This series will look to the future of the United States Men’s National Team. It will examine MLS and Americans abroad to attempt to determine a path for the future. While preconceived notions may exist, we will objectively look at the development of MLS to determine whether enough is being done to develop the players of tomorrow.

Part one can be found here

We left off with the Houston Dynamo last week and will now finish going over the rest of MLS clubs average age of their starting elevens.

Los Angeles Galaxy–28.3 (average age of starting eleven)

The Galaxy are an interesting case because they have shifted their lineup recently from a 4-1-2-1-2 to a 4-2-2. The big change in starters that has come with this has seen Robbie Rogers start to move in to the starting lineup at left back. As of now, Rogers is not included as a starter for the Galaxy, but will likely be by the end of the season. The only other real question was at center back where Omar Gonzalez missed time for injury and the World Cup, allowing Tommy Meyer to grab some starting time, but it is clear that Gonzalez is the starter for the Galaxy.



Montreal Impact–26.7

Montreal have a strange lineup in that they have four players who are 33 or older and four players who are 24 or younger. But they do have a straightforward lineup with the only position in question being striker. Marco Di Vaio and Jack McInerney are both considered starters for the Impact though. The Impact problem is that they had no player who has played LB consistently for them since Jeb Brovsky left to play in Norway. Eric Miller, while a RB, has made some starts there and I chose him to be their starter there. The Impact are a team that I expect to change a lot over the end of the season considering new players Ignacio Piatti and Dilly Duka, while they also attempt to work through the troubles of their lineups. It will also be interesting to see what the CONCACAF Champions League does to the Impact’s lineup.

New England Revolution–25.9

The youngest starting eleven in MLS. New England have also had six players start at least 20 of their games this season, which is the most in the league. The Revolution’s problem position is striker. Right now Patrick Mullins is counted as their starting striker (Teal Bunbury could be counted as their striker and Kelyn Rowe could be moved into the lineup in Mullins place but that would not change the average age). Mullin may be displaced by Charlie Davies by the end of the season as Davies looks to be healthy at last. The 22 year old Rowe also has a great chance to carve out a spot in the starting eleven in place of the injured Andy Dorman (32 years old), making the Revolution even younger. If Chris Tierney’ injury persist it would have less change on the Revolution average age of their starting eleven as Kevin Alston has been stepping in for him and is only two years younger. The exciting prospect of the Revolution is that Andrew Farrell (22 years old) and Diego Fagundez (19 years old) are two of their leading players in starting appearances.

New York Red Bulls–29.8

Unsurprisingly old but still in the thick of the playoff race, the Red Bulls could be on the verge of drastic change with key players thinking about their future and a new neighbor in town. They are also a team that knows what players they want to use. The only question was at RB but Chris Duvall has displaced early season starter Kosuke Kimura and has made the position his own. 22 year old Duvall is also the only Red Bulls starter under the age of 26. There is little question to the composition of the Red Bulls starting eleven. Their question will begin at the end of the season.

Philadelphia Union–27.3

The Union have nine clear starters, four of whom are 23 or 24. Then the last two spots are a bit tougher. Brian Carroll, I believe, gets one spot. The only reasons that Carroll spot is in question is because of injury and his advancing age may require more recovery time. The last spot has been given to Conor Casey. Casey’s spot is the most tenuous. By the end of the season I expect Danny Cruz to displace Casey in the starting eleven. Cruz could already qualify for the starting eleven now, but that has largely happened because of the recent injury to Cristián Maidana. Andrew Wenger is also a player to watch, though Wenger seems to have found himself a role as a spark plug off the bench.

Portland Timbers–29.3

With the Timbers I chose to go against starting appearances a bit and choose Liam Ridgewell as a starting CB for the club. I think this is the correct decision as Ridgewell has immediately made himself a key member since joining the club. As the other CB I chose Pa Modou Kah, but Kah’s current injury could open that position to Danny O’Rourke or Norberto Paparatto. The Timber also have a few players that could move into their starting eleven by seasons end. We will be keeping an eye on Rodney Wallace, Jorge Villafaña, and Fanendo Adi. Adi seems especially poised to make his mark with the club.

Real Salt Lake–28.5

With RSL I have included Alvaro Saborio a starter with Olmes García (by averaging their age together). These two players have close to the same number of starts, but Saborio has been out injured and would likely be a clear starter if healthy. However his long term injury (likely the season) has allowed García a chance and García will likely be the only one of the two counted as a starter by the end of the season. I have also included Luis Gil with Luke Mulholland as starters. It will be interesting to see which one is able to hold down a spot as the season goes on. As of now, Gil is closer to moving out of the starting eleven as he is starting to look like a rotation player rather than a starter.

San Jose Earthquakes–30.1

The Earthquakes have the oldest starting eleven in the league and are the only club whose starting eleven’s average age is over thirty. The trouble with San Jose is that three key players, Clarence Goodson, Steven Lenhart, and Yannick Djaló have all been out with injuries. As of now the three are included as starters for the Earthquakes. That could change with more games but the only player who would bring the age of the starting eleven down is Cordell Cato, who it seems has fallen out of favor in recent weeks. Every starter for San Jose is 27 years or older, with little youth even being given a chance as rotation or bench players (outside of Cato). Though still technically in the playoff hunt, I would expect San Jose to try and get some young players a run out to see what they can do. It is just too bad that the promising Tommy Thompson is out on loan.

Seattle Sounders–28.8

Seattle plays with a consistent starting eleven. The youngest player in their lineup is 21 year old DeAndre Yedlin (and new Tottenham Hotspur). Outside of Yedlin, all of the Sounders starters are 26 or older. The only other thing of interest for the Sounders will be whether Djimi Traore can work himself back into the starting eleven for Seattle.

Sporting Kansas City–27.3

SKC is a club that likes to rotate their starting eleven. They leave the key players (Benny Feilhaber, Graham Zusi, Dom Dwyer, Aurélien Collin, and Matt Besler to name the most important) and rotate the other three or four positions. This leads Jacob Peterson and Sal Zizzo to both look like starters for the club (I did include both of them as well). They have been unable to separate from the other but that me be more about the system manager Peter Vermes has in place. An injury to Chance Myers has allowed 19 year old, Igor Julião to get a run as a starter this season. Though nowhere close to being considered a starter, it will be interesting to see how 21 year old goalkeeper, Jon Kempin does in place of the injured Eric Kronberg.

Toronto FC–26.3

I was surprised by how young Toronto’s starting eleven is. Michael Bradley has been around for so long that it feels like he is much older than his 27 years. Toronto has also done a good job of giving young players Jonathan Osorio, Doneil Henry, and Nick Hagglund ample time as starters. Of note, right now Luke Moore is considered a starting striker with Jermain Defoe and Gilberto. I expect that once Defoe is healthy, Moore will be used more as a rotation player than as a starter. Also Steven Caldwell is included as a starter right now with Henry and Hagglund at CB. The longer Caldwell is injured though, the less likely he will keep that spot.

Vancouver Whitecaps–26.6

The recently retired Jay DeMerit is still included as a starter as of now. He has made enough starting appearances this season to merit that distinction. By the end of the season that will no longer be the case as Andy O’Brien and Johnny Leveron (also both starters) should have ten or more starts than DeMerit. Vancouver does a great job of giving young players opportunity as six starters are 24 or younger with two more on the cusps of starting. It will be interesting to watch whether Russell Teibert or Kekuta Manneh (both rotation players) can make themselves starters by the end of the season.

So this was a rather long rundown in the decisions I made for who made a MLS club’s starting eleven. I will be back on Thursday with some more details I found on MLS club’s starting eleven, mainly facts I found interesting such as youngest keeper or striker.