Jay DeMerit
As long as MLS has an All-Star game there are going to be snubs. It’s just a fact,Lardarius Webb Jersey. The trouble in the first place is that the league is having an All-Star game at all. By now does anyone really believe that the All-Star game is anything more than a money maker,Tony Romo Jersey? A few years ago, when the league first shifted to playing a foreign club team, it was about showing the quality of the league. Even last year, playing Manchester United in front of a large crowd in Houston was seen as the penultimate challenge for MLS. United was the best team in the world.
But what about a break for the summer? The heat in the U.S. this summer has been insufferable. It seems to have finally taken its effect on the pitch. Last week,Ray Nitschke Jersey, when the power was cut off to millions of people, there were MLS matches in Columbus and Washington D.C, two areas effected by the outages. It’s not surprising that the visiting teams came out very sluggish in those matches and eventually lost. Because they didn’t have power, they couldn’t go through their regular routines.
Still, only a third of the MLS teams are represented. Vancouver and D.C. only have one representative while Kansas City, New York, the Galaxy, and San Jose all have two a piece. Other teams are certain to get representation once the rest of the roster is filled out. Still,Robert Francois Jersey, it’s a little crazy to think that Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders don’t have a representative on the team. They play some of the best soccer in the league and are full of All-Star calibre players. But, you can’t please them all.
MLS announced their starting lineup for the MLS All-Star game against Chelsea later this month at PPL Park. There were only a couple of surprises in the lineup (Steven Beitashour, Aurelien Collin) but the familiar names are all there: Henry, Beckham, Donovan, De Rosario, Wondolowski. Overall, it’s a pretty solid team that should give the fans an entertaining match.
The season is already packed as it is, but some creative scheduling could make room for a Summer break. Taking the month of July off may help prevent injuries to players and would make for more attractive soccer.
Soccer purists and the suits at FIFA have been clamoring for the U.S. to go to a autumn-spring season for years now. It’s not going to happen. As many have pointed out, it is just too cold in the wintertime. The quality of play would be terrible and many matches would be postponed. Postponed matches may be one thing in Scotland where the teams are close together, but there is no way you can reschedule Vancouver vs. New England.
Oh, the heat!
But then again, it is what it is. As a fan of soccer, especially American soccer, we must look at the positive: the best players in the league squaring off against a top club team. Chelsea is always going to be a great team to play because they are so deep. Fernando Torres and the like may get most of the night off, but the fringe players that will play will be hungry to prove that they can belong. The game will certainly be entertaining, and after all, isn’t that what the night is all about.
Here is the team: Jimmy Nielsen (Kansas City), Steven Beitashour (San Jose), Aurelian Collin (Kansas City), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver), Heath Pearce (New York), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Kansas City), Thierry Henry (New York), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)
This week, the league experience three nil-nil draws. It’s not surprising that those matches were played in Kansas City, Dallas,Brent Celek Eagles Jersey, and Los Angeles. LA was alright,Alex Smith Jersey, but Kansas City and Dallas were absolute ovens and it made for some boring soccer.
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