first mock drafts starting to come out. I don't think we take a midfielder with our pick. I think we go for a defender. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...erdraft-mock-draft-v-10_aid28073?desktop=true
Defend this position! Why a defender rather than a middie? Don't we need more outside middies? Especially if we don't get Dawkins back? or if Mehdi's injury is more serious than we thought? Of course, I can see a good argument for drafting a defender, I just want to hear your rationale. GO QUAKES!!! - Mark
well the issue is the draft is pretty weak in defenders around our pick unless Schoenle falls to us or another defender steps his game up in the NCAA tournament and raises his stock
Now you're contradicting yourself squadron leader. If this year is thin at defenders, then we aren't taking one, and we'll take a midfielder. If you mean that this year the draft is weak in midfielders, and therefore we'll take a defender, well then that's an argument I can see. I can also see JD and Frank thinking that we need more healthy defenders, what with Ramiro retiring and Ike's health remaining spotty. Seriously, I think that we need to add one more outside left defender and one more central defender before we can feel that we're covered on defense. Right now, if Ike got hurt (likely) and Jason or BigVic got suspended (certainly possible), we'd be up a creek. But, if we lose Dawkins and we trade or cut Khari, then we need another middie, especially if we are uncertain of Mehdi's recovery or recovery time. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
We will be the 15th team to pick. I think we will pick someone for depth (if the guy can contribute quickly) or someone to develop in 1-3 yrs. It is unlikely the guy will solve the CB, LB, CM or LM/RM issue immediately. Yes, I know there are rookies who contribute right away but how likely is it? I don't really care much what position he plays.
It's a guess on my part. He was clearly more than a little run down by the end of the season, and he hurt his hamstring, again. He's done. It's time for him and the club to recognize that and move on. Ramiro gave us a ton of good seasons. He was a leader on the team in '08, but he never recovered his form after his late season injury in '08. He's taken a few more knocks since then, and he's slower and slower to recover, and he comes back just a touch off. It's time for Ramiro to retire, before he's forced to. But no, I have no information on this at all. Just a wild guess and hope. GO QUAKES!!! - Mark
holy jesus if Carlos Alvarez falls to 15 we snap their hands off!!! that dudes like the next coming of Silva or DeLeon! ab so freaking lutely!
[quoteS TillIDie, post: 26787954, member: 155268"]first mock drafts starting to come out. I don't think we take a midfielder with our pick. I think we go for a defender. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...erdraft-mock-draft-v-10_aid28073?desktop=true[/quote] I respectfully disagree. The situation with our midfield is tenuous at best as Baca runs hot and cold and we need more consistancy and direction in the midfield. If by some miracle Dillon Powers or Ryan Hollingshead or, dare to dream, Jose Gomez falls to our first pick we'd be absolutely idiotic not to take one of them. My only knock on Gomez is that he's only 5'-9" but that's minor. We need an attacking midfield general that can take control and direct traffic especially if Dawkins is gone.
I don't think the draft is a good place to find a #8 CM to back up Baca. If we want another #8-type to back up Baca we should get it on the mls free agent market (aka "re-entry draft") or free transfer (like those two J-league midfielders we had trialing last spring). Ballouchy will also at some point come back next season and be able to back up Baca as a #8. He's not great but he's a replacement player and a veteran which is what you want for a competitive team. Which brings me back to the draft... it's very tough to find CAM's who can step in and play at the MLS level. Many of the highest rated college CAM's, guys who are more highly rated than Ryan Hollingshead, can't even get playing time in MLS (Corben Bone, Ampai, Enzo Martinez). The guys who do come and play get shifted out to the wing like DeLeon and Rowe. It's very doubtful that Hollingshead or Gomez could handle the #8 role in MLS. That being said I would be STOKED if we drafted Hollingshead, he is an amazing player. But it would leave our defense a bit shallow unless people think Suggs and Hustedt can contribute on the back line next year (or if we sign a free agent defender like maybe Solli out of NY).
I respectfully disagree. The situation with our midfield is tenuous at best as Baca runs hot and cold and we need more consistancy and direction in the midfield. If by some miracle Dillon Powers or Ryan Hollingshead or, dare to dream, Jose Gomez falls to our first pick we'd be absolutely idiotic not to take one of them. My only knock on Gomez is that he's only 5'-9" but that's minor. We need an attacking midfield general that can take control and direct traffic especially if Dawkins is gone.[/quote] my friend i hope you gaze your eyes at Carlos Alvarez, if that mock stands......we should be dancing from the rafters. what a phenomenal player. I just hope he has a lousy combine to allow this to happen. As all know around here i dont put much stock in the combine.
that he is from what i have heard, i havent seen him though. Alvarez fits the Baca mold perfectly for depth, very deleon / silva like. If hollingshead is comparable, even better if a player like him falls to us. hopefully one shoots the gauntet. also if Kyle Venter or Eric Schoenle are there, absolutely gotta look at them. I know Schoenle was popular last year here, but given the scarcity of top tier defensive prospects, its not likely he falls to 15
University of San Diego knocked out UCLA 5-2 in NCAA tournament. Guess Hollingshead will have a lot of time to think about where he will head before MLS Superdraft...
my friend i hope you gaze your eyes at Carlos Alvarez, if that mock stands......we should be dancing from the rafters. what a phenomenal player. I just hope he has a lousy combine to allow this to happen. As all know around here i don't put much stock in the combine.[/quote] If it comes down to a choice between Alvarez and Hollingshead i'm in Ryan's camp all the way. Puting Alvarez on the field with Baca would give us one of the shortest midfields in MLS, at least Hollingshead has the height and the weight to bang around in our very physical league.
Hollingshead definitely knows how to use his size. Check out his flick-on header here for the assist:
Since the Pac-12 sh*t the bed this year in the NCAA tournament (both UW and UCLA knocked out yesterday), I wonder if a lot of the west coast talent will fall in the draft and be available for us to grab in the later rounds. Guys like Oregon State's Emery Welshman (he is much better target forward than Pizarro in my opinion) or Hollingshead.
you know frank loves his west coast guys. It seems consensus with our first two picks we want to go a CAM in the mold of Baca for depth, and a central defender. Hopefully we can get one, possibly two guys who make the roster for these requirements. One thing we arent thinking of, i wonder if Frank will pull any fast ones and get us another MLS proven performer like Lenny.
he could run into the billy beane problem... once you've swindled too many people in a row in trades, other teams will simply refuse to deal with you. JD/FY dumped nick garcia's salary on TFC for nothing, stole Wondo from Houston, stole Lenny from Columbus, and stole Gordon from TFC. we could probably get burling for next to nothing from chivas. maybe justin braun too (although he's redundant with marcus tracy here). for a #8 cm.... Luiz Camargo's playing time has really dried up the last couple months in Houston, wonder if he is available.
If we're just talking about the draft, then I would take either an attacking mid (or holding mid) or a central defender, depending on which was the best player available at the moment. Not that I'm a fan of best player available, regardless of position. But rather, if we can take a so-so holding mid or a quality central defender, well, we go with the defender. In part, I base this on the fact that we have Ring and Hustedt in the fold right now, so we are not sweating for another central mid. (I suspect that Baca will play better and more consistently in '13 than in '12.) Whereas, we are are hurting at central defender. Ike is gone, or might be, and he's not great in any case. Ramiro is likely to retire or play an even smaller role next season. I know he wants to hang on until the new stadium opens, and I can respect that, but he's not good enough any more. So we really need some defenders. Oh, and Ward is officially gone too. So I might well take a defender with the first pick, depending on who was on the board, and if there were players I wanted that I was certain would go undrafted. GO QUAKES!! F#$% el-lay!! - Mark
was just thinking about this... Seattle is not in the CCL next year so they're gonna lose a bunch of that CCL allocation money. they are gonna be in a cap squeeze and may need to move players. I wonder if we could get Evans or Rose from them.
i do agree that central defense seems to be a priority, and people very often forget about Hustedt. I dont know if it is they have little faith or they literally have forgotten about his existence. But yes he is an option. However this is a class ironically where central defensive prospects are few and far between as far as first round grades go. The mock with Carlos Alvarez, and Hollingshead going right before......hell i would take either one of those guys instead of reaching badly on a central defender we could get in round 2.
heres some other nuggets i just found http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/11/2013-mls-draft-the-latest-on-the-generation-adidas-class.html http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/11/sbi-mls-draft-big-board-version-2-0.html with Zavaleta and Andre Blake likely staying this all of a sudden becomes a very weak class. Some names there around where we are picking are Eric Schoenle, Taylor Kemp, Ashton Bennett, Ryan Hollingshead, and Will Bates. If Alvarez somehow falls that would be awesome
let's just be safe and take one of the CB's - WV's Schoenle or Gtown's Muller. CB's are generally the most MLS-ready draft prospects and have the easiest time adjusting and contributing minutes in their rookie year for the most part. you look at guys like Tim Ream who was a second rounder in 2010, bobby warshaw the #17 pick in 2011, and tommy meyer the last pick of the first round in 2012. i love alvarez and hollingshead but we don't need them right now. and with regards to forwards, i think emery welshman would be the perfect yallop-style target forward. that guy is a beast. the single most impressive player i saw in the pac12 this season. but again like hollingshead & alvarez, we don't really need a guy like welshman right now since we already have marcus tracy as a #3 target forward on the depth chart. although i could imagine a scenario next year where gordon goes down with a long term injury, we find out tracy is done and will never play again, and lenhart gets suspended or picks up a knock, and then we are forced to start playing wondo at target forward or lone striker or something crazy.