2009 MLS Post-Combine Summary

After watching the 2009 MLS college combine some interesting patterns have emerged leading into the 2009 MLS Super Draft on Thursday, January 15, 2009.

Temper Expectations

There are very few college players in this draft class that will be able to start on day one. Fans need to temper their expectations. Teams looking to mine the draft for candidates to help with depth will do better. Quick fixes, such as drafting a position of need rather than the best player available will ultimately fail. Lastly, if a team showed up at the combine unprepared (e.g., blank slate), draft mistakes are inevitable. The combine should be to fine-tune your selections, perhaps observe a player that you may have seen on tape but haven’t seen live. A player that has produced in high level competition and has been consistent probably shouldn’t move significantly unless a noticeable flaw was discovered.

As of Tuesday morning, four seniors (Sam Cronin, Mike Lahoud, Yohance Marshall and Chris Pontius) have signed with MLS. This eliminates the risk that these players will pursue a USL or European deal. Last year, Ryan Cordeiro from Connecticut was drafted earlier than expected by D.C. United partially because he was already signed before the draft. The primary difference between these seniors and the GA class is the salary cap savings. The GA still take a roster spot. Roster spots will be at a premium this year after MLS reduced the rosters by 4 players to 24 players.

Seniors who could start

Of the 71 players at the combine, only Sam Cronin (Wake Forest) is ready to start, now. His play exemplified the difference between a player ready to make the leap and many of the college projects still remaining. The only other player in this same class was Chris Pontius (UCSB). He has a chance to start early, but it depends on the team situation. Pontius may get minutes by playing the utility role – a reliable forward this year; Pontius has been able to shine playing at right back and right midfield in his college career. This position flexibility is one area that he excels above Cronin. I have not seen Cronin play anything but central midfield. Either of these players would improve a team.

European-bound seniors

The 2009 senior draft class was diluted by some of the best offensive players pursuing European options. Alejandro Bedoya (Boston College), Marcus Tracy, (Wake Forest) and Mike Grella (Duke) all decided to try Europe rather than going the MLS route.

Of these three, only Grella has not signed a contract and could re-appear in MLS this year. A smart team might take Grella with a low pick hoping that he could be persuaded to sign with MLS. Bedoya has signed a contract with Örebro SK (Sweden) and Tracy has reportedly set to sign with Aalborg (Denmark). So, if Tracy hasn’t signed, he might be worth a flyer. It protects the roster restrictions for a possibility that he might return (like Grella).

Reuben Arayna (Boston College) signed with GAIS Gothenburg last summer.

GA Investment

Generation Adidas (GA) goal keeper Stefan Frei has been phenomenal at the combine. I’m sold on his potential. With his Swiss citizenship, hard work and professional polish, a move to Europe is expected. A savvy team might invest in him as a method to gather valuable allocation windfall in the future. He could be as good as Guzan.

Top GAs

Jeremy Hall, Rodney Wallace, Kevin Alston and Omar Gonzalez are at the top of the GA class. I’ve seen these players enough that nothing that they did or didn’t do was going to sway my opinion. At most, maybe nudge me one way or another.

Wallace and Hall did not have a good combine. Gonzalez was bad the first day and better on the second. Alston started slow, but progressed as the combine continued.

Gonzalez appears to be the sole central defender prospect which initially appeared to be ripe with candidates, but has since dwindled (see below). Gonzalez is a warrior in the air. Gonzalez is not quick – can he overcome that? He needs a partner who can complement him. The Maryland tandem of Delagarza and Gonzalez was very effective; he’ll need a similar arrangement to be successful in MLS. This hurts his value – to me.

Alston, Hall and Wallace are the prizes of the GA class (excluding Frei).

· All have speed;

· All played on the left side in college;

· All can get forward;

· Wallace is more raw at left back than Alston;

· Wallace is better in the air;

· Alston may be a step quicker.

· Hall is a better goal scorer;

· Hall plays wide midfield;

· All should get minutes in the first team;

· Wallace is the bigger risk, but could turn out to be the best player.

This is one area where team need might factor in as the determining factor, because they are all good ball players.

Phenom?

Steve Zakuani’s quickness is special. When he accelerates, it’s fun to watch. He has the ability to go by players and to create separation. I don’t think it’s enough. I was amazed when I first saw him in September 2007 against Wake Forest and North Carolina. I came to see fellow Akron freshman Anthony Ampaipitakwong, but walked away impressed with Zakuani. Right now, he’s not complete. He has the tools and the potential, but does he have the drive to learn how to be a MLS professional. Huge upside.

Up Elevator

Here are a few players that have helped themselves with a sterling combine. These are players that I had ranked low but are upgrading based upon their performance.

• Wes Knight (College of Charleston), right back, thoroughly impressed me with his passing and overlapping. He had trouble staying with the quick Amarikwa and he didn’t clear with the defensive line on a corner kick holding the opponent forward on-side. He could be a contributor next year.
• Dave Hertel (Michigan State), left back, is a quick player that was able to get forward picking up an assist. He’s a tough defender with speed that really didn’t appear on the tape. As an aside, I asked him after the second day who was the toughest attacker to stop. He responded, “Marosevic”. I was surprised that a MSU guy would respond with a Michigan guy and not his MSU team mate, Doug DeMartin! We had a good laugh about it.
• Joshua Boateng (Liberty), left midfielder, is one of the slickest dribblers and creators at the combine. I knew he had talent, but it was difficult to gauge the level based upon his Big South competition. Very small and may not be strong enough to take the pounding of a MLS season. This is another good kid that won’t be a problem.
• Steward Ceus (Albany), goal keeper, was not an unknown commodity prior to the combine, because other conference players and coaches had told me about the “Giant Goal keeper”, but this was the first time that I was able to see him. At 6’ 6”, he’s a giant but moves quickly with good hands. He is going to be a project that could bear fruit in a few years.

Elevator Shaft – Central Defenders

Of course, if there’s an up elevator, there needs to be a down elevator. These players were a disappointment from either what I’ve seen previously or from my initial exposure.

• Yohance Marshall (South Florida) probably the biggest surprise for me at the combine. He was awful. He just kept making dumb plays. This is not the same player that was playing at USF. Before I would draft him, I would want to have a long conversation with Coach Keifer and re-review more tape to see is there something going on. Was his role different or was he put into a situation that he didn’t know how to handle? I shudder at affixing the dreaded “Stokes” label on him. He has tons of speed, athletic ability, but his inconsistent understanding of what to do is perplexing. He is going to be drafted, because he already signed a MLS contract.
• Michael Holody (Michigan) re-inforced my notion that he couldn’t get around the back sufficiently. I watched some tape on him pre-Combine and it seemed that way. He has nice feet and can aid in the attack, if necessary.
• Chris Clements (Tulsa) looked like a stud on tape – good feet, marking 1v1 and terrific in the air. Although this year he was slowed with injuries early, but he looked fine later in the year. I don’t know what is going on with him and it bothers me. He just didn’t play well; tentative; never stepped up.
• Matt Besler (Notre Dame) was a question mark coming into the draft. I’ve seen Besler several times over the last 2 years with mixed evaluations. He obviously can play a nice ball and he has soccer acumen, but he lacks athletic ability.
• Lyle Adams (Wake Forest) – not a central defender, but I’m lumping him in here – was repeatedly beaten on the dribble by masses of players. I was wondering if any of the assistant coaches would want to get in on the action. Left or right back – it didn’t matter. This is a guy that was a starter for the best college team last year. Did Opara cover his mistakes? What have I missed? This is very concerning. He used to be a left midfielder, but was shifted to the defense when WF was bereft with injuries at the beginning of the year. Am I over-thinking it and should disregard the combine?

Elevator Shaft – Forwards

• Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac) had a brilliant game against Loyola (earlier this year), but the combine showed that Brito is more like the player that I saw against Mount Saint Mary’s last year. He’s tall, fast and strong. But, he plays too statically up top – only looking for through balls to use his speed to get behind the defense. He doesn’t have very good dribbling skills. His overall soccer I.Q. is average at best.
• Daniel Revivo (Winthrop) is a top goal scoring forward in the Big South conference. For a big guy, he is too soft; He needs to be more assertive, coming back to get the ball and taking open shots. He has a cannon, but never showed it. The combine confirmed that the real Daniel Revivo that didn’t have a shot against William & Mary in an NCAA game is the real one.

Elevator Shaft – Goal keepers

• Neal Kitson (Saint John’s) had a terrific season, but he was a disaster at the combine. Countless physical mistakes were compounded by mental ones.
• Sean Milligan (Dartmouth) is too static for a professional goal keeper. The anemic white team attackers were having a feeding frenzy taking shots at the hapless goal keeper.

Assume the position

Some players are going to have a hard time at the next level at the position that they played in college.

• A. J. Delagarza (Maryland) started in central defense on 2 NCAA championship teams (2005, 2008). In his freshman year, Maryland tried him at left back and wound up having to bring back grad student David Glaudemans to fill the hole. Delagarza couldn’t man mark sufficiently. A few years later Maryland experimented with moving Delagarza again with the same conclusion. Delagarza is better for Maryland in the middle. It’s not that Delagarza doesn’t want to play wide, the best part of his game is reading the play and intercepting the passes before they become a problem. His 1v1 defending is good – but not exceptional. Any MLS team that drafts him with the allusion that they’ll move him wide is fooling themselves. He had a good combine and his size is his primary limitation.
• Aaron Clapham (Louisville) played attacking midfield at the combine. Previously, I’ve only seen him on TV. Even as a New Zealand youth international at the U20 world cup in Canada, he didn’t play during the game that I watched. I don’t project him as a MLS AM. I’m not sure what position would he be best suited. Good soccer players can adapt, but it’ll take longer.
• Graham Zusi (Maryland) played attacking midfield leading his team to the 2008 NCAA national championship scoring key goals along the way. Prior to this year, he played withdrawn forward because All-American (and now Seattle Sounders FC) Stephen King manned AM his entire 4 year term. Forward is not Zusi’s best position, but he’s not good enough to play MLS AM. I question whether he has the motor to play wide midfield (which he did as a Maryland freshman, spelling Now-Columbus Crew left midfielder Robbie Rogers). I’d take a flyer on Zusi. He’s an honest player and a hard worker. I wonder if he’d make a good right back. He gave me the stock answer, “I’ll play wherever they want me to play. I just want to play.” With him, I wholly believe him.