There comes a week every season where the AAXI staff has a hard time coming up with a full slate of eleven Yank players with whom to fill out a squad. In a way, it is amazing that we’ve made it this long in Season Eleven before encountering the problem. But the truth is, sometimes we can’t justify eleven, and don’t want to put someone on the team just for the sake of having them there.

The reasons for this scenario involve two factors. The most obvious one is that international players stood out last week. Certainly Trinidadian Scott Sealy, Guatemalan Carlos Ruiz, Irishman Andy Dorman, Argentine Christian Gomez, Canadian Dwayne DeRosario, and Mexican Panchito Mendoza had terrific games last week. But usually such games by international players don’t come at the expense of strong performances by Yanks; this week they did.

This brings us to the second factor. Most of the games last weekend were tense affairs, featuring cautious teams trying not to lose and so not risking much in attack (the exceptions being the DC United-New York Red Bulls 4-3 barnburner and a furious Galaxy attack stymied by Matt Pickens). This means that despite several low scoring games, only one American defender got the nod (Greg Vanney). Our reasoning? It isn’t particularly hard to keep the score down when the opposing team does relatively little to attack the goal.

And so, we bring you this week the eight man AAXI. Why not? We’ve featured twelve and thirteen man AAXI lineups earlier this season, so in a sense out 1-4-2 is just evening things out a bit.
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Matt Pickens – (1)

Pickens put in what may be the best goalkeeping performance in Toyota Park history. Ten saves and many other chances deflated before the Galaxy got off a shot - Pickens was amazing and is almost single handedly responsible for eliminating LA from the playoff hunt. Alan Gordon in particular must be having nightmares of Pickens.
Greg Vanney – (2)

Vanney contributed to the Dallas attack throughout the game against RSL, while his defense may have benefitted from Salt Lake’s inexplicable decision to play long ball the whole game.

Richard Mulrooney – (2)

The midfielder made some very nice runs to support the attack and still kept up with his midfield patrol duties.

Jonathan Bornstein – (7)

Bornstein showcased passing in the Colorado game that was simply outstanding, connecting Valderrama-style with Ante Razov and Panchito Mendoza.

Ben Olsen – (4)

Olsen was the engine in DC’s remarkable victory. Undermanned due to suspensions and injuries, and later down to ten men following Facundo Erpen’s bizarre ejection, Olsen was a dynamo on both sides of the ball, and had a pretty assist on Moreno’s goal.

Kyle Beckerman – (4)

Beckerman may be one of the only Rapids players who really seemed to sense the urgency of the playoff push in the late game against Chivas USA. With one exception, all dangerous looking attacks came through a player generally considered a defensive midfielder. Beckerman’s play this year has been terrific, and he for one is thriving under enigmatic coach Fernando Clavijo.

Kenny Cooper – (9)

He scored a ridiculously beautiful goal on a solid, veteran keeperin the playoff-clinching win for the team for Frisco.

Josmer Altidore – (2)

This rookie has come out of nowhere to be one of the only positive lights in a dimming Red Bulls season. This week he had just over fifteen minutes to add some life to the New York attack, and he looked dangerous before connecting on a sweet stoppage time goal to pull the Red Bulls within a goal. The sixteen year old now has as many goals in his 70 minutes of action as Eddie Johnson in 1474.

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  • Header by ismitje. (All hail ismitje!)
  • List compiled and edited by ismitje.
  • All typos and errors should be blamed on Fernando Clavijo. Just because!