MLS Best XI

            Each season, MLS officials, players, and leaders vote on the players that they feel should make the top eleven players in the league, making a team out of them. This vote resulted in a 3-4-3 formation, voting for 3 defenders, 4 midfielders and 3 forwards. This season’s MLS Best XI is a notable group, with many of the players included having one of the best seasons of their career. Despite the growing nature of the MLS, all of the nominees have been on the list before except for two. Even as players Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry are set to leave the league after this season, they were included nevertheless after what have been great seasons for both. Donovan reached notable career statistics for himself and also broke the record number of times being included in the Best XI, now up to seven times. Henry makes the list for his third time, along with teammate Bradley Wright-Phillips who has had an exceptional season as well. Scoring a remarkable 27 goals in the regular season, Wright-Phillips tied the league record for most goals scored in a season.

            Another player making the list is Robbie Keane, making it 3 years straight after scoring 19 goals in the season, joining teammates Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez. In fact, all players making list are from just five different teams: DC United, LA Galaxy, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and the New York Red Bulls. This raises question to the credibility of the selections, making me wonder if they are truly chosen by the best performing players or if all of the best players are actually on the same selection of teams. Either way, it shows that the selection at least should be only taken for what it is; a naming of the most popular, current players in the MLS. Rather than a definite judgment of players with some elaborate process for deciding, it really means very little, and I feel that, although it is interesting to look at and read about, it is relatively unimportant to even the MLS.