The All-American EPL Best XI

In honor of Eddie Lewis' arrival in the EPL (and thanks to the suggestion of an SBI reader) here is the All-American EPL Best XI:

-------Brian McBride-----------Johann Smith------

Bobby Convey--------------------------Clint Dempsey

------Benny Feilhaber----Carlos Bocanegra-------

Eddie Lewis--------------------------------Eric Lichaj

---------Jay DeMerit*---Jonathan Spector---------

--------------------Tim Howard--------------------

Okay, so we need DeMerit to be sold to Fulham (Which is a possibility) to fill out a full starting XI. Okay, so Lichaj is a stretch since he's still a young kid who isn't likely to see minutes for Villa, but he is signed so he counts. If we have to naturalize someone how about Ryan Nelson? Yes, he's from New Zealand but he did play in MLS. Okay, I know, a stretch.

And I'm sure there will be arguments over who should be the starting goalkeeper. Some people like Friedel, some like Hahnemann. Howard is my choice.

If we include the Coca Cola then you can include DeMerit, Cory Gibbs and Frank Simek. Not bad at all.

Did I forget somebody? Share your thoughts on this squad below.

Comments

[Neil B.]

well chosen, ives. . .but there isn't much to choose from at forward and defense, with all due respect to the Yanks abroad. still, this is a solid first team. that midfield in particular is good enough to compete at international level.

[Nick]

Nice work on my idea Ives. I'm also glad to hear there are more American players in the EPL than I thought. Keep up the good work!

[josh]

Why do McBride's eyes always seem like black holes? Is it possible he is really an alien? If so, would that disqualify him from this list?

[Andy B.]

Josh-- I don't think McBride is an alien. He's bionic, like Robocop or something. The guy's face is made of titanium (that's sort of true, actually). Have you seen how the guy can bleed like a fountain and not even notice? Maybe his eyes have just been replaced by little cameras.

[lalique]

A bit weak to include Lichaj. Just make the list from the EPL and the Championship so that you can fill out the line-up properly. many of the Championship players are good enough for the EPL but their team is holding them back (like Lewis until today).

----McBride------Smith----

Lewis--------------Dempsey

----Convey---Feilhaber----

Spector-DeMerit-Boca-Simek

----------Howard----------

[gsh]

Nice one Lalique, I shuddered at the thought of Boca in the midfield.

[Tricky Ricky]

How many players are left for the bench? I thought there were only 10 Americans in the EPL to begin with.

[Chrisnj]

McBride should be the Captain of this team! He is a class act all the way around! Consummate professional!

[Frank R.]

Saw McBribe play "my" Rochester Rhinos in an open match a couple years ago. Was sitting behind the goal and Brian had the ball and was coming right down the center. Thought to myself, who in his right mind would want to stand in front of him when he's coming like that!!! Won't forget that moment, and yes his eyes were "black"!

[Steve W]

How about an all time EPL Yank XI?

[brentmcd]

has johann smith ever been capped? he's gotta be better than johnson/twellman/wolfe....

[Steve W]

Smith has 0 senior caps.

[tfina]

Johann would have been in Canada with the U-20s until he got hurt in the last warm-up game

a ton of speed, his skill need work though

[Mike]

If Friedel isn't the starting keeper, he could play forward as long as we're stretching things. He scored a few years ago for Blackburn.

[DE]

It's Ryan NelsEn - and indeed, he's a favorite amongst us D.C. United faithful so I certainly like the idea of naturalizing ol Nelly to round out the team. You'd have to think he'd be for it considering the All Whites will likely never make it to the World Cup during his tenure (of course, not his fault).

[Speedball]

If you really want to stretch it, put Howard in at defense since he did play that position for the MetroStars (when Gaven was in goal).

[Steve W]

Nelsen has been capped by NZ, so its a moot point anyway.

Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.

[Dave]

Doesn't Smith play right wing? He was playing in Zizzo's position for the U-20s before he got hurt in the friendly against the New Zealand U-20s. Also, I remember reading in FourFourTwo a couple of months where Kevin Nolan (I think it was him?) was talking about the Bolton youth academy and the one name he mentioned in the piece was Johann Smith. I guess the club thinks very highly of him or at least Nolan, if he was the only one mentioned in the piece.

[John]

Friedel starts in goal. Howard is half a notch behind him. Los should be at defensive midfield.

[Ives]

Steve W, this wasn't an actual national team, just a possible team of Americans. I mentioned Nelson as a joke since he played in MLS. It's pretty common knowledge that he's one of New Zealand's best players, if not their best.

[Hudson Valley]

Beckham press conference is LIVE on MLSnet now

[Dominghosa]

Ching in for Wolff in Sweden.

[Eric]

Crap - did McBride really blow out a knee?

[Eric]

From a Fulham blog:

"It’s official. McBride dislocated his knee cap when he planted shooting the ball in for the goal. Freak injury and he WILL be out for months."

Get well, BMB

[Steve W in KY (different from the other guy)]

Good choices, but after watching Hahnemann against ManU last week, I vote for him. Great, great game for him and Reading. One British writer compared it to the Alamo, as ManU kept attacking in wave after wave, only to have Marcus and defenders repel the attacks. And they were down to 10 men the last 15 minutes. Best 0-0 game I've ever seen.