS all-time scoring leader in his final season. Andy will have his day…hopefully lots of them.
I never could understand why he wasn’t used by Sigi up top last year. In the USL 2 he was a beast up top, and to go defensive in a game they didn’t have to sub him out they could drop him to the mid and he would still run forever.
As we know Sigi likes the guys from his past, although he seems to finally be moving away from Pass back and Marshall.
Almost spit out my lunch laughing
Who is ‘we’ in your statement: We have a starting left back playing in a Portugal youth squad that recently one consecutive league titels?”
and who is the left back you mention?
I am really happy for Sebastien Le Toux. In addition to being a goal socring and goal assisting machine, he has incredible heart, stamina and fitness. He is a monster on the field, which is all the more incredible during the sultry and incredibly muggy days of summer here in Philly. He was also great with my 8-year old son, posing for a picture and signing an autograph for him. We waited in the hot sun for nearly 2 hours to get that pic and autograph, but Sebestien was more than happy to oblige! What a great guy!
That’s it – you know this is Moreno’s last season : (
I completely agree with chabloque…suspension was for MARIJUANA…Bruce absolutely made the right choice in including Shalrie Joseph — he should START
You do realize that Le Toux has 7 assists to go along with those 7 goals too, right? He has basically created almost every goal the Union have scored…
Convey may be a snub, but there’s no way Le Toux isn’t an All-Star.
Lindpere over Shalrie Joseph? You’re dreaming
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the thoroughly unappreciated and poorly utilized, now former Sounder and 2010 All-Star Seba Le Toux. Way to go Sigi. The mistake that will continue to haunt a team that has replaced heart with ego to quite poor results.
Joseph has to be on the team, he’s the best box to box midfielder in the league. The rehab was for marijuana and he missed 5 or 6 games, hardly a big deal.
why? That would be a shocking disgrace to the league if they picked a player who hasn’t played a single match
LOL! Moreno??? HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Garber, wtf
And he also young, I bet he starts for us in 2014.
The Sounders are playing in the CCL that night, so none of their players will be there.
Nevermind, didn’t see the above posts.