Watching David Beckham and Landon Donovan form a fantastic attacking partnership these past few weeks got me to thinking about great combos of MLS years past. I'm not talking about striker partnerships necessarily, but tandems where one guy was the provider, like Beckham, while the other was the finisher, like Donovan. This First XI should make for some nice debates, and I'm sure I'll hear about the pairs I've left off. Here goes:
11. Carlos Valderrama and Mamadou Diallo (2000). Let's start off with the pair that makes the most numerical sense. In 2000, Diallo had 26 goals and Valderrama had 26 assists. These guys were fun, too, because Diallo used to scream at Valderrama and Valderrama used to scream at Diallo and there were days when you wondered how they could possibly co-exist. But in the end, Diallo would usually get a breakaway or two and a goal or two, courtesy of El Pibe. It seems like yesterday when the Mutiny were trying to find a "strike partner" for Diallo when it appeared obvious to me that he played better as a lone striker. And as we all know, it wasn't like Valderrama was in the back defending.
10. Clint Mathis and Adolfo Valencia. Let's stay put in the year 2000 for another moment. I remember in the early going of the 2000 season it looked like Adolfo Valencia would be an MLS bust. But when Clint Mathis arrived via the Luis Hernandez re-allocation Draft, Valencia was on his way to a stellar season (as was Alex Comas). Metro fans, of course, remember that in the club's only playoff series victory ever, it was Mathis setting up Valencia in the final minute of overtime to propel the Metros to a Game 1 win. In the end, Mathis dealt 13 assists while Valencia scored 16 goals. Yeah, glory days!
9. Cobi Jones and Carlos Ruiz. In 2002, just when it appeared that MLS was out of prolific scoring strikers, a youngster out of Guatemala appeared and lit it up. That player was, of course, Carlos Ruiz. And while many out in LA would like to credit Mauricio Cienfuegos for being El Pescadito's main setup man, it was, in fact, U.S. vet Cobi Jones who registered the big assist numbers in Ruiz's first MLS season. Cobi had 13 assists while Ruiz registered 24 goals. Jones also got consideration for his 19-goal performance in 1998, and I would've had Cienfuegos as his partner ... but 2002 got the nod.
8. Eddie Lewis and Ronald Cerritos. In 1999, when San Jose was still called the Clash, U.S. international winger Eddie Lewis and El Salvadoran striker Ronald Cerritos formed a nice partnership by the bay. Cerritos, who was not a big man, was actually quite good in the air (as was fellow countryman Raul Diaz Arce) and became a nice target for Lewis' left-footed crosses. Cerritos would finish the season with 15 goals and Lewis with 14 assists. A year later, the Clash were the Earthquakes, Lewis was in England and Cerritos would never have a season quite like the one he had in '99.
7. Peter Nowak and Ante Razov. I'm pretty sure that most Fire fans will tell you that, even though they won the MLS Cup in 1998, the greatest team they ever put on the field in MLS was in 2000 ... the year they lost in the MLS Cup Final to Kansas City. That Fire team had many attacking options, with players like Peter Nowak and Ante Razov, and also Hristo Stoitchkov and Josh Wolff. Razov and Nowak always seemed to have a good understanding on the field, probably because they played together for such a long stretch, and 2000 was when they were at their best.
6. David Beckham and Landon Donovan. Let's get current for a while. It's hard not to be impressed with what we're seeing out of Beckovan. Great understanding. Superb timing. I think, more than anything, you see how smart a player Donovan is, and how much he can prosper when he has a teammate who is on the same page. The other thing you cannot ignore about Donovan is his speed. He can fly. And, oh yeah, Becks can no doubt deliver a ball with perfect weight. These guys have been a pleasure to watch so far.
5. Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman. Just when it looked like Steve Ralston might be a little past his prime, he comes through with one of his best seasons ever. I'm talking about last year, when Ralston (11 assists in 2006 and '07 combined) put up 14 assists and Twellman scored 16 goals. Sure, they were better in 2002, but I'm going to throw out props for the biggest Comeback Performance by a Combo. These guys also, like Razov and Nowak, would be up for a Lifetime Achievement Award.
4. Marco Etcheverry and Roy Lassiter. Of course, I could go with the Marco Etcheverry-Raul Diaz Arce tandem in this slot, but there was something special about watching Lassiter join United in '98 and get perfectly in sync with El Diablo, to the tune of 18 goals for Rocket Roy and 19 assists for Etcheverry. No, United did not three-peat in '98, but many D.C. fans remember the '98 team as the best to ever grace the field at RFK, and a big part of that was the addition of Lassiter, who joined Jaime Moreno up front and created an attacking triangle the likes of which MLS had never seen before.
3. Carlos Valderrama and Roy Lassiter. And, hey, what would this list be if we did not include the benchmark season for a striker in MLS, 1996, when Lassiter scored 27 goals, a record that still stands today. If you're an old-time MLS fan, you can still see Lassiter and Valderrama (17 assists) doing the airplane together, celebrating another goal. The angled through ball to spring Lassiter on goal for a left-footed finish remains the indelible image in my brain from the first ever season of MLS.
2. Diego Serna and Alex Pineda Chacon. What would a First XI list be without an oddball entry? I know Serna is a forward and a goal scorer, but if you watched the Miami Fusion during their magical season of 2001 (they were one of the best MLS teams ever), you cannot help but remember that Serna, the man who never met a practice he wouldn't skip, or a plane he wouldn't miss, terrorized MLS defenses, not only scoring 15 goals, but dishing out 15 assists, most of them to his mate, Alex Pineda Chacon, who clearly set an unbreakable record in MLS for side-foot-goals-into-an-empty-net. Thanks to Serna. Sadly, after 2001, they were never able to play another game together for the Fusion, and neither player ever amounted to much in MLS after that one magnificent season.
1. Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno. The best combo to ever grace the field in MLS. Hands down. This is the gold standard that Beckham and Donovan have to shoot to match. So good were Marco and Jaime together that I cannot even pick a year in the 1996-1999 time frame that I would call their best.
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