The game of the week should be Los Angeles v. Chivas USA.  I say should be due to the fact that Chivas also has a game on Sunday in the Superliga, and they might have the wrong priorities.  Will Chivas play for the league standings or will they save up for the Superliga?  That will determine if this game goes down as I hope.  It is my philosophy that teams should always play to win their League cups first, and everything else comes second.  Looking at some teams performances in extra-curricular tournaments, majority of the coaches agree with me.  Look at DC’s and Houston’s outings in the Superliga in previous years, as well as when foreign teams come to play our teams in friendlies. With my hopes high in the sky, LA v Chivas puts the two teams tied for first place in the West going toe to toe.  This confrontation is also referred to as the Honda SuperClasico which it means its got to be important.  ESPN2 will be airing the game starting at 11:00 eastern time, so go take a nap right now.  I hope to see a strong showing from Beckham and Donovan, as well as a good strategic play from Razov and Kljestan.  These teams have well developed weapons, as well as worn thin weak spots.  It will come down to Chivas pushing around the LA defense, and LA finding a way to out maneuver Guzan in goal.  Good luck to both teams, but my bet is on Chivas due to their secure defensive posture, and creative offensive play of late. (Regardless of the outcome from last time these teams met which was a LA win and a Donovan hat trick)

Also this week, the MLS all-star top 11 roster was posted (see below thanks to mlsnet.com).  With no surprise Beckham was on top of the voting list, but there were a few other names missing from the top 11.  It was good to see some deserving names such as Blanco, Reis, and Donovan due to their contributions to the game this season.  Other names that were not in the top 11 or even 20 surprised me, now I know that I have my own biases but shouldn’t someone from the Houston Dynamo, the defending champions, be in the starting 11.  Who do you think got over looked in the MLS voting pool?

GOALKEEPERS	Fans	Players	Media	Coach/GMs	Combined
Matt Reis	11.8	57.8	62.2	77.3	52.3
Jon Busch	10.6	8.2	15.6	11.4	11.4

DEFENDERS	Fans	Players	Media	Coach/GMs	Combined
Michael Parkhurst	9.2	31.0	47.8	47.7	33.9
Frankie Hejduk	17.3	36.2	31.1	31.8	29.1
Jimmy Conrad	10.8	28.4	26.7	38.6	26.2
Gonzalo Segares	6.8	10.8	27.8	20.4	16.4
Bakary Soumare	5.6	9.5	25.6	11.4	13.0

MIDFIELDERS	Fans	Players	Media	Coach/GMs	Combined
David Beckham	38.9	49.6	82.2	79.6	62.6
Cuauhtémoc Blanco	25.9	40.1	74.4	54.6	48.8
Shalrie Joseph	7.7	40.5	48.9	65.9	40.8
Sacha Kljestan	9.1	46.1	24.4	56.8	34.1
Robbie Rogers	13.0	38.4	24.4	45.4	30.3
Dwayne De Rosario	17.3	37.1	23.3	38.6	29.1
Steve Ralston	6.0	14.2	23.3	25.0	17.1
G. Barros Schelotto	14.6	16.0	25.6	9.1	16.3
Maurice Edu	14.1	12.5	16.7	18.2	15.4

FORWARDS	Fans	Players	Media	Coach/GMs	Combined
Landon Donovan	29.3	66.8	82.2	93.2	67.9
Kenny Cooper	7.4	30.6	33.3	40.9	28.1
Luciano Emilio	5.7	12.5	38.9	15.9	18.3
Brian Ching	6.4	12.5	7.8	25.0	12.9