People criticize the All-American XI every week. But beside the accusation that we ignore Crew players in favor of DC United players, no complaint has stung so much as the accusation that we moved to a blog format because we’re sell-outs. Every week we try to prove this scurrilous rumor false. The truth is we only wanted to take advantage of the unique blogging format that the internet offers. Yes, the blogs have given us a chance to create our own soapbox in this cyber-democracy of soccer discourse, one free of the crass commercialism that dominates the American sporting scene, and soccer in particular. When you come to the All-American XI, we want you to be sure that you’re reading only the finest soccer related commentary, unimpeded by corporate considerations or compromises to financial necessity.

So now that we’ve certainly set those concerns to rest, let’s turn our attention to Week #7 of the Major League Soccer season. Starting in Los Angeles, where Real Salt Lake managed to pull off a 3-0 win over Los Angeles. Seeing all of those lemon and lime uniforms without a Donovan or Albright must have made Atiba Harris and Jeff Cunningham thirsty for goals. Their performance was a nice change of pace for RSL, and hopefully their fans were inspired by a performance best summed up by “It was that refreshing!”

FC Dallas apparently had the Houston Dynamo defeated, but Houston kept their fuel-efficient engine running and the Power of Their Dreams salvaged a draw with an FCD own goal. Bonus points to Dominic Kinnear for lambasting Carlos Ruiz’s cowardice. Only a complete chicken dives so much. Over in Foxboro, New England showed great hunger for the win, and spread out the scoring in a 3-1 victory over Chivas USA. Exclusively on HDNet, Columbus was slightly more creative on the pitch, showing a few more ideas for life and outdueling Colorado 1-0. If only I had an HDTV and had seen that game — I bet it looked great!

New York fans are probably once again missing the King of Goals, Sergio Galvan-Rey, as they only managed one goal against Chicago in a 1-1 draw. They say you can’t beat the King. And Chicago looked a bit homesick in their play. If they can find a place that sells them, we recommend they buy Samsung A900 Bluetooth Enabled cell phones with built-in MP3 players to stay in touch with their loved ones in Chicago. Or, they can rely on Justin Mapp’s timely information on how far they are from home.

Don’t forget both FC Dallas and LA played a game mid-week, where FC Dallas showed they had just a little more in them to pull out the win. The Galaxy must feel a bit depleted now, and they sure could use some soccer-related charity to help them.

Finally, Kansas City and DC United had a great game in RFK. Alecko Eskandarian’s goal was fantastic, and Sasha Victorine played wonderfully despite his team’s 2-1 defeat. If only we at the All-American XI could look so good when we play our games.

So that’s the week that was in MLS. You can see that the AAXI has nothing but respect for the purity of the game, and that bringing you the highest-quality journalism is our only Goal! The Dream Begins, In Theaters Now.

This header may have been subject to the approval of Major League Soccer, its clubs, or its corporate masters.

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An industry standard 4-4-2 this week.

Jon Conway – (1)

Let’s see… NYRB keeper under intense pressure? Check. Fantastic saves that seem at odds with physical presence? Check. Keeper is Tony Meola? Um…. hey, wait a minute. NY got an outstanding match from the last-minute fill-in. Made some great saves, kept his defensemen’s ears buzzing and overall ran the show. Well done for someone who hasn’t played a league match in over a year. He deserved better — like a shutout.

Dasan Robinson – (1)

It’s “Who’s that Yank in Defense?” week in MLS, starring a cast of unknowns: Dasan Robinson, Jeff Larentowicz, Kevin Novak, Kyle Veris, Jason Hernandez, Willis Forko, Brent Whitfield, Matt Groenwald, and Kevin Goldthwaite. It really came to us when Max Bretos and Allen Hopkins called the RSL defenders “who?”: there’s lots of young Yanks playing defense that we’ve barely heard of before, if at all. Not all of these guys are rookies, but there’s a fine tradition of young Yanks performing well early in their MLS careers. Robinson was one of the many who? defenders for week seven - and one who had an AAXI worthy week. The Fire rookie defender had a lights out game in the back, controlling the forwards he marked. He was quick, had good positioning, saved a sure goal from Djorkaeff at one point, and distributed well. He looks to have an intelligent game that will fit well in the back line of Chicago.

Alex Yi – (1)

This kid is really starting to fulfill his potential. After spending last year on loan to Atlanta Silverbacks, Yi has come back much more confident on the ball, and more able to use his height to his advantage. Two stellar performances this week showcased how he’s turning into a presence to be reckoned with in the middle of the Dallas D. Yi always seemed to position himself well and dealt with constant activity in his own penalty area. And toward the end of the game against the Galaxy we started getting the impression that many of the fouls called on him weren’t really because he was actually fouling but because he’s so big that smaller players would run into him and get knocked down.

Drew Moor – (2)

Moor too played superbly in both matches. He’s fearless, fast, and, uh, flippin’ sweet. (it’s not easy alliterating with ‘f’, ya know). The missed header aside, Moor fit in well with FCD’s ever-changing lineup. He is positionally sound and strong in the air and tackle. He’s tough too: after taking a solid boot to the face, he didn’t even really break stride, but kept on going. He was like a Visa Card Wednesday night: Everywhere you wanted him to be.

Eddie Robinson – (1)

He shut down most of what Dallas attempted down the middle, and deserves hazard pay for dealing intelligently with Carlos Ruiz. Robinson’s pressure on Goodson helped cause the own goal. Solid as a rock back there. Dallas had very few close in chances because of his steady play. He also read the game very well, cutting off passing lanes and playing usually good balls to his teammates.

Carey Talley – (1)

We cannot believe we’re writing this - Carey Talley? AAXI material as a midfielder? If you saw the game on DirectKick, you saw a guy who replaced Douglas Sequiera (away on Costa Rican World Cup duty) and played the position better than his more celebrated teammate yet has this year. Two assists, including one perfect pass that sprung Jeff Cunningham for a breakaway goal. He worked his ass off the entire game, and provided RSL something they haven’t seen most of the year, which is a defensive player feeding the ball forward. Note to Ellinger: See what happens when you play people in the right position? They get a couple of assists and you end up winning a game. Kind of a novel idea, isn’t it?

Sasha Victorine – (2)

An argument can be made that Sasha is very quietly putting out a bona fide Best XI season. Once again, he was the straw that stirred KC’s drink, playing end line to end line. Dude was everywhere. Sasha was collecting scalps all night based on the DC players he either burned or stuffed. AAXI fave Josh Gros? Blows right by him. Dominic Mediate? This is why you are a reserve. Brian Carroll? It’s tougher out there with Namoff as opposed to Olsen, eh? Seriously: next KC game pay particular attention to Victorine.

Ned Grabavoy – (1)

Sorry to those of you without HDNet! Well, not too sorry, since most of the Crew-Rapids game was a pretty drab affair (that came through gloriously in HD!). But super-sub Grabavoy made this game more than just an exercise in appreciating the beauty of mud in HD. His terrific solo run, highlighted by a fake pass to Ngwenya, ended with a perfectly weighted shot and a 1-0 win for the Crew. Point SS1 (Sigi Schmid) over SS2 (Steve Sampson) in that trade so far.

Brian Mullan – (3)

He’s got some under-rated foot skill that we’re all just now starting to appreciate that can be added to his sweet crosses. Unfortunate for him that he didn’t have Brian Ching out there to get on the end of one of them, but he was a big part of the attack and helping Houston salvage a draw on the road. Calling him a “tireless worker” has gotten old, but his play is described by that term every game. He showed intensity, good control, and provided some offensive spark throughout the game. If the AAXI’s favorite midfielder had the same kind of intensity as Mullan he’d be overseas by now.

Jeff Cunningham – (1)

You score two goals in one game for RSL, you get a nomination. Set up the first goal through making the pass to Talley and subsequently playing the whistle. Maybe he should be a sub every week as his positioning and runs were textbook.

Alecko Eskandarian – (3)

By special request of Bill Archer it’s another DC United player for the AAXI. Does any American on the world cup team (or not) have a better first time volley shot? Unlike say, John Wolyniec a couple of years ago, Esky is scoring this way too many times now for it to be luck. Drew the game winning PK too. The most dangerous forward DC has right now.

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• Header by D.
• List compiled and edited by ur_land with input from all the AAXI contributors.
• All typos and errors should be blamed on Amado Guevara.