The passing of MLS All-Star Week traditionally means the kickoff to the unofficial second half of the Major League Soccer season, and the stretch run towards what is usually an exciting playoff race.
It is also the point in the season when it is time to look at which players have enjoyed the best season’s to date. Over the past few days, SBI has presented mid-season staff picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Now it is time to present the SBI staff selections for the MLS mid-season Best XI.
Selecting these teams is never easy, and it is impossible to come up with a consensus that will make everybody happy. Our goal is to try and come up with as strong a list of selections as possible, strictly taking into account performances in MLS play only, while also having a first team squad with the best players listed at their natural positions (as much as that can be a bit impossible considering teams use a variety of formations). National team accomplishments and U.S. Open Cup endeavors are not factored into the voting process. Voting was based on player MLS accomplishments prior to the All-Star Game.
Now, without further ado, here are the SBI staff selections for the Mid-Season MLS Best XI:
SBI MID-SEASON MLS BEST XI
FIRST TEAM
Dom Dwyer—–Bradley Wright-Phillips—Obafemi Martins
——————Diego Valeri——Javier Morales——————-
—————————–Kyle Beckerman—————————–
Seth Sinovic———————————————Sean Franklin
—————-Bobby Boswell——–Chad Marshall—————–
——————————–Nick Rimando—————————–
SECOND TEAM
Thierry Henry ———–Erick Torres———Robbie Keane
————Federico Higuain———Benny Feilhaber——-
—————————Michael Bradley———————-
Chris Wingert—————————————-Zach Loyd
—————-Matt Besler————Nat Borchers————-
——————————Bill Hamid—————————
THIRD TEAM
Joao Plata————-Jermain Defoe——-Fabian Espindola
—————-Lee Nguyen———-Pedro Morales————–
—————————-Perry Kitchen—————————
Ray Gaddis——————————————Tony Beltran
—————-Matt Hedges———-Aurelien Collin————
——————————-Luis Robles————————–
FOURTH TEAM
Sebastien LeToux——-Clint Dempsey————–Blas Perez
——————–Juninho————-Dillon Powers————
—————————-Osvaldo Alonso————————-
Justin Morrow—————————————-Dan Gargan
————–Chris Schuler———–A.J. De La Garza———–
——————————Erik Kronberg————————-
FIFTH TEAM
Graham Zusi————-Landon Donovan—————–Lloyd Sam
————Cristian Maidana————-Justin Mapp——————
——————————Will Johnson———————————
Waylon Francis—————————————Steven Beitashour
————Michael Parkhurst——–Amobi Okugo——————-
——————————–Steve Clark——————————–
—————
What do you think of our selections? Who failed to make the first team that you think should have been on the team? Who didn’t make any of the five teams that you believe deserved a mention?
Share your thoughts below.