Conor Casey holds the ball in a 2009 match against Chivas USA at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Casey was named to the MLS Best XI team (and the ColoradoSoccerNow.com team, too).
(photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey has been named to the Major League Soccer Best XI team.

The selection recognizes Casey as one of the league’s top 11 players at each position on the field – one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards. The players selected to the Best XI received the most votes from the media, MLS players and MLS coaches and general managers.

This was Casey’s first time on the Best XI team. In 2009 he finished second in the MLS goal-scoring race with a Rapids single-season record 16 goals. In 24 matches, he played in 2,087 minutes, added one assist and was named MLS player of the week three times. In July, Casey was named to his first MLS All-Star team.

Casey becomes the sixth Rapids player to be named to the league’s year-end Best XI squad and the first since Joe Cannon in 2004.

I saw the Rapids play more than any other team, so many of my picks are based on how other teams did against the Rapids. I saw Ljungberg play very well in some games, but I also saw games that he missed because of migraines, including one against the Rapids in Commerce City. I thought the three best performances by a defender in any Rapids game this season were turned in by Borchers, Conde and Marshall, and those three had amazing seasons overall, as well. And my wild card is Dax McCarty. Ask any Dallas fan what he means to the Hoops, and you’ll hear the same types of answers that you would if someone was asking about Pablo Mastroeni’s value to the Rapids. McCarty is a little pearl of Elmer’s Glue that keeps the Hoops playing together, from back to front.



Former Rapids goalkeeper was one of the biggest stories of the MLS season, no doubt. But the Seattle Sounders may be THE story, and Keller was a huge part of that. I thought Keller was on a different level. His personality and leadership bled through the entire Seattle lineup. Whereas Thornton seemed more like a locked gate, Keller was a pair of flippers at the bottom of a pinball machine, picking a direction, navigating the table, assisting the pace.



I have no problem with the selections of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado or Geoff Cameron. But I’m not sure if many folks on the East Coast or West Coast are familiar enough with Borchers to really appreciate how good he is. Is he one of the three best defenders in the league? I’d put him in the top half dozen, for sure. Did he have one of the three best seasons for a defender in MLS? I think he did.



Cummings over Casey? You could make that argument, but it would have had much more validity in August than it does November. Casey was a threat throughout the year. Omar filled the void with valor when Casey was with the U.S. national team, but Casey was a juggernaut. He had 16 goals, which no one wearing the Rapids crest has ever done.



And check out Casey’s reaction to being named to the league’s Best XI over at the Rapids Undercurrent, the team’s official blog.

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