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Similar to our list of potential starting left backs, here we have a nice collection of some pretty decent MLS starters. But its hard to see many all-stars among this group, and it sure feels like a significant dropoff after seeing the name Ben Olsen among the candidates for our previous position.
Not unlike the list of defensive midfielders (Carroll and Simms still separated by only one vote!), each of our three leading candidates here played the position in very different ways. Bobby Convey was young and quick and a good crosser, and left United with high hopes of being a fixture on the National Team, but has yet to fully establish himself anywhere since. Josh Gros was the epitome of a workhorse midfielder, running what seemed to be a marathon every match, with a cast on at least one arm at a time. And Fred was an attacking midfielder stuck on the wing, and was at his best when making deep runs and playing off fellow Brazilian Emilio.
This might be the hardest vote so far for me. As tempting as it is to get it over with and vote Gros just because he was a fun player to watch, I'm hesitant to do that, because all three candidates are good. Hell, just take a look at Fred's stats even though he had the fewest games out of the three. How will you decide?
The candidates to be our staring left winger are:
Josh Gros (2004-2007), 110 matches, 9 goals, 14 assists
Bobby Convey (2000-2003), 79 matches, 8 goals, 13 assists
Fred (2007-2009), 72 matches, 11 goals, 16 assists
Mark Lisi (2001-2002), 31 matches, 4 goals, 5 assists
Jose Alegria (2001-2002), 31 matches, 0 goals, 2 assists
Eliseo Quintanilla (2002-2003), 27 matches, 5 goals, 5 assists