By IVES GALARCEP

As we sit at the mid-way point of the 2013 MLS season, it isn’t that difficult to identify which players have been the very best in Major League Soccer so far, but when you take a closer look at every position, it can become a bit tougher to choose those who are the class of the season.

Identifying Mike Magee, Jack McInerney and Marco DiVaio as the cream of the crop at forward isn’t all that difficult, but when you start trying to figure out who the best centerbacks and fullbacks are, and which midfielders have been the best in the league this year, you can find the going a lot rougher.

A total of 10 different teams are represented on the SBI Mid-Season MLS Best XI, with Sporting Kansas City the only team to place two players on the squad. Graham Zusi and Matt Besler not only enjoyed strong runs with the U.S. Men’s National Team, they also continued to be among the very best in MLS in the process.

So who else made the cut? Here is the SBI MLS Mid-Season Best XI, along with our second team, third team and fourth team selections :

SBI MLS MID-SEASON BEST XI

FIRST TEAM

Mike Magee—————Marco DiVaio——————Jack McInerney

—————————–Graham Zusi————————————–

———————Michel———–Will Johnson—————————

Chris Klute——Matt Besler—–Jose Goncalves—–Sheanon Williams

—————————–Nick Rimando————————————

SECOND TEAM

Camilo Sanvezzo———-Robbie Keane——————–Claudio Bieler

——————————Javier Morales————————————

—————–Patrice Bernier——–Marcelo Sarvas———————-

Corey Ashe——Aurelien Collin—Jamison Olave————-Zach Loyd

—————————-Donovan Ricketts———————————-

THIRD TEAM

Rodney Wallace————Thierry Henry—————Landon Donovan

——————————-David Ferreira———————————–

—————–Kyle Beckerman——–Diego Chara————————-

Chris Tierney—Amobi Okugo——–George John—–Hassoun Camara

——————————Raul Fernandez————————————

FOURTH TEAM

Dominic Oduro————-Kenny Miller——————Diego Fagundez

——————————Federico Higuain———————————

——————-Tim Cahill————-Nigel Reo-Coker——————–

Seth Sinovic——Jermaine Taylor—-Nat Borchers———Tony Beltran

—————————–Bobby Shuttleworth——————————-

———

The selections were made by me, with the help of input from SBI staff writers Justin Ferguson, Dan Karell and Franco Panizo.

The selections for SBI MLS Mid-Season Best XI were made with specific positions in mind, so our squad features a left back and right back, along with two centerbacks. The purpose of this was in order to give credit to the top players at as many natural positions as possible We went with a 4-3-3 formation for all four teams in part because of the wealth of top central midfielders and forwards, and the overall lack of top wing options. Not every player’s position is exactly perfect to where they play all the time, but we tried to get as close as we could to that when filling out the teams.

What do you think of the MLS Best XI? Who are you happy to see make the team? Who are you disappointed not to see make the squad? Who is the biggest snub not included in any of our four Best XI teams?

Share your thoughts below.