The All star game preview: A US insight
Managed by former US manager Bruce Arena, the all star team is composed of players from all over the MLS and some names will be familiar such Juan Pablo Angel formerly of Aston Villa and now with the New York Red Bulls as well as Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan who starred for the US side in South Africa.
Goalkeepers
• Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy)
• Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders
• Kevin Alston (New England Revolution)
• Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)
• Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire)
• Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
• Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew)
• Jamison Olave (Real Salt Lake)
• Heath Pearce (FC Dallas)
Midfielders
• Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew)
• Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)
• David Ferreira (FC Dallas)
• Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution)
• Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids)
• Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union)
• Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake)
• Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire)
• Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC)
Forwards
• Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)
• Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo)
• Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
• Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)
• Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls)
The NBA’s version is usually a big deal and the whole weekend is one big party so what can we expect from the MLS version? Obviously ‘soccer’ isn’t as big a deal in the States as it could be but Brian Neely of The Offside:MLS feels we could be in for a treat when United take on the MLS Allstars today.
“Let me begin by saying what a huge admirer I am of all things Man Utd. I really came to follow them based on my dislike of Manchester City and Chelsea. Common enemies make for great allies!
Now, my 2 year old son insists everyone call him ‘Little Wayne Rooney’ and he watches Rooney highlights on YouTube until we make him stop!
The 2010 MLS all-stars is a unique mixture of highly driven players with great talent and older, talented players on the downside of decent careers.
Overall, it should be a dangerous group with a strong dose of South American flair.In my opinion, here are the 3 biggest threats coming from MLS boys:
1. Edson Buddle & Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Buddle is breaking out of the shadow of Landon Donovan and has become the best scorer the MLS has seen in many years. He and Donovan seem to have some kind of telepathic connection enabling them to know exactly what the other is going to do. They very well could give the backline of Man Utd a great deal of frustration.
2. Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire)
The Guatemalan international has replaced Blanco as the heart and soul of a solid Chicago club. He has the ability to orchestrate tremendous attacks and create excellent chances for teammates. His strength lies in flying under the radar and surprising teams with pinpoint passes to slice open defences.
3. Sebastien LeToux (Philadelphia Union)
The former FC Lorient man from France has been unstoppable this year. He has assumed leadership of the expansion club in Philly and has already made them a legitimate threat to more established MLS clubs. His 7 goals and 7 assists in 12 games are amazing considering Seattle basically released him from his contract last season.
Of course, there are other quality players for the MLS side, this is after all an all-star game but some of the guys are given a spot on the team simply because of great careers and not for their current form.
The weakness for the MLS side will most likely be the defence. There is some talent present, but the youth and inexperience could easily be exploited (much like Berbatov did to Celtic). Wilman Conde is a 6’2” physical force similar to Oguchi Onyewu, but he loves to take chances in the back and often finds himself beaten after overly aggressive challenges.
Another factor that United should be able to capitalise on is the lack of team cohesion. Many of these guys have never played on the same 11 with the others so I expect some mistakes based on the different styles of play each all-star is used to with their own club.
A final factor in this match might just be Colombian pride. It will be interesting to see if the 5 MLS reps from Columbia will all get to be on the pitch at the same time. If so, I look for them to play with a little extra for the sake of proudly representing their country.
In the U.S all-star games in other sports are typically high scoring affairs marked by little defensive effort. I don’t expect this to be the case since the opportunity to play Manchester United will motivate many players to give a little extra in this exhibition match. That being said, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3-2 final score in favour of the Red Devils.”
United will be looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat against the Kansas City Wizards and with Javier Hernandez being touted as a second half sub, the match will have an extra spin. It will be interesting to see what team Sir Alex goes with for the game and who will be dropped after Sunday night’s game.