By: COLIN REESE
The MLS-All Star roster has no left back. This was inexcusable for MLS All-Star coach Caleb Porter because The MLS All-Star Game is a marketing tool to try to beat a famous European club in order to up the profile of the league.
The absence of Chris Klute from the roster to start at left back was a big oversight by MLS, especially with an excellent two-way right back like Yedlin on the roster. Having two skilled and speedy outside backs would have been a better advertisement for the league.
The fans voted for 11 starters, omitting a left back, but Porter doesn’t have to start these 11 players. Porter’s job was then to select 10 more players, not including MLS commissioner Don Garber’s two picks.
This brought the roster to 23 players.
Unfortunately the roster doesn’t include a left back, so it would seem that both Porter and Garber are to blame for not selecting a left back or at least another outside back that can play on the left.
Given the lack of a left back on the roster, picking a Best XI to face Bayern Munich requires immediately figuring out who to stick at left back, so that Bayern doesn’t run amok on the MLS All-Stars, which they might very well do anyway.
Sticking Michael Parkhurst at left back is the best option to face Bayern Munich because at least Parkhurst has experience playing the position on the international level.
Some of the other Starting XI choices should be easy for Porter, if he picks the best players and the best combination of players. DeAndre Yedlin should be a lock as the starting right back, and Osvaldo Alonso and Michael Bradley should be locks as the defensive midfielders.
In the attack, starting Tim Cahill as the central attacking midfielder behind teammate Thierry Henry is the strongest option, and flanking Cahill with Seattle teammates Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey gives the MLS All-Stars the most skill and firepower against a team of Bayern Munich’s caliber.
The two center back spots are highly debatable. Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler is an obvious option because of their chemistry playing for Sporting Kansas City.
Maurice Edu was a late edition to the All-Star Game, and Edu is an interesting option to start at center back with Besler because of his international experience and center back play with the Philadelphia Union.
Perhaps an Edu-Besler partnership is the best advertisement for the league, and it could also help out the United States Men’s National Team by giving Edu minutes with Besler, which is a strong partnership that the United States could use in the future.
Edu and Besler both certainly possess the right type of combination of defending, speed, and skill on the ball needed to be competitive against a team like Bayern.
If the objective is to beat Bayern Munich, then starting Henry as the lone striker with Martins, Cahill, and Dempsey floating behind him offers elite talent and tons of experience against world-class competition.
With Osvaldo and Bradley protecting the defense and manning the back of the midfield, the attackers listed above have plenty of defensive coverage behind them, and those attackers should be providing a significant amount of pressure on the Bayern Munich defense as well.
The best Starting XI is debatable and up to Porter, but the line-up below is arguably the strongest and most balanced XI amongst the roster options.
The Best MLS ALL-STAR XI (4-2-3-1)
GK: Nick RIMANDO (Real Salt Lake)
RB: DeAndre YEDLIN (Seattle Sounders)
CB: Maurice EDU (Philadelphia Union)
CB: Matt BESLER (Sporting KC)
LB: Michael PARKHURST (Columbus Crew)
DM: Osvaldo ALONSO (Seattle Sounders)
CM: Michael BRADLEY (Toronto FC)
RW: Obafemi MARTINS (Seattle Sounders)
CAM: Tim CAHILL (New York Red Bulls)
LW: Clint DEMPSEY (Seattle Sounders)
S: Thierry HENRY (New York Red Bulls)
Who does World Soccer Source think should start in the MLS All-Star Game not restricting the options to the 23-man roster picked or the Starting XI voted upon?
The World Soccer Source MLS All-Star XI (4-3-3):
GK: Clint IRWIN (Colorado Rapids)
RB: DeAndre YEDLIN (Seattle Sounders)
CB: Shane O’NEILL (Colorado Rapids)
CB: Matt BESLER (Sporting KC)
LB: Chris KLUTE (Colorado Rapids)
CM: Michael BRADLEY (Toronto FC)
DM: Osvaldo ALONSO (Seattle Sounders)
CM: Benny FEILHABER (Sporting KC)
F: Tim CAHILL (New York Red Bulls)
F: Thierry HENRY (New York Red Bulls)
F: Clint DEMPSEY (Seattle Sounders)
Tactical Formation:
IRWIN
YEDLIN O’NEILL BESLER KLUTE
BRADLEY ALONSO FEILHABER
CAHILL HENRY DEMPSEY
Editor’s Note: Omar Gonzalez was originally listed as the starting center back with Matt Besler in the original version of this article, but Gonzalez was dropped from the roster on August 2nd due to the fact that he’d be playing a club game two days later. Maurice Edu was added to the roster on August 2nd as well.