adiPure (green) beat Tiro (white) 1-0 in the late game of the first day of the 2009 combine.

Nerves seemed to affect more of the players in this match.

The goal was created by a terrific pass that Jokull Elisabetarson looped over Calum Angus to Jordan Seabrook in the box that Seabrook slotted past Neal Kitson.

Much more challenging game for me, because there were so many players that I hadn’t seen.  Also, like many of the players, I’ve lost my edge with the month-long layoff.  By the second game, I was tired of being squeezed in those tiny chairs – perhaps it’s my large rear (but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)!

1st half (green):

G: Neal Kitson (SJU)

D: Wes Knight (College of Charleston), Darrius Barnes (Duke), Matt Besler (Notre Dame), Jack Traynor (Notre Dame)

M: Jeremy Hall (GA/MD), Jokul Elisabetarson (UNCG), Aaron Clapham (Louisville), Juan Guerra (FIU)

F: Jordan Seabrook (USF), Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason)

1st half (white):

G: Steward Ceus (Albany)

D: Evan Brown (WF), Calum Angus (SLU), Chris Clements (Tulsa), Kevin Alston (GA/IU)

M: Ryan Maxwell (Tampa), Michael Lahoud (WF), Baggio Husidic (GA/UIC), Dylan Curtis (UC-Davis)

F: Chris Salvaggione (UNC-Charlotte), Ross Schunk (Redlands)

2nd half (green):

G: Alec Dufty (Evansville)

D: Wes Knight (College of Charleston), Michael Holody (Michigan), Matt Besler (Notre Dame), Jack Traynor (Notre Dame)

M: Daniel Cruz (GA/UNLV), Paul Nicholson (Rio Grande), Jean Alexandre (Lynn), Raphael Cox (Washington)

F: Jordan Seabrook (USF), Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac)

2nd half (white):

G: Milos Kocic (Loyola-MD)

D: Kevin Alston (GA/IU), Calum Angus (SLU), George John (Washington), Dave Hertel (MSU)

M: Alex Grendi (Penn), Michael Lahoud (WF), Graham Zusi (MD), Dylan Curtis (UC-Davis)

F: Nick Perera (UCSB), Ryan Maduro (Providence)

ASSESSMENT

Who had a good game (or played better than I expected)?

  • Ceus (white) – very quick on his feet for the imposing GK.  Hung out to dry on the first goal; kept his team in the game by making a series of saves.  Upgrading;
  • Salvaggione (white) – very active; good balance; better than he showed me at UMass and MD; can he keep it up?
  • Kocic (white) – not challenged a lot, but moved well; tipped a dangerous shot over the bar; played like he did last year;
  • Lahoud (white) – confident; dangerous in the box; covering sideline to sideline well;
  • Knight (green) – showed well; confident out of the back; good passing/tackling;
  • Elisabetarson (green) – creative; nice passing; hard tackling
  • Seabrook (green) – finished his chance; sometimes that is all a forward needs to do; will need to step it up if he wants to get into the first round;

Who was adequate?

  • Husidic (white) – nice first touch to get the ball ready to attack (space); question his work rate;
  • Angus (white) – delivers a nice long ball; beaten for the goal;
  • Zusi (white) – composed on the ball; played as expected;
  • Maduro (white) – good passer, drops into the midfield too much; don’t see too much upside;
  • Alston (white) – made a few forays forward, but his touch was horrific at times;
  • Alexandre (green) – aggressive hard tackler, reckless at times; technically weak; reminds me of Brandon McDonald; probably will have many suspensions;
  • Adjeman-Pamboe (green) – dangerous opportunity driving the ball to the end line before crossing it back to the Seabrook in the box;
  • Barnes (green) – good defensive anticipation; showed well wide and centrally; long throw started an attack;
  • Clapham (green) – nervous early; good dribbling move to beat Lahoud and open up the middle – weak shot, wide left;
  • Hall (green) – didn’t differentiate himself against the competition; needs to assert himself more; his central midfield is a black hole at times;
  • Traynor (green) – good tackling and dribbling; treading water (e.g., not really improving his standing);

Who needs to improve?

  • Maxwell (white) – confident on the ball; takes too long to deliver the ball;
  • John (white) – painfully slow in the back; good touch to allude a forward; tall;
  • Perera (white) – just not good enough; received a long ball from Angus that he wasn’t able to control or strike;
  • Cruz (green) – horrible game; passing, dribbling and even his dive in the box was amateurish;
  • Brito (green) – clumsy – showed his front-end speed; not good enough on the ball; played much better against Loyola this season; nerves – perhaps.
  • Cox (green) – small; bad game passing; needs to use his speed more to create space;
  • Holody (green) – slower than I thought; allowed the ball to enter his box that Perara could not convert;
  • Guerra (green) – good dribbler; doesn’t defend well enough to play wide midfield

Who should consider a couple of days on the beach before starting a regular job?

  • Schunk (white) – may be too quick to judge, but he just hung around the box which may be good enough to outjump smaller college players, insufficient;
  • Nicholson (green) – clueless, not nearly good enough;

Who do I need to continue to observe/didn’t do enough today?

  • Curtis (white)
  • Clements (white)
  • Brown (white)
  • Grendi (white)
  • Hertel (white)
  • Dufty (green)
  • Kitson (green)
  • Besler (green)

Who didn’t play/missing?

  • Otto Loewy (Winthrop) is MIA; 3 days ago he dropped out because of injury and Holody was brought in.  Loewy suffered a serious ankle injury against William & Mary in the 1st round of the NCAA.  He was on crutches for the post-game.