Eight Portland Timbers players made it onto the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star ballot this year: Adam Kwarasey, Liam Ridgewell, Alvas Powell, Nat Borchers, Diego Chara, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Valeri, and Fanendo Adi. All have an opportunity to be part of the MLS All-Star team that will host the Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on July 29.
Along with voting online on the ballot above, fans can vote on Twitter and Facebook by including the players first and last name (with or without a space) and the hashtag #MLSAllStar.
In this series, Timbers.com takes a look at each positional area and makes the case for each candidate within. First up, the Timbers midfield.
Diego Chara
Timbers midfielder Diego Chara has a reputation in MLS as an enforcer, a classic defensive midfielder in the mold of a player like Italian great Gennaro Gattuso: a hard-nosed type unafraid to get stuck in and do the dirty work.
That's not an entirely unearned reputation. Through the first 16 games of the 2015 season, Chara leads the league in fouls conceded with 38.
But this reputation for aggresive and disruptive soccer distracts many observers from noticing just how effective and influential Chara has been in midfield for the Timbers.
Chara, Diego [POR]
VOTE: Diego Chara for MLS All-Star Game
Take a look at these stats:
- Top 15 passer in MLS with 759 passes this season.
- Top 10 most successful passer in the league, with 665 completed passes, giving him a passing accuracy of 87.6 percent.
- Top 20 in MLS in passes in the opposing half with 451.
- Top 10 in the league in successful passes in the opposing half with 384, good for an accuracy of 85.1 percent.
- Top 20 in successful passes in the final third with 162.
- Top 15 in passes into the final third with 146.
In the early-season absence of midfielders Will Johnson and Diego Valeri, it was Chara who stepped up and began pulling the strings from a deep-lying position in central midfield. And while Chara has indeed been a defensive force in midfield this year – top 20 in duels won and top five in tackles won – he has also managed to keep the ball circulating in midfield and has bombed forward into the attack, creating danger through his passing from the center channel.
And yes, while Chara leads the league in fouls, he takes just as much as he dishes out. He is currently ranked in the top 25 in fouls won in all of MLS.
The unheralded Chara has taken on ever more responsibility in 2015 and he has shown time and again that he's been up to the task. This, more than anything, is why Chara belongs at the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game.
Darlington Nagbe
It may not reflect on the box scores, but Darlington Nagbe has been one of the most creative attacking players in MLS this season and the critical component of the Timbers offense through the first half of the 2015 season.
The numbers don't lie:
34 - chances created from open play, a number good for first in MLS. According to Matt Doyle, MLSsoccer.com's Armchair Analyst, Nagbe is fifth in all of MLS in chances created from open play per 90 minutes.
35 - total chances created (including assists), which is tied for sixth-best in MLS.
44 - dribbles completed, second in the league behind FC Dallas's Fabian Castillo.
47 - fouls won, leading all MLS players.
84.1 - percentage passing accuracy in the final 1/3 of the field.
88.1 - percentage passing accuracy in his opponents' half of the field.
110 - duels completed, which ranks third in MLS.
244 - successful passes in the final 1/3, good for third-best in MLS.
290 - total passes in the final 1/3, putting Nagbe in the elite company of influential playmakers such as Sacha Kljestan, Federico Higuaín, Kaka, Juninho, Lee Nguyen, Pedro Morales, and Felipe.
444 - successful passes in the opposing half, fourth-best in the league.
504 - total passes in the opposing half, once again putting Nagbe in top ten company.
Nagbe was also excellent in the Timbers' recent 2-0 win against the New England Revolution, putting two powerful shots on goal and helping set up both of his team's goals.
Just take a look at his passing chart for the match and you can see Nagbe's influence in the Timbers' attacking half:
Those yellow arrows indicate key passes, passes that lead to chances on goal. Nagbe is managing to do that from all over the field, either out wide on the wings or right through the center channel.
Nagbe has been so good this season that at the beginning of April Matt Doyle suggested that he had been "arguably...the best attacking player in the league." The Shin Guardian, Matt Tomaszewicz, recently wrote that Nagbe has been "easily best 11 this year."
Nagbe, Darlington [POR]
VOTE: Darlington Nagbe for MLS All-Star Game
Even Nagbe's opponents have weighed in.
"He is a good player, he is fast," said Sounders FC midfielder Osvaldo Alonso. "You have to be aware when he has the ball."
Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber concurs, noting that it takes a team effort to shut down a player like Nagbe.
"You can’t defend a guy like that one-on-one," Feilhaber said.
Diego Valeri
What else is there to say about Diego Valeri?
The Timbers' midfield maestro came on strong in the second half of the 2014 season, putting up MVP numbers right up until the final match of the regular season.
While Valeri has been absent for much of the 2015 campaign, fans have been treated to glimpses of the Valeri they know and love.
In just four games played this season, Valeri already has a goal and an assist and he recently scored an absolute beauty against Seattle Sounders FC in Open Cup competition.
Valeri, Diego [POR]
VOTE: Diego Valeri for MLS All-Star Game
There's little question that if he hadn't been injured, the influential Argentine would have likely put up All-Star numbers. Just look again at his statistics from just four matches played this season.
After his 2015 debut against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on May 2, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson singled Valeri out for special praise.
"He’s a top player and you can see when he comes on, the crowd was obviously happy to get him back," said Robinson. "He’s a big player for the league and obviously a big player for Portland but he causes problems [for us]."
