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The SBI MLS All-Star All-Snub Squad

Nick Rimando (ISIPhotos.com)

When New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe named the game-day roster for the 2011 MLS All-Star Team, there were destined to be players who many MLS fans felt were snubbed. It happens every year, but this year there seemed to be more snubs than usual.

It is clear that some of Backe's selections were made with more consideration toward building a team capable of beating Manchester United rather than rewarding the league's best players through the first half of the season. While that is his prerogative having been given that power by MLS, it can't be denied that some of Backe's picks were far less deserving than some other players who went ignored.

In some cases, like the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas, CONCACAF Champions League commitments left them out of consideration for the All-Star Game, but as two of the top teams in MLS, they clearly had players deserving of being on the team, and while it might not be fair to say they were snubbed, there are still plenty of them who were deserving of all-star designation.

So what would a team look like of all the most deserving players who didn't make the MLS All-Star Game roster? Here are my picks:

The SBI MLS All-Star Snub Squad

GK– Nick Rimando, Kevin Hartman

D– George John, Nat Borchers, Carlos Valdes, Chad Marshall, Omar Gonzalez, Jan Gunnar Solli, Sheanon Williams, Todd Dunivant, Alain Rochat

M– Brek Shea, Osvaldo Alonso, Eddie Gaven, Daniel Hernandez, Mauro Rosales, Joel Lindpere, Davide Chiumiento.

F– Charlie Davies, Eric Hassli, Luke Rodgers, Fredy Montero

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Of course, by naming this group, we've left ourselves open for the All-Snubbed from the All-Snub Team squad, but I'd say this group is a pretty fair representation of the best players in the first half of the season who were NOT chosen by Hans Backe.

What do you think of this group? Who are you happy to see make this group? What player isn't on this list that you feel should be?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Juninho disappears without Beckham in the middle. Hainault should be here. Marcito Pappa is an all-star calibre player playing on a lousy team.

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  2. Dunivant and Gaven are average MLS 1.0 players…Agree with the others. Ricketts is injured, but he is the best keeper in MLS.

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  3. Jackson only played a few games at outside back. Loyd has brought stability to the position. Your argument for Jackson may hold more water if you planned to play him at right midfield.

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  4. Juninho people, Juninho!

    How is he not on the All-Snub team.

    They guy that sticks out as not really deserving of the “All-Snub” team is Chad Marshall.

    I mean after Ream, Olave, Besler, and Gonzalez on the actual All-Star roster, you have Borchers, John, Valdez Gonzo again even tho he is already RECOGNIZED in the MLS First XI All-Stars. Why a 8th or even 9th CB to be recognized?

    How many CBs should be All-Stars and All-Snubs? lol

    I mean there’s 36 starting CBs do we need to recognize an actual 1/4 of them?

    I just think Juninho would be a much better option than a 5th CB on this imaginary team of stars that have been snubbed?

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  5. Solli is in the top 5 in assists in the LEAGUE he has the most out of all defenders, nearest defender has half the assists he has. I doubt he has gotten beaten that bad. I’ll go back to the highlights but I’m sure the whole Red Bulls team had a horrible game vs Chivas, I just saw him play LIVE on the 10th row and he did pretty good vs the Chivas offense, Jorge Flores got 1 shot off but that was just a good combination of passes that lead to that

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  6. I think hes making both of them look good. Just look at how few shots Mondragon has faced from deep. Also, Valdes is always too far up the field. He couldn’t do this without Caroll on the pitch.

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  7. Tisk tisk. SBI out of all people should know that the Dallas and Seattle players aren’t available for the ASG. Also, remind me exactly what Solli has done other than gotten beaten on every 1v1 situation in every game. See every Red Bull game since May for more details or perhaps just the 1st Chivas-RB game… The roster is fine, get over yourself

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  8. I know I am all late on this but I think the biggest snub of the snubs, I can’t believe you have 5 Center backs in this team Ives, is Juninho.?

    Papa and Hainault might make a case but of all the ones left of the All-Snub team I think Juninho is the most deserving of being in the All-Snub team lol

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  9. Actually it’s a tough call IMO. Every keeper at this level should be a good shot stopper, and any keeper at any level will tell you that the more shots they see the greater chances they have of flashy heroics.

    BUT — organizing and motivating a defense to shut down shot opportunities before they develop, stopping the few shots that get through that’s a completely different kettle of fish. Nerves are different, tactics are different sharpness if different.

    Until Frei plays with a team where he’s not getting shelled for 90 minutes it’s difficult to say if he’s that kind of keeper. not saying that’s his fault, but it’s why I give the nod to Mondragon (or Rimando in this case).

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  10. Agreed. Folks need to move on. Until they make diving a fineable defense it’s as much a part of the game as a defender taking down a breakaway for a sure red card, holding a jersey on a freekick or “cramping” in the last 10 minutes of a game when you’re up a goal.

    it’s not “legal”, it’s not classy, but it’s still part of the game.

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  11. He is consistently good at defending, but has a rather limited offensive skillset. MVP over Mondragon or Valdes?

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  12. LOL nice…hey he did manage to score in the Open Cup though. He only blew about 5 clear cut chances throughout the rest of the game, but he sure was trying hard out there.

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  13. Uh hello, what about Nate Jaqua. He’s played in at least 1/3 of the Sounders games this season. I think he even started a couple times! The goals will come….

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  14. Yea, Oduro’s best season as a pro and I wouldn’t put him on the team.

    Pappa and Nyarko haven’t been consistent enough and our defense . . . meh . . .

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  15. Yeah, on second thought I’d suggest Fernandez or Marco Pappa instead of Evans, though I do think Evans has had a quietly solid year that’s worthy of rcognition.

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  16. How boring would an east v west all-star game be. Maybe if an east team can make a cup final apperance we could go back to the EvW. But I still like MLS going against a european team any day.

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  17. the problem i have with this team is a lot of these players aren’t eligible for the game through champions league and/or injury… because i know a couple of these players were actually voted onto the squad.

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  18. Will Hesmer is my #2 US keeper right now. He’s gone from a solid young keeper into a smart, experienced and reliable keeper.

    Makes few mistakes distributes the ball well. I hope he does/doesn’t become the next Kevin Hartman in the sense that he plays great and never leaves MLS but barely gets noticed by the national team.

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  19. Thaaaank you, my god people let it go. He is a goal scorer, whether its poached, created, or cheated. All he can do is play for goals like crazy and let the refs call the game.

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  20. I like your list, but think Backe probably picked the team he thinks has the best chance of winning. After all, this is a meaningless exhibition game so you know he wants to win it. #EmiratesCup

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  21. Brian Carrol has gone largely unnoticed this year. All year he has been a defensive stopper in front of the back line, and made almost no mistakes in distribution moving forward. He is the most consistent and I would argue most valuable player on the Union this year. The vastly improved defense would likely be only improved without Carrol sitting in front of them.

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  22. I disagree. Too small of a league without enough talent to make two different all star teams. One team with an average of one player per team plus extra room for the superstars seems good. And the exhibition vs. Euro powers is a lot more fun than watching Heath Pearce match up with Donovan.

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