This picture is awesome! Get your hands off of Coach's Heine!
So the MLS Draft combine and Superdraft are coming up and I am in no way an expert on college players or their potential ability at the professional level. I have viewed the many mock drafts and kind of assessed in my mind who I would like for our team, but who does everyone else hope we end up with? I hope United is planning on taking the best player available as this is the best assured way to add talent to your roster. Drafting for position is a big NO NO! You end up reaching and drafting a less talented player. Also, I don't believe United is in a position where they can discount talent at any position. Let's look:
Forward: We don't know if Emilio will be back, in fact it is said that he most likely will not be. While I agree with DCUMD's resolution of getting more playing time for the most productive players, there is no question that Moreno has a few miles on his legs. Chris Pontius is the young up and comer, but while he and Santino are formidable options up front, it would mean a big change in the lineup since they were primarily played in midfield last season. Ange N'Silu...still waiting and hoping for him to be a threat. I like Khumalo and I hope he finds his most productive position since it seemed that it was questioned whether it was better for him to play on the wing or up top. So there are many questions in this group, including a big doubt as to whether Emilio, who played in 27 games last season, will even be here.
Midfield: We lost Benny Olsen and Andrew Jacobson since the end of last season. This leaves us with some interesting options, but fewer players in the midfield pool in general. Many draft boards have us taking Stahl from UConn, who is described as Strong, smart, tall (6-foot-3) and technically sound, Stahl is widely-regarded as the most polished defensive midfielder by Soccer By Ives. In the central midfield we currently have Simms, Szetela, DiRaimondo, Barklage, Gomez, and Fred, who has always been more comfortable in the middle if not best suited to play there. That leaves us with Shipalane, Pontius and Quaranta if they are not being used as forwards, Castillo and Wallace, who may be looking at trying to compete for time at Left back with the arrival of Castillo, to play out wide. It seems that the middle of the pitch is already crowded, particularly for the holding and defensive mid position. Gomez is also currently out of contract.
Defense & Goalkeeper: We shipped 44 goals last year. Jakovic has real promise and James has good potential. Burch is continuing to develop. Namoff is our rock. John, Vaughn and McTavish have been filling in the holes and Habarugira is a project. While I feel there are real useful players in this group, we allowed 44 goals last season. Period. Our goalkeeping situation seems to have depth, but consistency and competent decision making made Cronin a welcome late season addition. We are still suffering from a lull after our years of riches when we had the best backup goalkeeper in the league in Rimando.
All of this simply goes to show that we cannot afford to discount talent in any area. We should be looking to get the most talented player available. There are plenty of opportunities all over the field. Personally, I hope we find a way to get Tony Tchani for a couple of reasons. He is described as a 6-foot-4 playmaker who combines strength, a deft passing touch and goal-scoring ability, meaning he 1) has size, and 2)has potential to be cover for the A-mid position Gomez holds. He is also a UVA kid and from my neck of the woods in South-eastern, VA. It allows us to bring in a somewhat local player and keep the UVA link.
Lastly, here are some MLS Draft links for ya:
MLSDraft.net
Soccer By Ives has been updating their Draft Big Board
Mock Draft from Goal.com
Great analysis on what seems to be every single college player and person who thought about soccer while in college this year. Awesome!
All of Buzz Carrick's work from 3rddegree.net shows up here. Really tight analysis on top prospects by position
Cronin! steady Made some great saves in those few games at the end. He seemed very much in his element.
ReplyDeleteI'm suprised more poeple aren't saying it but... Wicks is a headcase. He made some great saves but equally as many big mistakes. He's a little embarrassing.
Shipalane! I think this kid has something. I don't remember what CCL game it was but he looked solid to me. I hope to see more of him.
James, John, Vaugh I think will shine next year.
szetela... maybe to much ego?
It's going to be a good season.
If not good, it certainly will have its share of stories and speculation!
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