MLS Best XI Facts: 2006 Version

MLS announced the 2006 Best XI last Friday, and that gives me a chance to update the all time list. There have been 121 selections (11*11) since the league started. Player Pos Times Years Teams 1 Chris Armas M 5 1998-01, 03 CHI 1 Robin Fraser D 5 1996, 98-00, 04 LA 4, CLB 1 Jaime Moreno F 5 1997, 99, 04-06 DC 4 Marco Etcheverry M 4 1996-99 DC 4 Eddie Pope D 4 1997-98, 03-04 DC 2, NY 2 4 Preki M 4 1996-97, 01, 03 KC 2, MIA, KC 7 Jeff Agoos D 3 1997, 99, 01 DC 2, SJ 7 Mauricio Cienfuegos M 3 1996, 98-99 LA 7 Mark Chung M 3 1997, 02-03 KC, COL 2 7 Jimmy Conrad D 3 2004-06 KC 7 Peter Nowak M 3 1998, 00-01 CHI 7 Steve Ralston M 3 1999-00, 02 TB 2, NE 7 Carlos Valdarrama M 3 1996-97, 00 TB 14 Carlos Bocanegra D 2 2002-03 CHI 14 Jeff Cunningham F 2 2002, 06 CLB, RSL 14 Dwayne De Rosario M 2 2005-6 SJ, HOU 14 Clint Dempsey M 2 2005-6 NE 14 Thomas Dooley D 2 1997-98 CLB 14 Christian Gomez M 2 2005-6 DC 14 Tim Howard GK 2 2001-02 NY 14 Lubos Kubik D 2 1998-99 CHI 14 Ryan Nelsen D 2 2003-04 DC 14 Ronnie O'Brien M 2 2004-05 DAL 14 Pat Onstad GK 2 2003, 05 SJ 14 John Spencer F 2 2001, 03 COL 14 Taylor Twellman F 2 2002, 05 NE 14 Greg Vanney D 2 2000-01 LA 28 Leonel Alvarez D 1 1996 DAL 28 Wade Barrett D 1 2002 SJ 28 DaMarcus Beasley M 1 2003 CHI 28 Bobby Boswell D 1 2006 DC 28 Jose Burciaga D 1 2006 KC 28 Danny Califf D 1 2005 SJ 28 Joe Cannon GK 1 2004 COL 28 Ronald Cerritos F 1 1997 SJ 28 Brian Ching F 1 2004 SJ 28 Ricardo Clark M 1 2006 HOU 28 Mamadou Diallo F 1 2000 TB 28 Mark Dodd GK 1 1996 DAL 28 Roberto Donadoni M 1 1996 NY 28 Landon Donovan M 1 2003 SJ 28 John Doyle D 1 1996 SJ 28 Ronnie Ekelund M 1 2002 SJ 28 Brad Friedel GK 1 1997 CLB 28 Eddie Gaven M 1 2004 NY 28 Richard Gough D 1 1997 KC 28 Amado Guevara M 1 2004 NY 28 Kevin Hartman GK 1 1999 LA 28 Eduardo Hurtado F 1 1996 LA 28 Stern John F 1 1998 CLB 28 Cobi Jones F 1 1998 LA 28 Shalrie Joseph M 1 2005 NE 28 Jason Kreis F 1 1999 DAL 28 Alexi Lalas D 1 2002 LA 28 Roy Lassiter F 1 1996 TB 28 Eddie Lewis M 1 1999 SJ 28 Carlos Llamosa D 1 2001 MIA 28 Justin Mapp M 1 2006 CHI 28 Tyrone Marshall D 1 2005 LA 28 Pablo Mastroeni D 1 2001 MIA 28 Clint Mathis F 1 2000 NY 28 Tony Meola GK 1 2000 KC 28 Oscar Pareja M 1 2002 DAL 28 Troy Perkins GK 1 2006 DC 28 Alex Pineda Chacon F 1 2001 MIA 28 Ante Razov F 1 2003 CHI 28 Carlos Ruiz F 1 2002 LA 28 Diego Serna F 1 2001 MIA 28 Hristo Stoitchkov M 1 2000 CHI 28 Zach Thornton GK 1 1998 CHI 28 Peter Vermes D 1 2000 KC 28 Kerry Zavagnin M 1 2004 KC Conrad and Moreno are the 4th and 5th players to make it three years in a row. Cunningham made it four years after his first selection; only three players have gone longer between selections. Every current team (minus Chivas) has had a player make it in the past three years. In 2006, two men on the Best XI were on the USA World Cup team. That compares to zero in 2002 and three in 1998. Selections by Team DC 19 CHI 17 LA 15 KC 12 SJ 12 NY 8 TB 7 CLB 6 DAL 6 NE 6 COL 5 MIA 5 HOU 2 RSL 1 CHV 0 Players Returning From Previous Year 1996-7 3 1997-8 3 1998-9 5 1999-0 3 2000-1 3 2001-2 1 2002-3 2 2003-4 2 2004-5 3 2005-6 5 2006 ties the record. As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, with 2006 being the first year after expansion, it should and did have a lot in common with 1999. You didn't see big movement in the standings; 3/4 teams missed the playoffs two years in a row in both years, and now this.