MLS All-Stars will be looking to prove themselves against English and European giants Arsenal on Friday. The match will be broadcast live in the early hours of Friday on Sky Sports 2, with the American side having been selected via a voting process.
David Villa was the only inclusion away from the voting process, and will be expected to play a key role in the match, while the likes of Didier Drogba, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo could also play their parts in the match.
San Jose manager Dominic Kinnear will be tasked with organising the All-Star team, and is keen to install some balance to his side.
“My instructions were as the coach of this team to be as balanced as possible in picking players from around the league and making sure that when the team steps on the field, we’re trying to win the game,” said Kinnear. “That’s my intention and I’ll pass that on to the players.”
Former Anderlecht midfielder Sacha Kljestan is also a possible inclusion in the starting line-up, and he believes that his side do not have anything to prove, although he thinks some players will not go all out in order to keep fit for the remainder of the MLS season.
“We want to show against a very good team like Arsenal that the quality of play in our league is at a very high level, while at the same time not getting injured and getting ready for the second half of the season,” Kljestan said.
“I think we’ll put in a competitive effort. I think all of us as players have that fire inside of us to win all the time, so I think we’ll give our best effort.”
It must be said that for the MLS, this is still a showcase event, and Kinnear is well aware that while no broad conclusions will be reached from the match, plenty of eyes will be watching.
“I think the proving stage for me is kind of going by us,” he said. “I don’t think we need to step out on the field and prove anything. These players are out there to show [well]. It’s an All-Star game, so it should be entertaining. They do want to show that they’re good players.
“I don’t think we’re out here to prove anything. I think we’re out here to be competitive and try to win, but also to show everybody that we have good players in this league.”
Tune in to Sky Sports on Friday to see if we can get our first win of the summer.
Do you rate the MLS? Do they have what it takes to deny us a win?
Patrick J
Anyone who just defends and soaks up the pressure against us 9 out of 10 times normally beat us..with the exception of Barcelona and Bayern who usually dominate and beat us so… Wenger out!!!
Wenger’s Win/Loss record is about 10/90… So yep, you’re logic is impeccably sound!!
A game against the best mls team of the season so far would’ve made more sense, it would’ve give us a better workout and test because that team is already gelled together and organized.
Probs true… But pretty sure it’s equal parts marketing as it is seeing where we’re at. It is our second friendly after all, so no need to push the squad to it’s limits just yet! Love him or hate him, Per’s injury is a big loss IMO. The last thing we need is any more key players out for a while before the season begins.
We Arsenal fans we can be so selective as regards to signing a striker. Here we have a player of lacazette’s quality. Young,entering his prime,improving every year and we still moan that he’s average. Saying stuffs like he’s from a shitty league and the rest. Well Suarez came from the Eredivise as we all know,(most fans call it shitty league anytime we are linked with a player there). The facts remains that Lacazette will improve the team, how?. Now we have a player that scored 23 league goals last season and 27 the season before. He’s 25 and entering his prime. Why can’t we look beyond our noses and see how well he will do in the future. Trust me,if we fail to sign Lacazette, he will improve further,and Lyon will value him close to £70m then teams like PSG will get him. Now is that what you want?? Why can’t Arsenal fans be satisfied??. Suarez was bought by Liverpool for £22m. and see what’s he’s turned into. And remember he wasn’t from the best league in the world. Higuain managed 36 league goals last season, but the previous two he managed just 17 and 18. So you see the need to act fast when you want to sign a player in this inflated market. Lacazette for £40m is OK for a player who will score 25 goals in the league for us. That’s wat matters .We have a midfield that creates hell of chances, with it Giroud managed 16goals. Facts remains with Santi, Ozil, Sanchez and potentially Mayrez, Lacazette, a well built striker for counter attacking football will excel.
End of the day it’s still only our second friendly with arguably our three most important players still on leave. Definitely not going to read into it too much.
But it is still a massive opportunity for our fringe players to impress against stronger opposition and extremely excited to see the Xhaks-Man pulling the strings on our attack!! Hope he lays a few crunching tackles as well and lets it be known not to mess with him!
Does any one else have problems typing a comment on this website?
@Aussie Jack … No we don’t have problems typing on the site, we are just bored of same old rumors every single day
@otunba: All I wanted to say was “Wenger go to hell” but someone keeps moderating me. WHY?