Combine Day 1 - in the books

[Sullivan]

Doin' the annual January golf/football trip. Beautiful day for both.

AdiPower vs AdiPure: 0-0, Not a typical day 1 combine yawner, but a very poor match.
Jabulani vs AdiZero: 2-1, Again, not a typical day 1 combine yawner, but much better than previous match, good pace and tempo. Jabulani looks to be the strongest side.

I know it's just day 1 (unfamiliarity, nerves, rust, match fitness, etc.) but overall it would be easier to list the players who have no chance! And factor in that 4 Gen A players are with the USA u20s who have a camp going on across town as well.

If TFC want a player to stick on the 2011 roster from this draft they better trade up to round 1 or make sure they have great scouting on the round 2 pick because anything after round 2 ain't gonna cut it, unless they are the proverbial late bloomer.

Saw Mariner, Regan, Daso & Dichio. I'm told Winter is back in Amsterdam but will be at the draft.

Lone Canadian, Curtis Ushedo, started and played a full 90 but did nothing to impress; after day 1, I'd suggest that if he doesn't do something to stand out, he's fast tracking to the Supp Draft. Based on previous combines (who starts & player rotations) barring injuries, I don't see him getting another full 90 from either of Monday or Tuesday's matches.

Estupiñan & Plata (S. Americans) added themselves to some short lists today. Round 1 picks!

Justin Meram, Forward from Michigan (Jabulani) looked good; Dichio & Daso spent some time tracking Michigan. I saw Tim Regan talking to the Jabulani coach. He should be available for TFC's 2nd round pick if they want a winger.

Bobby Warsaw, Defender from Stanford (Jabulani) also made a statement today. Very quick and decisive. Good composure and distribution skills, And very vocal - confident. He too should be on the board for the round 2 pick.

Sideshow: Rooney didn't look out of place, but didn't stand out either, certainly not like Plata or Estupiñan. If his play improves, he'll be the novelty pick of the draft. And a rumour going around is that he has signed with MLS already.

None of the keepers stood out. So after day 1, no keeper made a case for a 1st round selection.

None TFC stuff:
I heard Will Johnson has signed on long term with RSL.
Dennis Hamlett is here with the Whitecaps staff.

[Suds]

I caught some if the first combine game online. Looked very scrappy and I did not see anyone stand out much even from and athletic standpoint.

Thanks for the update.

[Yohan]

From what I saw from the first game, that Kofi Sarkodeh or something RB looked ok. Made a lot of runs

[Auzzy]

Paul Mariner at the MLS Combine:

http://torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/con...atid=2&id=2708

Aron Winter will be coming to the Combine on Monday & will see the last few games.

Trying to recognize some of the other guys in the video. Is Jason Bent also there? Is that Tim Regan next to Dichio (with the jersey covering his head)? Do I also see Brennan in the video?

[dantdot]

^ Yep, that's all of them.

[seankeay]

As per usual, the first day of the combine was really dull. Expect Monday to be much better than today.

While most guys down there are saying that the first game was all centrebacks, i feel like it was just lack of quality on the attack that really made them look good. I've never been that impressed with AJ Sores, he is a good player but not a top ranked centre back this year. On the other hand Jalil Anibaba is the real deal, a strong, fast, skilled centreback who is a monster.

One guy who I hope can slip to Toronto, but probobly wont is Anthony Ampai. For some reason the Akron star gets slighted for being a Sr and for being small, and while it is a rough game in the MLS it is a hack job in the ncaa as well. In the past guys who have been slighted for size have shown well in the MLS (AJ Delagaza, Mike Stephens) On top of that the Red teams midfield was in place with a lot of smaller guys, so the whole team was pushed off the ball, and while I just went and said small players are fine, you still need some bodys in there to win balls and thats where I saw the big problem in game 1.

I think Ampai would be a great fit, especially if his stock "drops" at this combine.

I also agree that the 2 south american (Estupiñan & Plata) players looked very good on the pitch, played a much smarter game and could bump some good college players down to the 2nd round.

Once again, I know that the u20 camp is taking kids away from the combine, but I still believe that Kofi Sarkodie is the best player in the years draft. Not a massive fan of Darlington Nagbe.

Also if you are looking for a solid attacking wing back, check out Michael Tetteh from ucsb. He could be the kind of player who we may be looking at.

[Damien]

Yeh I've heard from multiple sources that this is a really crappy draft year and unless you have a top 3 or top 5 pick you can count on a bench warmer at best. So maybe it's not such a bad thing that we don't have a pick.

[Alixir]

AdiPower vs AdiPure....wow those are some pretty awesome team names.

[Pachuco]

Yeh I've heard from multiple sources that this is a really crappy draft year and unless you have a top 3 or top 5 pick you can count on a bench warmer at best. So maybe it's not such a bad thing that we don't have a pick.

Which is why I believe the Sturgis trade could very well be a great trade for us. Of course only time will tell, but when the consensus is this draft is shit I don't see how people jumped the gun to bitch about us acquiring Sturgis.

[Yohan]

Which is why I believe the Sturgis trade could very well be a great trade for us. Of course only time will tell, but when the consensus is this draft is shit I don't see how people jumped the gun to bitch about us acquiring Sturgis.

i guess we can only judge this trade after this season, when we can rate a little better how much the 8th overall pick and sturgis did

[Suds]

i guess we can only judge this trade after this season, when we can rate a little better how much the 8th overall pick and sturgis did

Agreed that has to be looked at.

But I think the main reason for the O'B / Sturgis trade had more to do with offloading O'B's $180k salary for Sturgis' $69k salary. A first rounder might have even ended up costing more than Sturgis and we have no idea what we are getting. At least with Sturgis we know what we are getting for our money.

[Detroit_TFC]

I followed Michigan closely this year, went to several home games, saw some of their away games on tv (Big Ten Network), Michigan wasn't ranked nationally but they made a deep run in NCAA tournament to semi-finals, losing to champion powerhouse Akron. They have several talented players, including #1 freshman in US, Soony Saad. Meram would be a great pickup for us.

[TFCRegina]

Remember guys, don't necessarily judge all these players off their combine performances. One of the worst decisions in sports is to base players off their most recent performance.

We should be examining their statistics in play in NCAA as well as their combine performance and taking that as a whole.

The Combine, if anything though, should be placed with the least amount of weight.

[Sullivan]

After 36 holes, we came to the conclusion that TFC should package picks 26, 43 and 44 in an effort to regain a selection in round 1 and call it a day.

We also concluded that the cart girl was stalking us.

Lots of post dinner hotel chit-chat:
(We're calling it beer banter - so take it for what it is....)
TFC is sounding out options to trade up.

A little bit of clarity never hurts. None of us were all that familiar with either of Meram or Warsaw, so we've been educated - No way Meram remains on the board for round 2, let alone dropping to 26th. And Warsaw, he's being described by everyone as a "sleeper pick", so he may not drop to 26th either.

Allegedly on TFC's short list is Levi Houapeu. He caught our attention solely based on his speed, but nothing else. We hear he is a very smart kid (to comprehend total football). We'll keep an eye on him tomorrow.

So we keep hearing JT Murray as TFC's target. This of course is from non TFC people. A natural left back, good mobility, likes to go forward.

2 days in and we have an X factor, the 3 internationals. They've generated a buzz: Paolo Cardoza, Victor Estupinan, Joao Plata. Superior skill sets, speed, smarts & vision which makes for good football IQs. If they continue to stand out and shine over the NCAA boys, I have no doubt that teams will take them in round 1. The only real question appears to be Plata, his size or better said, lack thereof. I saw him in the hotel lobby and TFC have had bigger ball girls than Plata, he's that small. But I'd say all 3 could earn significant minutes this season.

TFC stuff:
Not to get anyone in trouble, but we did speak with a couple of TFC guys, one said, "discussions with Ornoch very promising, and will resume after the draft". No specifics offered, but we did get the wink.

2011 will be both interesting and challenging and everyone is pumped (paraphrasing).

None of them would touch the DeRo question.

Overheard Daso say, "we need some luck", when talking about the 26th pick.

Other:
Graham eagled the same par 3 in both rounds.
Stevie plays the first ball that he gets to, whether it's his or not (man can he rip it).
Monty is pure money on putts less than 10'
We're leaving tomorrow evening for a couple of days of golf in Orlando, so no Tuesday report.
We'll be hooking up with our larger NSCAA/NCAA network Wednesday night in Baltimore, so maybe we'll have some more info to share then.

That's it. We're off to a 5 Guys Burger & beer run.

[Sullivan]

From what I saw from the first game, that Kofi Sarkodeh or something RB looked ok. Made a lot of runs

Based on topics around the hotel, he's a top 3 pick.

[Sullivan]

Paul Mariner at the MLS Combine

The optimist!
Nice guy.
Makes eye contact when you talk to him, unlike Johnston who never did and couldn't get away fast enough.

[Sullivan]

I think Ampai would be a great fit, especially if his stock "drops" at this combine.

Not a massive fan of Darlington Nagbe.

Also if you are looking for a solid attacking wing back, check out Michael Tetteh from ucsb. He could be the kind of player who we may be looking at.

I don't see Ampai in 2nd round.
He's a part of the puzzle, a missing piece for an already established midfield.

Darlington Nagbe, he's a Gen A, won the Hermann this year, but is not here at the combine. He's always in the discussion on the 1st five picks.

Tetteh, a left footed weaker version of Marvel. Low football IQ. All speed.

[Sullivan]

Yeh I've heard from multiple sources that this is a really crappy draft year and unless you have a top 3 or top 5 pick you can count on a bench warmer at best. So maybe it's not such a bad thing that we don't have a pick.

Lots of "potential" though ....

[Red CB Toronto]

Did you get any info on where Daso, Danny and Jimmy fit into the new picture, are Nick and Danny assistant coaches and Jimmy still assistant GM or taking on a assistant director of development type role under Mariner. I am curious to see where all the pieces fall.

[Sullivan]

i guess we can only judge this trade after this season, when we can rate a little better how much the 8th overall pick and sturgis did

We're guessing Vancouver's 8th pick will be Salgado. Youngest kid in the draft, a Gen A, a 6'4 forward. And so is everyone else.
Vancouver couldn't get him on a development earlier this year due to him not being 18.

[DOMIN8R]

Great intel, Sullivan. Thanks.

[Sullivan]

Did you get any info on where Daso, Danny and Jimmy fit into the new picture, are Nick and Danny assistant coaches and Jimmy still assistant GM or taking on a assistant director of development type role under Mariner. I am curious to see where all the pieces fall.

Come to think of it, no we didn't.

We'll try tomorrow.

[jloome]

Great info gents, keep it coming!

[Waggy]

Other:
Graham eagled the same par 3 in both rounds.

Wait what? He got BACK TO BACK hole in ones on the SAME hole?! That's BEYOND insane. I hope he bought a powerball ticket

[Suds]

..

2 days in and we have an X factor, the 3 internationals. They've generated a buzz: Paolo Cardoza, Victor Estupinan, Joao Plata. Superior skill sets, speed, smarts & vision which makes for good football IQs. If they continue to stand out and shine over the NCAA boys, I have no doubt that teams will take them in round 1. The only real question appears to be Plata, his size or better said, lack thereof. I saw him in the hotel lobby and TFC have had bigger ball girls than Plata, he's that small. But I'd say all 3 could earn significant minutes this season.

...

Watching the second game today ... he read the game well, accelerates from stand-still pretty nicely, good skill. But yeah, holy crap is he small out there.

[Sullivan]

Before the combine, a frequent discussion was the order that the Gen A's would be selected and could they go 1-9. After 4 matches, we're thinking the Gen A's could be taken in the first 10.

And it sounds like senior CB, Jalil Anibaba will be a top 10 pick with the Gen A boys.

Consensus top 3 is Kitchen, Sarkodi and Nagbi. All are Gen A, and Kitchen is over with the US u20s and Nagbi isn't even participating in the showcase.

We're in agreement that we're grateful that the club isn't looking for a keeper.

I'll start with the Canadian.
Curtis Ushedo started, struggled, and then took an early knock but he was subbed back in the 2nd half. If he gets drafted this week, the only question to ask is why? Harsh, perhaps, overly dramatic certainly, but no American team is going to burn an international spot by selecting Ushedo. Vancouver has depth at CB, so I don't see them picking him up. At best he's USL calibre, at worst CSL. Bottom line this kid needs work, 1st touch, passing, positioning ...

The Internationals.
Plata. Really trying hard to make teams overlook his smallness. Regardless, ... he linked well with Will Bruin, they made each other look good today. Rumour has Chivas sniffing around Plata, 2 goals will do that. His size is working against him but someone will select him. Estupinan got shut down, and for what he lacked from Saturday, Rooney made it up today. Paolo Cardozo was steady again. From within our group we see all 4 of them being selected. The South Americans are making the NCAA boys look pedestrian. Rooney makes good decisions too, he's settling in. All in all these four are making legitimate claims to being a cut above the college boys.

In the Adipure & Jabulani game, Adi's D got the better of Jab's attack. Jabulani never really got anything going.

Ampai played better today. So did Will Bruin. Both should get some decent minutes in MLS this season.
Greg King has emerged as the strongest of the LBs so far, certainly needs some serious coaching & development time .
AJ Soares very calm on the ball, good positioning and distribution.
JT Murray had a quiet 1st half, moved well off the ball, read the game well, but with 3-0 lead, not so much action his way. He laid off two nice balls to Plata.
Tetteh must be thinking it's a good thing he's a Gen A, because he's not really imposing himself with this opportunity that he's been given.
Houapeu couldn't create space, couldn't sustain possession, other players looked better.

So this is it from us on the combine.

We got stuck behind a 4-some and the course marshall wouldn't allow us to play threw so We were a bit late getting to the first game (10 minutes). We had no real opportunity to lurk and stalk the TFC staff.

We only saw Mariner and he was moving pretty quick so we couldn't catch up to him when the 2nd game finished.

Since we've decided to bail on games 5 & 6, we didn't have much time to stalk as we had an afternoon flight to Orlando to catch.

Basically there's nothing worth repeating with regard to TFC, not much is being said but we can say that Lalas is certainly the knob that others claim he is.

If we beat the weather to Baltimore, and if anything develops, one of us will post. Otherwise, we're talking about staying in Orlando till the weekend.

Cheers.

[Sullivan]

.. he read the game well, accelerates from stand-still pretty nicely, good skill. But yeah, holy crap is he small out there.

His performance today almost made the $10 admission full value.

[Sullivan]

Wait what? He got BACK TO BACK hole in ones on the SAME hole?! That's BEYOND insane. I hope he bought a powerball ticket

hmmmm,
sorry.... my mistake ( ), he scored a 3 on a par 5, twice.

[Sullivan]

Did you get any info on where Daso, Danny and Jimmy fit into the new picture, are Nick and Danny assistant coaches and Jimmy still assistant GM or taking on a assistant director of development type role under Mariner. I am curious to see where all the pieces fall.

We didn't leave ourselves enough time to stalk the staff today; golf and a plane to Orlando got in the way today.

If we make it to Baltimore, we'll try there.

[Oldtimer]

Thanks for the information.

It does sound like the predictions of a thin draft are going to be true.