Who are the contenders starting?

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 25, 2012

[MLS SPOTLIGHT] As MLS moves into the home stretch, 12 teams are solidly in contention for playoff berths. What's the makeup of their typical starting lineup? How many Americans are they starting? How many players have been acquired in 2012? And how many have been acquired since the season started? A few of the findings: less than half the starters are Americans, and only slightly more than a quarter of the starters not in MLS last season are Americans, underscoring the reliance of MLS's top teams on imports.

-- Of the 132 starters on the 12 playoff contenders, only 64 are Americans, or just 48 percent.

San Jose leads all teams with seven Americans in its typical starting lineup; Seattle and Vancouver have the fewest with three each.

-- More than 30 percent of the starters (41 of 132) are in their first season with their current club.

New York leads all teams with seven first-year starters and Chicago and Vancouver have six. Only Real Salt Lake has no first-year starters. Indeed, every RSL starter has been with the team three or more years.

-- Five first-year starters are rookies.

They were taken in the SuperDraft (Chicago's Austin Berry and D.C. United's Nick DeLeon, both from Louisville, FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges from North Carolina, Vancouver's Jamaican Darren Mattocks from Akron) or signed to a homegrown contract (New York's Connor Lade).

-- Of the rest, 19 of the 36 first-year starters have been acquired since the start of the season.

They included players who became eligible or were acquired during MLS's summer transfer window. The red-hot Chicago Fire is starting five players acquired since the start of the season. (German Arne Friedrich's paperwork didn't go through until after the start of the season; Brazilian Alex wasn't eligible until the transfer window re-opened.)

-- Of the 41 first-year starters, 25 were imported from teams abroad.

Of the rest, all but one were signed from college teams or acquired in trades with other MLS teams. (Vancouver goalie Brad Knighton spent last season in the NASL.)

-- Of the 31 starters brought into MLS this season, just eight are Americans.

They consist of four rookies, three players brought back after stints abroad -- Chris Rolfe (Chicago), Ricardo Clark (Houston) and Eddie Johnson (Seattle) -- and Knighton.

Note:
-- Years indicate continuous years of service with the team.
-- Starting lineups are typical lineups in recent weeks.
1-R=rookie;
1-PS-first-year signed in preseason;
1-MS=first-year pro signed in midseason.
*Signed from a team abroad.

Chicago
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
3 Johnson (USA)
2 Anibaba (USA)
1-MS *Friedrich (Germany)
1-R Berry (USA)
8 Segares (Costa Rica)
5 Nyarko (Ghana)
10 Pause (USA)
1-MS *Alex (Brazil)
1-MS *Fernandez  (Uruguay)
1-MS *Rolfe (USA)
1-MS *MacDonald (Netherlands)
5 Americans
6 First-year players

Columbus
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
7 Gruenebaum (USA)
2 Miranda (Chile)
9 Marshall (USA)
2 James (Trinidad & Tobago)
3 Williams (USA)
7 Gaven (USA)
6 O’Rourke (USA)
1-PS *Mirosevic (Chile)
3 Duka (USA)
1-MS *Higuain (Argentina)
1-MS *Arrieta (Costa Rica)
6 Americans
3 First-year players

D.C. United
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
3 Hamid (USA)
2 Korb (USA)
2 McDonald (USA)
4 Jakovic (Canada)
2 Kitchen (USA)
1-PS *Saragosa (Brazil)
1-R DeLeon (USA)
3 Najar (Honduras)
4- Pontius (USA)
1-MS Pajoy (Colombia)
1-PS Maicon Santos (Brazil)
6 Americans
4 First-year players

FC Dallas
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
3 Hartman (USA)
4 John  (USA)
3 Loyd (USA)
4 Benitez (Colombia)
1-R Hedges (USA)
3 Jackson (Brazil)
2 Jacobson (USA)
4 Ferreira (Colombia)
1-MS de Guzman (Canada)
5 Shea (USA)
1-PS *Perez (Panama)
6 Americans
3 First-year players

Houston
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
4 Hall (USA)
2 Sarkodie (USA)
5 Boswell (USA)
2 Taylor (Jamaica)
4 Hainault (Canada)
2 Luiz Camargo (Brazil)
1-MS *R.Clark (USA)
9 Davis (USA)
1-MS *Garcia (Honduras)
1-PS Kandji (Senegal)
2 Bruin (USA)
6 Americans
3 First-year players

Los Angeles
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
7 Saunders (USA)
4 Gonzalez (USA)
4 DeLaGarza (USA)
5 Franklin (USA)
4 Dunivant (USA)
1-MS *Wilhelmsson (Sweden)
3 Juninho (Brazil)
1-PS *Sarvas (Brazil)
6 Beckham (England)
8 Donovan (USA)
2 Keane (Ireland)
6 Americans
2 First-year players

New York
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
1-MS Gaudette (USA)
1-R Lade (USA)
1-PS *Holgersson (Sweden)
1-MS Pearce (USA)
1-PS *Conde (Colombia)
2 McCarty (USA)
3 Marquez (Mexico)
2-Solli (Norway)
1-MS *Cahill (Australia)
3 Henry (France)
1-PS Cooper (USA)
5 Americans
7 First-year players

Real Salt Lake
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
6 Rimando (USA)
5 Beltran (USA)
5 Olave (Colombia)
5 Borchers (USA)
6 Wingert (USA)
6 Beckerman (USA)
4 Grabavoy (USA)
5 Johnson (Canada)
6 Morales (Argentina)
6 Espindola (Argentina)
3 Saborio (Costa Rica)
6 Americans
0 First-year players

Sporting KC
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
3 Nielsen (Denmark)
2 Sinovic (USA)
4 Besler (USA)
2 Collin (France)
5 Myers (USA)
2 Julio Cesar (Brazil)
1-PS Nagamura (Brazil)
5 Espinoza (Honduras)
4 Zusi (USA)
4 Kamara (Sierra Leone)
2 Sapong (USA)
5 Americans
1 First-year player

San Jose
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
3 Busch (USA)
3 Beitashour (USA)
5 Hernandez (USA)
1-PS *Bernardez (Honduras)
3 Morrow (USA)
1-MS Ballouchy (Morocco)
2 Baca (Mexico)
3 Cronin (USA)
2 Dawkins (England)
4 Wondolowski (USA)
2 Lenhart(USA)
7 Americans
2 First-year players

Seattle
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
1-PS *Gspurning (Austria)
1-PS *Johansson (Sweden)
3 Parke (USA)
4 Hurtado (Colombia)
4 Gonzalez (Costa Rica)
1-MS *Tiffert (Germany)
4 Alonso (Cuba)
4 Evans (USA)
4 Zakuani (DR Congo)
1-PS *Johnson (USA)
4 Montero (Colombia)
3 Americans
4 First-year players

Vancouver
YEARS PLAYER (COUNTRY)
1-PS Knighton (USA)
1-PS *Lee (South Korea)
1-PS *Bonjour (Argentina)
2 DeMerit (USA)
2 Harvey (USA)
2 Rochat (Switzerland)
2 Koffie (Ghana)
1-MS *Robson (Scotland)
1-MS Richards (Jamaica)
1-R Mattocks (Jamaica)
2 Camilo (Brazil)
3 Americans
6 First-year players