MLS Top 20 Players?

By: Laurie | February 17th, 2008

Martin Rogers over at Yahoo Sports has given us his top 20 list of MLS players. (Click the link for his reasoning behind his picks.) What do you think?

Me: Shalrie Joseph #1?!? He’s good, but #1?

1. Shalrie Joseph, midfielder, New England Revolution
2. Brad Guzan, goalkeeper, Chivas USA
3. Luciano Emilio, forward, D.C. United
4. David Beckham, midfielder, Los Angeles Galaxy
5. Michael Parkhurst, defender, New England Revolution
6. Dwayne De Rosario, midfielder/forward, Houston Dynamo
7. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, midfielder, Columbus Crew
8. Jozy Altidore, forward, New York Red Bulls
9. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, midfielder/forward, Chicago Fire
10. Juan Pablo Angel, forward, New York Red Bulls
11. Landon Donovan, midfielder/forward, Los Angeles Galaxy
12. Juan Toja, midfielder, FC Dallas
13. Sacha Kljestan, midfielder, Chivas USA
14. Maurice Edu, midfielder, Toronto FC
15. Kyle Beckerman, midfielder, Real Salt Lake
16. Ben Olsen, midfielder, D.C. United
17. Jimmy Conrad, defender, Kansas City Wizards
18. Maykel Galindo, forward, Chivas USA
19. Christian Gomez, midfielder, Colorado Rapids
20. Wade Barrett, defender, Houston Dynamo

Curious what your thoughts are on this list.

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Category: MLS, World Football

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Matt

Late to the party, but still want to dance!

I hate Blanco with a passion, but he should probably be on there, but I think his teammate (AND UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON ALUM, GO FLYERS!) Chris Rolfe should be around 15-20. He made DC look ridiculous with two rocket goals in the play offs and pretty much did that all year. The kid is gonna be something special!
eros

I love the way Dwayne De Rosario plays, he is strong, and is a key player in important matches. As for Beckham, he is not a good player, he is a pretty boy that take free kicks, thats about it
redbullredbull

David Beckham #1 hands down there can be no questions on his quality and he belongs back in the England squad. I would also have to say Juan Pablo Angel is number 2 his touches are all good and he rarely dwells on the ball, he is a class above his red bull teammate Altidore at this point in his career. I guess im a eurosnob but they are the best and i think there can be little argument. Joseph is a rubbish Beckham without the ability to create goals off set pieces, bullshit
Hannah

How I would have ranked my top five:

1. Dwayne De Rosario
2. Juan Pablo Angel
3. Jozy Altidore
4. Brad Guzan
5. Luciano Emilio
Sam

David Beckham, fourth? Who does this douche Martin Rogers think he is, Don fucking Garber?
DG

Wade Barrett over Eddie Robinson? Really?
Tommy Wong

Hey DC United. Although this is true with the PK's and his 20 goals came from none of those, I still feel that JPA is a more deserving player for MVP than Emilio was. DC United has always had quality players, and has been a dynasty team that functions very well together. See for me, you could have taken JPA and put him on DC united and they would have thrashed the league. Like I said, he carried RBNY on his back for much of the season. All I'm saying is that I don't believe Emilio would have been able to carry the Red Bulls on his back the way Angel did. Blanco's contributions to Chicago were huge in his couple of weeks with the Fire, but until the new season starts, and he can really dig in from the get go, I'm not sure how far up I'd put him just yet.
Johnny

I agree with Tom. I feel that Blanco deserves a higher ranking. IMO
Melissa

Hooray for my Chivas boys! (But no Ante? Recount!)
wsc

"Criteria such as age, fitness, motivation and offseason improvement have all been taken into account."

It's not about last season. It's a prediction of the 20 players most likely to shine in 2008. From that perspective it actually seems quite fair.
Tom

Did this guy even watch the Fire after Blanco arrived?
DC United

Hey Tommy Wrong,

Emilio played more games than JPA, however, Emilio had 20 goals with NONE coming off of PK. While JPA had 19 goals with what, 3 or 4 coming off PK? JPA is good, but if you're going to base it off of last season, Emilio is number 1.... hence the MVP award.
Ian

Becks may be the best player in the MLS, but he can't make a list like this until he actually proves he still has it. He did essentially nothing for the Galaxy last season, except sell tickets and shirts. If this is based on a whole career, he's clearly number 1. If it's based on a career IN this MLS, he shouldn't be on the list.
Mat

I don't care who Beckham is and how many leagues he may have won, he does not belong to this list if he does not play. They should make lists of people who are actually playing
Tommy Wong

This list is laughable at best. Anybody who followed the MLS last season will be able to tell you right away that Juan Pablo Angel deserves atleast #2, if not #1. The man destroyed the MLS from the inside out last season. Emilio had more games played than JPA, and only won the golden boot by a hair. JPA won MVP for the All star match, and carried the Red Bulls on his back. I would put Beckham on the bottom 10 since his contributions were small, and had a few assists here and there, but never settled completely IMO with the Galaxy. Altidore comes after Schelotto? I think not. Columbus Crew didn't do squat last season.

The top 5 MLS players for last season:
#1 - Juan Pablo Angel
#2 - Brad Guzan
#3 - D. Ro
#4 - Twellman or Kljestan
#5 - Emilio or Beckham

Shalrie Joseph as first? I don't think so. As good as he is, IMO he is a consistent midfielder, however he isn't as invaluable as the Rev's make him out to be. Twellman/Dorman/Parkhurst/Noonan are much more standout players to me.
Laurie

George, if they hadn't come numbered I would be thinking the same thing!
George

It looks like the order might be random.
RAMS4LIFE

Lets be serious here... David Baeckham should be #1 by a country mile. He has ten times the qaulity of any of these other players.

Which of these other players have played in Champ league finlas, fa cup finals, won the prem, won la liga, captained their country in 3 major tournaments and played in 5?

None of the others have and they never will.

BECKHAM SHOULD B #1 no question about it.