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SBI’s 2009 MLS Rookie Best XI

PontiusGonzalez (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Almost eleven months ago, during a sunny week in South Florida, you could tell the 2009 MLS Draft Class had the potential to be special.

During the rough days of the MLS Combine, even as player struggled with fitness and playing with their new teammates, there was a sense that this year's crop of talent had the potential to provide MLS with a serious infusion of talent. Even as some skeptics refused to believe it, teams throughout the league knew what was coming.

The result was a deep collection of MLS-ready players who helped ease the league's growing pains and helped boost a player pool that needed to be rejuvenated. The result was a total of nine rookies playing more than 2000 minutes this season, an unimaginable number in years past.

This year's class lacked goal-scorers, due at least in part to the departure of MLS prospects Marcus Tracy and Mike Grella to Europe, but it made up for that with a loaded group of defenders and quality collection of midfielders.

Here is a look at the 2009 SBI MLS Rookie Best XI:

SBI 2009 MLS Rookie Best XI

——————————Chris Pontius——————————

——Steve Zakuani——————————–Jeremy Hall——-

—Rodney Wallace———-Sam Cronin———–A.J. De La Garza

Matt Besler—–Omar Gonzalez—-Darrius Barnes—–Kevin Alston

——————————–Stefan Frei——————————-

SECOND TEAM

——————–O'Brian White—–Quincy Amarikwa—————

Graham Zusi—————Baggio Husidic—————Raphael Cox

—————-Michael Lahoud——-Nick Zimmerman—————

———Gerson Mayen—–George John——Michael Holody——–

——————————-Milos Kocic——————————–

————

Some thoughts:

PLEASE don't get caught up in where these players are listed positionally. The Best XI is the group of the 11 best players, I then lined them up to fit on the squad. I realize that Jeremy Hall didn't play right wing much this year, nor did A.J. DeLaGarza play in midfield as his regular position.

The Best XI was pretty locked in, but Michael Lahoud came closest from the second team to cracking the first team.

The second team is as much a group of players chosen on potential as on actual performance, but that said, players still had to have played some minutes to be considered.

D.C. United's Brandon Barklage, Columbus' Alex Grendi were Chicago's Stefan Dimitrov were also considered for the second team.

Please note that these players are all classified as rookies under the MLS definition of rookie, which is a player who hadn't previously been under contract with a pro team of any kind. This is why players such as Kyle Davies and Eric Brunner were not selected.

What do you think of this squad? Any players you feel should have made the Best XI that didn't? Which rookies impressed you the most this year?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Kevin Alston earned more consideration for ROTY and perhaps would have garnered more attention if he were not playing next to rookie Darrius Barnes who split a lot of votes. They play on a team that limped into the playoffs on the strength of their stiff and aggressive defensive play.

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  2. Love seeing Raphael Cox from REAL Salt Lake! His first goal in the MLS should have been one of “The Best”, too. He played for UW and we are looking forward to seeing him and his team in Seattle this Sunday for the MLS Cup!

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  3. “Pay attention” and “Sonicdeathmonkey”: Thanks for the pointers. My post was really a roundabout way of saying that Ives’ criteria were flawed. However, as Ives IS Ives, I still give him MUCH respect. And Jakovic is still the top “rookie” defender in the league, IMHO.

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  4. Ives – thanks for recognizing Fire man Husidic on the second team. I expect him to get mad minutes next year, without Rolfe or Blanco.

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  5. Sounders ’til I die, but Zakuani was a dead man walking after July. He should have been riding the pine late in the season. If he wasn’t a first overall pick, I think he would have been benched.

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  6. Agree with most all. Zakuani virtually disappeared late in games and season, so I bring up your first choice and mine from 2nd team, Lahoud.

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  7. It’s real easy to spot the dorks like you who don’t bother reading the entire post. Had you actually read it, you wouldn’t be asking that question. FAIL.

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  8. Ives,

    I do agree about getting rid of Richards and putting Hall in his place. However, what do you do with Zimmerman? He showed like he could play that position also. Where would you place them both if you had to play them together.

    Cheers

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  9. He said he considered those who’ve never had a professional contract before as rookies.

    So no, he did not even consider Dejan Jakovic because he didn’t meet the requirements that Ives set and explained when posting this,

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  10. Thanks for the response Ives. But I thought that Hall played left midfield in college, and that he was drafted to fill the void left by Dave VB going to Dallas? Is my memory wrong?

    (SBI-Hall did play left wing his last year in college, but did so because he was on a loaded team (as evidenced by the five Terps on these Rookie XI teams), not because it was his natural position. The fact that he played on the left wing in college is what made most Red Bulls fan assume he would be the replacement for Van Den Bergh, but he was drafted because he was the best talent on the board, not because the team saw him as a left-wing option.)

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  11. wait so how gonzalez “the safe pick”? He is hands down the rookie of the year. A consistent force in the galaxy back line that went from having 60+ goals scored on them last year to one of the top 5 defensive teams this year, in large part due to him. On top of that, he is the starting center back in the westerm confrence championship team.. there is no argument. He is the ROTY

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  12. Glad to see Zimmermann made your second team. My only complaint of Richie Williams stint as coach of RBNY was that he didn’t see the field more. He seems to be a good prospect and it would have been nice, since they were mathmaticially out of everything, to see him see the field more like Hall did.

    And yes the success of Richie Williams stint as coach does come down to simple things like playing a midfielder (Jeremy Hall) in the midfield. Who would have thought?

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  13. Michael Holody?

    Didn’t he only play 1 game for the Rapids and a handful of games for Real Maryland? I’m not sure how he manages to make an appearance? Running out of players to pick?

    (SBI-Holody played in four matches for Colorado. The pickings were slim in defense after the first six. So the answer to your last question is yes. You find me a rookie defender who actually played and did anything and I’ll gladly replace Holody. Evan Brown and Yohance Marshall are two guys I can see developing into good defenders down the road, but neither played a single minute this year.)

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  14. Admittedly I didn’t watch as much MLS as I probably have in other years. But of those games I did watch and they rookies in them I think the list of 1st teamers is very good. I especially like Chris Pontius and Omar Gonzalez. Both contributed well to their teams and showed real promise for long term impact at both club and national level if they continue to progress from this year’s performances.

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  15. OK, I know this is kinda splitting hairs here, but did you even consider Dejan Jakovic? In reality, yes, he wasn’t a rookie, but he was certainly a first-year player. Plus, his only real pro experience was 5 starts for Red Star Belgrade. The kid’s only 23, and he was MASSIVE for DC United in central defense this year. Just sayin’, and I AM a DC fanboy, but I’d take Jakovic over just about any of the defenders on this list. He was truly one of the only real bright spots in a disappointing season.

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  16. Practically everyone had Jeremy Hall rated ahead of Rodney Wallace (with the pro for RW being he was bigger and faster but Hall had a better first touch, was trickier on the ball and more sophisticated offensively). Yet RW had by far the better season and is supposed to have done well in the ROTY voting. I think that’s entirely a function of how poorly JCO used Hall. Hall is going to become a VERY good MLS player if he gets a coach who knows how to use him well. He’s better than Wallace (and Wallace had a great year).

    I’m fine with your picks Ives. I’ve already posted my thoughts about Gonzalez (fine player, ROTY in a normal year, this year–he’s a “safe” pick) so I won’t revisit those in depth. This was absolutely a great year to have a first round pick. Only RSL really stunk with their selection–everyone else either got a really good player or someone who should have been good.

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  17. Glad you brought this up, I’ve been saying the same thing all season. I would have loved to have seen J-Hall get some opportunities in midfield and get involved in the attack more. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to do so in 2010.

    (SBI-Osorio didn’t use Hall in midfield because he didn’t think Hall was a natural fit on the left wing. That said, I have no doubt that we would have seen Hall get an extended run on the right wing if Carlos Johnson hadn’t broken his foot. Dane Richards struggled so much earlier in the season that I know Osorio was ready to make a move and put Hall on the right flank, but that was before he lost Johnson for months.

    Richie Williams used Hall on the left wing late in the year and he looked good there, though he didn’t provide service from the wing, which is the key issue with putting Hall on the left. If I were the Red Bulls I would trade Dane Richards and put Hall on the right wing.)

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  18. It will be showing continuously on ESPN Classic so you won’t need to change your DVR over. ESPN 2 will swithch to the game after the Greece game, so it can be seen on both stations.

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  19. Ives: interesting that you listed Hall as a midfielder, considering that he played as a right back most of the season for RBNY – and played rather poorly – IMHO. I never understood why JCO didn’t give him an opportunity to play as a midfielder. Why draft this kid and sign Khano Smith? Made no sense to me.

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  20. Unrelatated topic, but don’t know where to post this, sorry:
    – For the US vs. Denmark game today, does anyone clearly know how/what channels it’s on? I’ve heard it’ll start on ESPN classic and then go to ESPN2 after the Greece game. Does that mean that ESPN classic will STOP to show the US game once the Greece game ends?

    I’m trying to program my DVRs and it’s a bit of a nightmare. It would be great if the whole game was shown on one channel.
    Help appreciated

    Reply

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