Is it really "super?" Anyway, It's a week a way so we should have a thread to monitor draft talk, mock drafts, and pre/in/post draft analysis. I'll start by saying I dont know anything about the college game or its players but I'd be interested in knowing who you guys feel are the top targets both for us, and other clubs in MLS. Is this a strong or weak class? Also, MLS Mock draft from MLSsoccer.com http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft...occercoms-2013-mock-draft-pre-combine-edition
It's not particularly a weak draft class, when looking a the top guys. Last year, the top guys were Andrew Wenger, Kelyn Rowe, and Darren Mattocks. Those guys were all seen as guys who could come in and start right away for weaker teams. This year, however, the top guys are Andrew Farrell, Walker Zimmerman, Mikey Lopez, and Kekuta Manneh. None of those guys are expected to see much time next season, even for the bottom teams. That's not because they're not as talented, it's because, this year, the top guys are seen as prospects that still need development. The only guy from the college game that is seen as a guy who could start for weaker MLS squads, at the beginning of the season this year, is Gyasi Zardes! Two guys that I would like to see the Galaxy walk away with, especially with our two 2nd round picks, are Ryan Hollingshead and Joe Franco. Hollingshead is a MF from UCLA and Franco is a RB from Cal State Northridge. There is an obvious So-Cal connection, however that's not the only reason I like them. The real reason I like them is that both were projected as top 15, 1st round picks, but are now projected to be available in the 2nd. There are a lot of questions regarding Hollingshead religious mission and how long he'll be away from the game this season. Hollingshead is a two-footed guy that plays either wide midfield positions in a 4-4-2, and is seen as a perfect midfielder for that formation, more so then the 4-3-3. Franco was considered the consensus, hands down, best RB in college last season, and again, a lock for the 1st round. However Franco blew out his ACL in the last game of the season, and he's not expected to see a MLS field next year. However depending how his rehabilitation goes he could see some late season reserve league matches. I know we just signed Sotto as our future RB, however competition is never a bad thing for young players and both will be league minimum players too, so it's not a big issue. Bottom line is, I want to see the Galaxy pick up guys that have incredible upside, but who aren't ready to contribute right away due to circumstances, and other teams shy away and allow them to fall to us late. In the first round I really want LB Kory Kindle from Cal State Bakersfield. Kindle is another left footed converted forward. But he's really athletic, with great speed, good service, and good with his head around goal too. Because he's a converted forward, he still needs to be developed and polished to be an everyday MLS LB starter. Most people see him as the third LB chosen overall, however they all think he has the most upside out of all the LB's in this years draft though. To me, that make him, again, the perfect type of player for us and our development staff to draft. If we can walk away with our three SuperDraft picks being Kory Kindle, Ryan Hollingshead, and Joe Franco, that's a great haul for us. Now if we get crazy and add Walker Zimmerman to those three that would be amazing.
There is a profile in the Daily Bruin today on the UCLA guys likely to be drafted (Monge and Hollingshead). http://dailybruin.com/2013/01/10/two-bruins-earn-invites-to-mls-combine/ His teammates said Ryan is planning on starting his own church and is currently in Haiti. Doesn't sound like a guy who will be coming back to the game anytime soon.
I'd still want to draft him. Even if it's in the Supplemental Draft. Maybe him and Kaka can start a church in LA together.
I wonder if Bruce has kept up his ACC contacts with coaches there, who might give him a read on players in or outside of the combine.
I personally can't get as up for the draft as I should. I just don't know enough or care enough about college soccer. So I'm just going to take everything WarGalaxy said as gospel because I really have no clue. I have been reading that it's a LB heavy class which is good for us because we could use one.
I'd like us to take a left back and a center back From Ives http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/01/sbi-2013-mls-draft-big-board-version-4-0.html Center backs Eric Schoenle Tommy Muller Dylan Tucker-Gagnes Left backs Taylor Kemp Kory Kindle Jimmy Nealis Greg Cochrane For what it's worth, Ives has us taking Kindle and Tucker-Gagnes For the last pick, might as well take a chance on someone like Franco or Hollingshead
http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2013/news/article/2013/01/16/final-mock-draft-see-how-mlssoccercom-editors-pick-em Interesting mock draft. I was thinking that this was going to be pretty boring, but I'm really interested to see how things fall out. Two of them have us taking Hollingshead with our first pick in the second round. I'm not convinced although I don't know what kind of gamble it would be to wait until our second pick in that round.
Here is Ives: Has us taking Dillon Powers, Notre Dame, Central Midfielder Will Bates, Virginia, Forward Joe Franco, Cal-State Northridge, Right Back First two picks are kind of strange. Dillon Powers projects to be a DMid and we've got Juninho and Stephens (plus Walker, Garcia and Keat, but meh) . Maybe just because he fell so far. Ives lists Bates as a target forward, although that's not how I remember him when I saw him and he's only 6'. And we have McBean. And we don't necessarily use a target forward either. On the other hand, defenders (in his mock) are not lining up for us. Tucker-Gagnes and Muller are already taken and Schoenle is just too damn skinny. Kory Kindle was taken at 18 (that hurt) and I guess he doesn't rate Kemp or Cochrane.
I think we should gamble on Hollingshead. It would be a lot harder for him to turn down the Galaxy than any other team in MLS (maybe I'm biased, but we have the trophies to back it up)...and if he did sign, it seems like it would be a steal for us since he seems like he would have been highly rated (if it wasn't for the religious trip he is on).
I like in your mock when you said that Toronto might trade their pick, due to Zimmerman's poor effort at the MLS Combine. (WTF!) I think you might want to leave the mocks to the people who actually know who were at the combine this year.
Thanks, but no thanks. Everybody in the media who covers this league posts mock drafts, I don't have to be an exception. Personally, I don't understand why we still have this because we already already have the Academies getting the young up-and-comers. Blame the NCAA.
I heard Chivas plan on using their 2nd pick to grab a guy who is probably gonna fall around 10th. There is no way they are that stupid right?
But you do realize that Zimmerman wasn't at the combine? Right? So therefore you're making predictions based on... what? I know you want to consider yourself as part of the media, and that's why you're throwing your hat into the mock ring. However had anyone from a reputable site posted that comment about Zimmerman they would of immediately lost all credibility. Forever.
What's already written has already been written. I still mandate that Zimmerman will be traded. This is Toronto we're talking about. I'm going to keep this here on BS, but I also think he will be a bust like Besagno. I will gladly be proven wrong, though. EDIT: I think Walker would be held on to by TFC if he actually showed his ass up to the event. Just saying, Insider.
One of the people on MLSSoccer.com is offering to quit if Chivas USA does not pick Alvarez. You can look it up.
Apparently, they are that stupid, but we won't really know the extent of it until tomorrow. They also seem to have traded Labrocca, who although not a flashy player, was an all star candidate for Mexican American Eric Avila. Also, they're shopping Dan Kennedy around. I can't wait to see this team burn to the ground.
I can't get that up for this either. Will read about who we end up taking and not stress about anything else. We have a pretty deep squad. I'm mainly curious if Bruce will take a winger and/or defender.
Sadly, (for them) this is exactly what they're going to go. They conceivably could of traded the 2nd overall pick and allocation money to Vancouver for the 5th and 10th pick, where they could of gotten both Lopez and Alvarez with those picks.
That actually looks like a good trade for TFC. If Alvarez wasn't on their radar, and since it seems that Centerback isn't as pressing a need for them, sliding down basically one spot in exchange for allocation money seems like a good move. And NE moving up to grab Farrell seems like a good move... As we've seen with Gonzilla, one stud centerback can completely change your fortunes on the defensive side of the ball...