Gripes

Any time you compile a list, any sort of list, you are bound to get feedback. It's pretty much a given. My SI.com editor Jonah Freedman gets a lot of feedback for his World Rankings, and when he puts a Mexican club in the top 10, forget it. That's a bona fide lightning rod - some think it's a joke, others think it's great that a Mexican club gets that sort of respect. I don't conspire with Jonah on the rankings but my guess is he can't ignore Chivas de Guadalajara if they beat Cruz Azul on the weekend and Santos of Brazi in Libertadores play on Tuesday. They might just slide in at number 9 or 10.

Anyway, Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports wrote a top 20 list recently where he ranked the top 20 MLS players. That actually inspired me to compile my preseason unit rankings, which also drew criticism - mainly from RSL fans, of all people, like I overlooked something on their shitty little team. Sorry, I'm not that high on Nick Rimando. Oh yeah, Galaxy fans were mad that I ranked their defense and goalkeepers at 14 out of 14. I think if I had to do it again, I'd rank both those units in the same exact spot.

Getting back to Martin's piece, he got plenty of feedback from readers. It sounds like a lot of it was negative, which is to be expected. He did not have Taylor Twellman in his top 20. That's pretty ballsy, to leave out a guy like that. Not saying I necessarily disagree with Martin, but Taylor is a fan favorite and omitting him is begging for response from readers, which he got.