The Best XI from the First XI

Who wants to play a game with me? Okay, here are the rules: Put together a functioning side using one player from each season of DC United's history. Each year can only be used once (and must be used once.) No player can appear more than once. And believe me, this game can get hard. In some cases you have to search for a good player to put in a position, and in some cases you know you are neglecting someone. You may not even be picking the best player on the team in a given year, but you've got to make them all fit...I'm sure one of you might be able to do better than this (and perhaps you have, but I didn't find your Big Soccer post in a google search), but I think I have a decent side, 4-4-2 diamond.

Keeper: Nick Rimando, from 2002. I know, Perkins was the keeper of the year last year, and Garlick was pretty good for United. And the 2002 season was one we don't exactly brag about when we brag about our history. But I think this is a decent choice. People forget just how many shots Rimando faced that year. Yes, he let in a lot of goals that year, but he also made a ton of saves, more than at any other point in his career with United. And his save percentage was not terribly different that year than in any other year of his career.

Left Back: Jeff Agoos, from 1998. You can probably quibble with this choice, especially given that this probably wasn't Goose's best year, or close to it. Still, right now, he's the choice I would make for that position.

Center Back: Ryan Nelsen from 2004. Christian Gomez was the catalyst for the MLS Cup run of 2004, but Nelsen anchored the defense. One wonders if he hadn't been suspended for the Eastern Conference Final if it would have been as exciting as it was. This is the performance that punched his ticket to England. One of the best we've had.

Center Back: Eddie Pope from 2001. Had to have Eddie, it was pretty much a given. But the question was when I could flip him in? This was a decent year for Eddie defensively, and picking him from the 2001 year meant I could spend a few of those inaugural seasons on some firepower.

Right Back: Brian Namoff from 2003. Again, a difficult choice to make, and Brian really hasn't excelled until after 2006 at this position, but I needed someone from 2003, and this seemed the best bet, a year that saw him set the tone for eventually getting everyday duty in 2004.

Defensive Midfield: Richie Williams from 2000. If I'm taking the infamous Midget of Death, I want him in the year he committed 68 fouls. That should slow 'em up.

Right Midfield: Ben Olsen from 1999. His second year in the league converted on the promise of the first. Here's the thing. I though Ben couldn't play on the outside any more, that he just didn't have the speed. He's not as fast as he was in 1999, but he's still got it. That's really, really amazing.

Left Midfield: Dema Kovalenko from 2005. Williams and Kovalenko? Tasty. Seriously, options here were difficult, since Left Midfield seems to be the position of eternal promise. Adu? Convey? Neither spoke to me for this team. Dema? I have to keep people happy, especially the ladies.

Center Midfield: Christian Gomez from 2006. You have two choices: Etch or Gomito. For me, I'll take the MLS MVP performance from 2006 that Gomez put in, and trade the 5 more assists I would have gotten from a peak Diablo for the four more goals that Christian provided.

Forward: Jaime Moreno from 1997. If you're going to take a Jaime, why not the year he had the scoring title? This works for me.

Forward: Raul Diaz Arce from 1996. He had 100 shots that season, 49 on goal, and 23 that went by the keeper. That's just killer. I'll take it.

By year...
1996 - F RDA
1997 - F Moreno
1998 - D Agoos
1999 - M Olsen
2000 - M Williams
2001 - D Pope
2002 - GK Rimando
2003 - D Namoff
2004 - D Nelsen
2005 - M Kovalenko
2006 - M Gomez


Wish I could fit in: Etcheverry, Harkes, Lassiter, Llamosa... stupid rules that I enforced on myself... Maybe you can do it.