Ah, the proverbial engine room. It's where All-Star manager Peter Vermes will assemble the building blocks for any side capable of knocking off AS Roma on July 31 at Sporting Park.
MLS released the list of players eligible for fan voting and opened the ballot box for the 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game on Thursday, and 39 midfielders are in the running for the Fan XI. But who gets your vote?
CAST YOUR BALLOT!
Will it be Sporting KC's Graham Zusi, who seems to have taken over the mantle of MLS' best midfielder? Perhaps Houston Dynamo left-footer Brad Davis on the other wing? Newly minted Chicago Fire goalscorer Mike Magee seems to be a solid option as well.
And we haven't even mentioned FC Dallas' David Ferreira, Real Salt Lake's Javier Morales or the New York Red Bulls' Tim Cahill. You can't go wrong with that trio. And you certainly can't go wrong with the groups on offer in Seattle and Portland. Talk about tough choices.
Whoever you choose, don’t forget that All-Star voting is open on MLSsoccer.com. The time to make your voice heard is, well, now. Fans can also vote by sending a player’s last name via text message to 22442. Twitter voting will occur later this month.
The 10 players with the highest combined votes from these three voting methods, plus one decided via the FIFA Ultimate Team Tournament, will be named to the Fan XI.
MLS ALL-STAR MIDFIELD CANDIDATES (39):
CHICAGO FIRE (3): Jeff Larentowicz, Mike Magee, Patrick Nyarko
CHIVAS USA (2): Eric Avila, Edgar Mejia
COLORADO RAPIDS (2): Atiba Harris, Dillon Powers
COLUMBUS CREW (1): Eddie Gaven
D.C. UNITED (3): Dwayne De Rosario, Perry Kitchen, Chris Pontius
FC DALLAS (2): David Ferreira, Michel
HOUSTON DYNAMO (3): Brad Davis, Boniek Garcia, Andrew Driver
SPORTING KANSAS CITY (2): Oriol Rosell, Graham Zusi
LA GALAXY (1): Juninho
MONTREAL IMPACT (3): Justin Mapp, Patrice Bernier, Felipe Martins
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (2): Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen
NEW YORK RED BULLS (2): Tim Cahill Dax McCarty
PHILADELPHIA UNION (1): Amobi Okugo
PORTLAND TIMBERS (3): Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, Diego Chara
REAL SALT LAKE (2): Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (1): Sam Cronin
SEATTLE SOUNDERS (2): Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales
TORONTO FC (1): Reggie Lambe, Luis Silva
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (1): Gershon Koffie, Nigel Reo-Coker
