Avoiding the Drop

Yesterday during the Portland-Seattle game (which was a really fun game to watch, incidentally), MLS unveiled the “Starting XI” for the MLS All-Star team. That’s in quotes because All-Star team manager Hans Backe doesn’t actually have to start these players against Manchester United; injuries, tactical decisions, a desire to not tire out New York Red Bulls players, and player availability will all factor in to his decision making. Rather, these were the top vote-getters from a three-pronged voting strategy that allowed fans to vote via text, on Twitter, and online.

It’s only an All-Star team, and it’s only an All-Star game; nevertheless, it’s worth taking a look at the lineup and whining about the players that were snubbed out of being named All-Stars. Being that this is a soccer blog, and that I’m sick to death of transfer rumors, we’ll commence with said whining after the jump.

First off, here’s the text version of the roster (in case my handy-dandy little graphic up there was confusing:

Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller (SEA)

Defenders: Omar Gonzalez (LA), Sean Franklin (LA), Rafa Márquez (NY), Tim Ream (NY)

Midfielders: David Beckham (LA), Jack Jewsbury (POR), Brek Shea (DAL)

Forwards: Landon Donovan (LA), Thierry Henry (NY), Chris Wondolowski (SJ)

There’s also an “honorable mention” award for Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler, who received 30% of the text votes (but apparently none of the Twitter or internet votes), and since AT&T sponsors the All-Star team they get to add on whoever they want.

In terms of “teams represented”, then, that’s four players for Los Angeles, three for New York, and one apiece for Seattle, Portland, Dallas, Sporting Kansas City, and San Jose.

And we’ll start our list of “snubs” right there, not with a player but with three teams:Philadelphia, Columbus, and Real Salt Lake. This is how the Eastern Conference table looks:

New York LEADS the Eastern Conference, but Philly and Columbus aren’t far behind…and both have two games in hand over New York. In fact, I’d say it’s completely plausible that both Philly and Columbus, on current form, would finish ahead of New York…and yet neither of them is represented.

Of course, the All-Star team combines both conferences, which means that we have to also look westward at their table:

That shows us a couple things. First off: the Eastern Conference sucks; their crème de la crème team would only be fifth in the Western Conference. That table also shows us that Real Salt Lake – who have four games in hand due to the time they missed playing in the CONCACAF Champions League – are within striking distance of first place, and yet they’ve got no representatives on the All-Star First XI.

With Philadelphia and Columbus, it’s difficult to tell which of their players should be sent. With Real Salt Lake, that’s not the case. My first player snub: RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Rimando’s been excellent for RSL this season, posting a clean sheet in eight of his sixteen appearances; only Kevin Hartman from FC Dallas (who’s played three more games than Rimando) has done better, and it’s two more than “All-Star” Kasey Keller’s got (Keller’s played in 21 matches so far this season). Frankly, Hartman – who posted a several-game shutout streak earlier this season for FC Dallas – would also have been a better candidate than Keller; his nine clean sheets lead the league. About the only statistical category that Keller leads is “Saves”, which isn’t surprising as he’s also faced the most shots…but having a crappy defense doesn’t make you a good keeper.

Let’s just keep working from the back, then; it’s hard to complain too much about Omar Gonzalez and Sean Franklin, as L.A. have had a pretty stout defense this year; Gonzalez, in particular, is proving to be a more-than-competent left back. Tim Ream’s having a breakout year of sorts, and while one could argue with his selection I can see where the fans are going with that.

But we have to talk about Rafa Marquez.

Between the Gold Cup and injuries, Marquez has managed to appear in nine games for New York. I’m not saying that he sucks…I’m just saying that he hasn’t played. There are other players, then, who should be in his spot; specifically, I’m thinking of RSL centerbacks Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers. Olave’s the reigning Defender of the Year, and I’d probably lean towards him, but either one of them is a better selection than Marquez.

Keep moving through, then. Shea and Beckham are both deserved selections; Jewsbury, I’m not in love with the selection, but I can understand it. I think maybe Houston midfielder Brad Davis makes more sense there, but if you want to go with Jewsbury I’m not going to stop you.

We have to talk about the strikers, though, because Chris Wondolowski makes no sense.

Strikers are all about goals; it’s their responsibility to score them, and whether or not they’re successful comes down to whether or not they can put the ball in the net. It’s that simple. Sure, there are some – Emile Heskey, say – who contribute in ways that are less obvious, but at the end of the day you still need goals to keep your position. Accepting that premise, then, means that there’s no way you can say that Charlie Davies isn’t a more fitting choice for All-Star than Chris Wondolowski. Davies has eight goals in 15 appearances; Wondo has six goals in 14. Sure, four of those eight came from the spot (a few of them after he, ah, earned the penalty in question), but that’s common for most strikers; Donovan’s scored three penalties, too.

It’s more than just goalscoring, though; Wondolowski, the few times I’ve watch San Jose play recently, has been completely anonymous. You could even argue that Wondo’s not even the best striker on his team; Steven Lenhart seems to be the focal point of the Earthquake’s attack these days. You can’t say that for any of these guys; Henry, Donovan, Davies, Columbus striker Andres Mendoza (if you don’t want to take Davies because of the penalties or the diving or whatever, Mendoza’s the next guy in line), all of them are their team’s main attack. Wondolowski, regardless of what happened last season, is back to being a bit average, and average shouldn’t be good enough to get you into the All-Star team.

The remaining six All-Stars will be named by commissioner Don Garber (who’ll select two on Saturday) and manager Hans Backe (who will hand-pick the remaining four next Monday). Hopefully some of these snubbed players will get the recognition they deserve.