MLS Review Week 14: Meet Your MLS All Stars

By: Daryl | July 8th, 2007

EJ All Star Easily the best and most unique thing about MLS is the All-Star Game. Easily. No other league that I know of does this on a regular basis. And the MLS version is arguably the best All-Star game in American sports. Not just because it’s soccer, but also because rather than playing East vs West or whatever the MLS All Stars unite to face some quality European opposition, which means they’re playing for the pride of the league, as happened when a Dwayne DeRosario goal gave the MLS All-Stars a 1-0 win over then English champions Chelsea in 2006.

The First XI (which may not actually start the game, but still) was announced last week, as voted for by 25% fans, 25% MLS coaches/GMs, 25% media and 25% players. First XI listed after the jump:

Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)
Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards)
Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution)
Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo)
Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)
Christian Gomez (D.C. United)
Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution)
Juan Toja (FC Dallas)
Juan Pablo Angel (Red Bull New York)
Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards)

Steve Nicol is the coach as his Revs have the best average points per game. Nicol and his staff will select five additional players and Commissioner Don Garber will select two more, giving the All Stars an 18 man squad to face Scottish champions Celtic on July 19th in Colorado.

No arguments with that lineup from me as all eleven have been impressive so far. Will be especially nice to see how Eddie Johnson fares against some European opposition. Anyone care to differ or to make the case for an alternative in the hallowed First XI?

Meanwhile, there were two round of MLS games in Week 14, which means there’s plenty of The Offside’s coveted MLS Awards to hand out.

Biggest Clock Eater: Landon Donovan
I said clock. Landon Donovan did his finger kissing, body crossing penalty routine twice for LA Galaxy as the team notched up a much needed 2-0 win over Chicago. In the Fire’s defence, Donovan’s routine took so long it left very little time for them to try and equalize. Galaxy also

Titus Bramble & Jean-Alain Boumsong Award for Comedy Defending Chris Klein & Ante Jazic
Galaxy have improved going forward. Cobi Jones got a brace in this 2-2 draw with Kansas City and they’ll soon have Beckham threading passes and crosses for Pavon. But the defence still needs a little something something and a little less comedy as they gifted Kansas City two goals before coming back to draw 2-2. Chris Klein’s swing at Jack Jewsbury’s cross missed entirely, allowing Yura Movsisyan to score. And while Davy Arnaud’s second goes down as unassisted, some unwanted credit has to go to Ante Jazic, who forced Joe Cannon into a reaction save when he powered a close range header at his own keeper and Arnaud gratefully gobbled up the rebound.

Best Ruining of Independence Day: Toronto FC
TFC celebrated Canada Day with a draw in Kansas, and then ruined Independence Day for Real Salt Lake with a 2-1 win at Eccles-Rice. TFC look to have found their road legs as they also got a 1-1 in Chicago. It got worse for RSL though, as they also lost 2-1 to Columbus and are now getting left behind in the Western Conference with just 9 points from 14 games. Luckily for Jason Kreis and co, relegation is not an option.

Best Cross-Border Socio-Political Chant: Toronto FC fans
Apparently TFC fans have seen SiCKO. They travelled South (and a bit West) to Chicago, where they taunted Fire fans by singing “We don’t have to pay for health care.”

Strangest Wall: Colorado Rapids
For reasons best known to themselves and the Rapids coaching staff, four Colorado players faced a Columbus Crew free kick with one hand on their delicate regions and the other on their own shoulder. The game finished 0-0.

Biggest Primetime Pounding: Houston Dynamo (pounder) New York Red Bulls (poundee)
What can I say? Dynamo extended their unbeaten streak to seven by beating New York 4-0 on ESPN. Jozy Altidore scored two, but unfortunately for Bruce Arena they were for the USA U-20s against Brazil. Bruce should welcome the youngster back with open arms. Houston later stretched the unbeaten run to 8 by beating DC United with a Brian Ching goal, while NYRB got back on track with a 1-0 win over Colorado that puts them top of the Eastern Conference.

Goal of the week: Ramon Nunez
Nunez came off the bench for FC Dallas and majestically swept a shot into the top left corner from well outside the box. Dallas beat Chivas 2-0.

Angriest Goalkeeper Shout:
After DC United’s Emilio snaked his way through some KC defenders and found the top right corner, KC keeper Kevin Hartman can be heard yelling at his defence above the crowd above the commentators. Not sure exactly what he says, but he wasn’t happy. See/hear here.

Joint All Time Assist Leader: Steve Ralston
Ralston tied Carlos Valderrama for most MLS assists with a very respectable 114 when Andy Dorman sidefooted home from his corner to give New England a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA.