10 May 2006

I Half Expect Our All-Star Team To Be Identical to Real Salt Lake

The MLS All-Star Ballot is out, and many of your DC United players are up for consideration. I am a firm believer that the ballot one fills out should reflect the performances you've seen so far in the season, and last year I struggled mightily to identify DCU players that I could cast a vote for with a clear conscience.

This year, I'm not so conflicted. Accordingly, I present the acceptable choices for DCU homers, All-Star Edition:

  1. GK Troy Perkins - Look, I'm not voting for him, but he'd done acceptably in his starts this year that you might be able to put a positive case for him. Last year I went with Matt Reis, and this year I might throw a vote to Brad Guzan.
  2. M Josh Gros - I can't really say anyone on the backline has been an all-star so far. Erpen is erratic, Boswell has been decent but not exceptional, Prideaux is much better than I expected... but Josh Gros has had fairly decent games all year moving from defensive play on the wings to running deep and sending a cross into the box.
  3. M Brian Carroll and Ben Olsen - I'm casting a vote for one of these two, and probably both. In a defensive midfield role, both have been dependable and hard working, throwing others to a game plan that involves something other than taking the ball up through the middle.
  4. F Alecko Eskandarian - Of DC's offensive weapons, only Alecko has really stood out as turning in strong performances, yes, all-star quality performances week after week. I expect Twellman or Ching to get their share of votes, but Alecko's form is excellent so far, and I am definately stuffing the ballot box for him.

Of course, if I see Carey Talley as a starter, I will know that something strange is afoot.

3 Comments:

At 10 May, 2006 14:24, Blogger I-66 said...

I'm struggling with whether to give weight to the fact that this team will be playing Chelsea, and whether that should have an effect on how to vote.

 
At 10 May, 2006 17:33, Blogger Doug said...

Hey, good thought. If we use that as a criterion, then we need to consider who has ever scored against Chelsea -- Boswell!

(Perhaps also ex-European players... did Djork ever face Chelsea in Euro competition?)

 
At 11 May, 2006 00:54, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If Eskandarian is an all-star in mls, the league is in big trouble. All-star performances? Watch him closely next game and you will see that in every game he plays, including every game this year, stone-foot loses possession of the ball about 80% of the time he touches it. If you can't control the ball and constantly give it to the other team, you cannot be an all-star, no matter how much red-bull you spit out...

 

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