The Official 2013 MLS Superdraft thread

[Yohan]

Discuss the superdraft, speculations, scouting reports, how Mariner will screw this up, etc, here...

TFC has the number 1 overall pick only. TFC traded away 2nd round pick to Dallas for Jeremy Hall. Superdraft is only 2 rounds (though there is the Supplemental draft with 2 rounds)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_MLS_SuperDraft

Some articles on some of the top players in NCAA this year so far...

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...raft-prospects

http://wvhooligan.com/2012/10/15/148...aft-prospects/

[AdamAM]

Personally I think we should get a forward, we'll be able to buy some decent filler midfielders in the offseason, our defense is good as long as Mariner isn't choosing the starting 11, but we need some forwards. Koevs and Hassli are getting old, and we are not going to want to use Silva as a striker.. Imagine a midfield of silva avila lambe and 1 good new midfielder. Up front would be hassli/koevs and then a draft pick. Defense would be morgan odea henry ecks goalkeeper would be frei. Looks like a decent lineup to me also this is assuming we use a 442. All this needs is a new midfielder, a good forward draft pick, and healthy koevs/hassli. Not too hard to do imo

(Sorry for terrible grammar on my phone)

[Yohan]

I think drafting a striker is a must, because NCAA strikers rarely make huge impact right away (expect 5-6 goals first year, with regular first team mins) and they usually blossom in their 2nd year. If recent trends are any indication. And maybe not next season but season after, Koev and Hassli probably be retiring or something close

This Eriq Zavaleta kid looks to be interesting. New Andrew Wenger? (also highlights flaw of NCAA... why hasn't this kid be tied down to a position in his early 20s?)

[TOBOR !]

calling @ENBSports ; to thread.

on one hand it's inexplicable that Jeremy Hall cost us a 2nd round pick, but on the other we would probably have used it to draft a guy just like him anyway.

We better have a new FO in place before the draft goes, that's all I have to say.

Mariner and his crew have clearly demonstrated that they are poor evaluators of talent.

[TOBOR !]

and what does any of this mean ?

could we be about to lose our first overall pick for Quincy Amerikwa ? Because I'll split my pants laughing if we do :

The following trades were announced without specifying which year or which draft (Super or Supplemental) the traded pick is in:
Conditional, Toronto FC → New York Red Bulls. 21 July 2012: New York Red Bulls acquired a conditional draft pick from Toronto FC in exchange for forward Quincy Amarikwa.[ref 21]
Conditional, Seattle Sounders → Real Salt Lake. 1 August 2012: Real Salt Lake acquired a conditional draft pick from Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for the MLS rights to midfielder Mario Martínez.[ref 22]
Conditional, Chicago Fire → Colorado Rapids. 10 September 2012: Colorado Rapids acquired a conditional draft pick from Chicago Fire in exchange for midfielder Wells Thompson.[ref 23]
Conditional, Seattle Sounders → Toronto FC. 14 September 2012: Toronto FC acquired a conditional draft pick and the #10 position in the MLS Allocation Order from Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for the #1 position in the MLS Allocation Order. Seattle used the Allocation pick to select goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.[ref 24]

[Yohan]

calling @ENBSports ; to thread.

on one hand it's inexplicable that Jeremy Hall cost us a 2nd round pick, but on the other we would probably have used it to draft a guy just like him anyway.

We better have a new FO in place before the draft goes, that's all I have to say.

Mariner and his crew have clearly demonstrated that they are poor evaluators of talent.

A 2nd round pick in superdraft doesn't have much value, because a 2nd round pick rarely pans out. Hall for a 2nd rounder is pretty fair trade

[Oldtimer]

Discuss the superdraft, speculations, scouting reports, how Mariner will screw this up, etc, here...

Mariner will screw this up.

Either he will trade the picks away for a bag of balls, or he will pick the talent equivalent of Hall.

[Initial B]

Well, if we assume that Mariner was responsible for drafting Maund and Silva, it might work out okay. Drafts are pretty much a crapshoot anyways - it's not like you'll find a player to build a franchise around like they have in basketball.

[Yohan]

Well, if we assume that Mariner was responsible for drafting Maund and Silva, it might work out okay. Drafts are pretty much a crapshoot anyways - it's not like you'll find a player to build a franchise around like they have in basketball.

Chicago: Sean Johnson
Chivas USA: Dan Kennedy
Colorado: Jeff Larentowicz
Columbus: Chad Marshall
DC United: Chris Pontius
Dallas: Kevin Hartmann
Houston: Brad Davis
LA: Omar Gonzalez
Montreal: Davy Arnaud
New England: nil
New York: Dax McCarthy
Philadelphia: Freddy Adu
Portland: Jack Jewsbury
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando (Beckerman would fit this, except he signed with MLS through Project 40)
San Jose: Chris Wondolowski
Seattle: Eddie Johnson
Sporting Kansas City: Graham Zusi
Toronto FC: lulz
Vancouver: Darren Mattocks (only because Kenny Miller is so poor)

Only New England and Toronto don't have a player that I'd consider a superstar for the team that was out of the Superdraft

[Ajax TFC]

Mariner will trade it for international spots and discovery signings so he can sign more Bermudans.

[Yohan]

I'm a big develop from youth academy guy, but there is still value in NCAA, for now.

Have a look at this list of potential defenders for USMNT. Most of them are MLS draft picks

http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/10/...-pipeline.html

[Nuvinho]

Mikey Lopez...another Sam Cronin type?

[DoubleUp]

The midfielder with the best "pass completion rate" or "dribbles completed" an engine.

[Ajax TFC]

The midfielder with the best "pass completion rate" or "dribbles completed" an engine

...is the player we're least likely to pick.

[razor787]

Chicago: Sean Johnson
Chivas USA: Dan Kennedy
Colorado: Jeff Larentowicz
Columbus: Chad Marshall
DC United: Chris Pontius
Dallas: Kevin Hartmann
Houston: Brad Davis
LA: Omar Gonzalez
Montreal: Davy Arnaud
New England: nil
New York: Dax McCarthy
Philadelphia: Freddy Adu
Portland: Jack Jewsbury
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando (Beckerman would fit this, except he signed with MLS through Project 40)
San Jose: Chris Wondolowski
Seattle: Eddie Johnson
Sporting Kansas City: Graham Zusi
Toronto FC: lulz
Vancouver: Darren Mattocks (only because Kenny Miller is so poor)

Only New England and Toronto don't have a player that I'd consider a superstar for the team that was out of the Superdraft

Maurice Edu was a draft pick.

[Ajax TFC]

Maurice Edu was a draft pick.

That we no longer have. He's talking about the current rosters.

[nonc]

A 2nd round pick in superdraft doesn't have much value, because a 2nd round pick rarely pans out. Hall for a 2nd rounder is pretty fair trade

i agree. Hall is very underwhelming but an NCAA 2nd rounder isn't an improvement. i would like to see MLS do away with the 2nd round, it's just a waste for all involved and suppresses Academy involvement, which should be emphasized more league-wide.

[Soccerpro]

Austin Berry was picked #9 last year by Chicago. He's been great at CB for the Fire. Imagine if TFC could make smart picks like that.

[Canary10]

Austin Berry was picked #9 last year by Chicago. He's been great at CB for the Fire. Imagine if TFC could make smart picks like that.

Matt Hedges went 11, and is rookie of the year candidate at Dallas. Two CBs we could have had who could be long-term quality in this league (if we were serious about filling what we all knew was our number one problem). The only thing is they have both been paired with a very good leader, which neither would have gotten here.

[[NBF]]

IMO, if the 4-4-2(status quo) is the plan forward for TFC under Mariner or Cochrane they will need to find two very good players who can play centre back or defensive midfielder. I dont see this team being able to cope with a sustained attack if they dont find a David Edgar to pair with O'Dea and an Andre Bikey to solidify the defense and midfield.

*The reason why I say "sustained" is because the striker pairing of Koevermans and Hassli would not be able to outrun Paul Mariner on a counter so the strikers are going to have rely on a solid group of midfielders and defenders to repell a prolonged attack and then go on the offensive to supply service to the target strikers.

^---and when you read it like that you can tell why Heath would not want to work with drunken Mariner.

4-4-2(Hoofball):

------------------------------Frei----------------------------
------------------------------Kocic---------------------------
---------------------------(R)Roberts-------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
Eckersley----(International)----------O'Dea---------Morgan
(Reserve)----------Henry---------------Maund-----------Emory
-----------------(Reserve)------------(Reserve)------(R)Pasher
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------(International)---------------------------------
------------------Stinson---------------Silva-----------------
Lambe----------(Reserve)--------------Avila---------Johnson
(R)Cordon---------------------------(R)Camargo------(Backup)
-----------------------------------------------------(R)Lindsay
-------------------Hassli-------------------------------------
------------------Amarikwa-----------Koevermans------------
-----------------------------------------(Backup)---------------
-------------------------------------(R)Makubuya-------------

*Most likely whoever is in charge by the time TFC makes its draft picks, Im assuming they will take the best player available, but if the team does have a chance to draft a backup striker I think that would be a solid choice for a 1st round draft pick and if the NYRB dont end up taking TFC's 2nd round pick in the Amarikwa trade I'm expecting them to select a left winger if there's a good player available. The best selection with the 2nd rounder might be to trade it away for left winger Wells Thompson if the rumour is true he's on the transfer list.

*Im assuming that Joao Plata is gone. Others who I hope will go will probably be:

- Joao Plata
- Freddy Hall
- Jeremy Hall
- Andrew Wiedeman
- Dicoy Williams
- Torsten Frings

[Sullivan]

This must be the earliest entry of our annual SuperDraft threads.

It's going to be tough to screw this pick up.

I'll offer 4 players to consider.

Andre Blake. Athletic & agile. 6'4".
Goalkeeper. UConn. MLS will be offering him a GenA deal.
Member of U18 & U20 Jamaican teams.
I've seen him play this year and last. He's vocal and very decisive, but has been prone to some bad decisions.
For those who remember my posts from prior drafts, I'm not a Ray Reid supporter. I think he's a terrible coach,
but a very good recruiter. His players that get drafted to the MLS are not ready to play pro (mentally or phyisically -
Julius James; O'Brien White; Toni Stahl; Akeem Priestly) they needed "serious seasoning". However, Blake is the
exception and the sooner he's out of the UCon program, the better pro he'll become.
If you believe in building from the net out, here's our keeper of the future.
If you believe in the theory of selecting the best player available, it's probably Andre Blake.

Dillion Powers.
Midfield. Notre Dame. Senior. He's been a GenA target the previous 2 SuperDrafts.
Very high football IQ.
Bigger, stronger and more skilled version of Sam Cronin.Versatile.
Notre Dame coach is ex pro, former Scottish Int'l Bobby Clark. He teaches his
players and prepares them to move on to the next level.
Powers is probably the player most likely ready to play MLS.
U.S. U-18 and U-20 national teams
Smart student, smart player, on every team, at every level he's become a team
leader and a dominant player.
I saw him play club at the Dallas Cup, and have seen Notre Dame a number of times during his 4 years there.
If you believe in the theory of selecting the best player ready to play now, it's Dillon Powers.

Walker Zimmerman.
CB. Furman. Lots of talk that he'll be pursued by MLS to sign as a GenA.
6'3, solid build. Natural right foot.
I've seen him play a few times this season, as my son is an assistant coach with another
Southern Conference team and I follow that program.
He makes good decisions, wins more battles than he loses.
Lot of NCAA people compare him to Omar Gonzalez.
2010 & 2011 US U-18 Men’s National Team - captain
He'll need transition time with solid coaching and good vets to ease him in.
If you believe in the theory of selecting players to add depth now and be a starter next year, here he is.

Mike Lopez
Midfield. UNC. Guys who breath NCAA soccer giving Lopez lots of love, and he's on MLS's short list for GenA.
My take is he's a smaller, craftier version of Mo Edu.
Was a dominant player last year as a freshman, and a major contributor to UNC's success.
Member of the U16, U18 & U20 USSF teams.
Thomas Rongen knows Lopez very well.
Lopez plays up to the level of competition.
Again, if you believe in the theory of selecting players to add depth now and be a starter next year, here is another player to watch.

[prizby]

A 2nd round pick in superdraft doesn't have much value, because a 2nd round pick rarely pans out. Hall for a 2nd rounder is pretty fair trade

Michael Farfan, Tim Ream, Seth Sinovic, Justin Morrow, Steven Beitashour, AJ De La Garza, Milos Kocic, Graham Zusi, Shea Salinas, Eric Brunner, Eric Avila, Robbie Findlay, Dane Richards, Corey Ashe, Brad Evans, Jozy Altidore, Dominic Oduro...doesn't seem like a rarity

[Fort York Redcoat]

Michael Farfan, Tim Ream, Seth Sinovic, Justin Morrow, Steven Beitashour, AJ De La Garza, Milos Kocic, Graham Zusi, Shea Salinas, Eric Brunner, Eric Avila, Robbie Findlay, Dane Richards, Corey Ashe, Brad Evans, Jozy Altidore, Dominic Oduro...doesn't seem like a rarity

Over how many years? Now what percentage is that overall?

It IS a nice thing to have 2 off your list on our team, though.

[ryan]

Over how many years? Now what percentage is that overall?

It IS a nice thing to have 2 off your list on our team, though.

I'd be willing to wager we'll have 0 off that list before not too long.

[Fort York Redcoat]

I'd be willing to wager we'll have 0 off that list before not too long.

Yes but many of that list have moved on several times already. My point being how time spanning the list was.

[Yohan]

Matt Hedges went 11, and is rookie of the year candidate at Dallas. Two CBs we could have had who could be long-term quality in this league (if we were serious about filling what we all knew was our number one problem). The only thing is they have both been paired with a very good leader, which neither would have gotten here.

considering quality of attackers in this year's superdraft, picking a CB (IIRC Hedges and Berry were ranked about mid pick level?) would have been stupid.

[Yohan]

Michael Farfan, Tim Ream, Seth Sinovic, Justin Morrow, Steven Beitashour, AJ De La Garza, Milos Kocic, Graham Zusi, Shea Salinas, Eric Brunner, Eric Avila, Robbie Findlay, Dane Richards, Corey Ashe, Brad Evans, Jozy Altidore, Dominic Oduro...doesn't seem like a rarity

On average, you get about 2 starters out of 2nd round picks, and a lot of these guys only contribute after few years. Rarely a 2nd rounder makes an immediate impact. That's just above 10% chance that a 2nd rounder will pan out into something.

[prizby]

Over how many years? Now what percentage is that overall?

It IS a nice thing to have 2 off your list on our team, though.

On average, you get about 2 starters out of 2nd round picks, and a lot of these guys only contribute after few years. Rarely a 2nd rounder makes an immediate impact. That's just above 10% chance that a 2nd rounder will pan out into something.

That depends on how you measure a "rarity"...i'd say one player every 3 to 5 years...but if you're getting 2 a year on average, I wouldn't call that being "rare"

[Yohan]

That depends on how you measure a "rarity"...i'd say one player every 3 to 5 years...but if you're getting 2 a year on average, I wouldn't call that being "rare"

you have to take into account that NCAA players needs about 2-3 seasons of regular game time before he proves himself to be starter worthy. in between that time, there's a lot of guess work to whether a player will pan out or not.

[[NBF]]

Some mock draft sites have two strikers going 1 & 2 overall:

FW- Eriq Zavaleta(Sophomore from Indiana University): 6'1ft, 185lbs

FW- Mamadou Doudou Diouf(Junior from University of Connecticut): 6'1ft, 170lbs

Some of the top picks(FW,MF,DF) in the 1st round draft, range between 145-170lbs which has to be a deterrant for any serious MLS club that lacks size in all areas like TFC(specially in midfield). You could probably get away with a smaller forward, but I dont think you could get away with a waffer for a defender.

Three highly rated players with size that stand out:

FW- Eriq Zavaleta(Sophomore from Indiana University): 6'1ft, 185lbs

MF- Ryan Finley (Notre Dame): 6'0ft, 180lbs

DF- Kyle Venter (Junior from New Mexico): 6'3ft, 190lbs

*You gotta think these are the first 3 on everyone's list.