Fan voting in All-Star proceedings frequently devolves into a painful reminder of the world’s imperfections.
But I gotta hand it to MLS fans: they pretty much nailed it with the collective All-Star picks, which were announced Sunday by the league.
Remember, this is not necessarily the team; SKC manager Peter Vermes is in charge. He can pick who he wants, although most managers have tried to remain as faithful as possible to the fans’ selections.
Here is the list (with more commentary on how the fans got it right below …)
Goalkeeper: Raul Fernández (FC Dallas)
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
Midfielders: Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards: Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).
- The 11th player, forward, will be selected July 11 in a schlocky marketing stunt along with FIFA Soccer 13.
- I was especially pleased to see that Portland’s Johnson had made the list. He really is having a sensational season, the driving midfield force for so much that’s going right this year around Jeld-Wen. As there are certainly more illuminated names, it would have been easy for fans to miss this one.
- The nitpicks would be Brad Davis and Chris Wondolowski, neither of whom are having their best years. Neither has been awful in 2013, necessarily; they just aren’t up to previous year’s versions of themselves.
- Robbie Keane deserves the forward spot over Wondolowski, or perhaps Marco de Vaio or even young Jack McInerney.
- If you see Henry as an aging star not necessarily deserving of a spot, you haven’t seen the way that guy can still turn a match in a second with moment of his class.
- Holding midfielders got no love. Then again, holding midfielders never get any love.
The MLS All-Stars meet AS Roma on July 31 at Sporting Park in suburban Kansas City.
