I suppose my opinion is simply this: you have those sort of "lack of depth" positions all over the field. That is simply the nature of the beast when you only have 18-20 players on a senior roster with the bottom of that roster being near minimum paid guys. We at least have one back up in Brunner and one fill-in with Rico. At LM we have no backup on the bench but must move players. At and attacking midfield position we have no back-up and maybe not even a starter. At right back we have one back-up. Given that, Dom picks the most value he has available, meaning any GA or the least expensive guy with the most upside (think Cameron).
I understand your point and generally agree, and am basing my opinion in relation to the need for a new forward compared to a LM/LB/CB.
OK, I agree with this! That being said, if a GA forward or a minimum salary forward with upside is available, he is taking him. Consider we added one forward (Cummings) but lost two (Kandji, Carr).
You are one of the most knowledgeable posters on these boards, and I take seriously whatever you think. I have high hopes for Omar.
haha, thank you for the compliment but it is unwarranted. : ) I just have a long history in the business side. Seriously though, that is my expectation and does not mean it is written in stone. I just don't have a warm fuzzy about our cap situation and I "think" the FO still wants room to maneuver in the summer. So unless a trade happens, I don't see us spending 100k on a draft pick that will hit the cap (especially Dom). Now, if you tell me we trade up to get a GA, I am intrigued by that possibility and it could be Zimmerman at CB in this case.
Unknown. On paper the answer would be no. We traded away one spot with the Chabala and Palmer deal leaving us with 7 which we have filled. However, I have heard those are sometimes traded for a time specific period, so it is possible we have it back. If not, with our allocation money, it should not prove difficult to buy one from someone.
One other thing to keep in mind is that Boswell and Rico will both be 30 by the time the 2013 season starts. That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to suddenly plummet in ability, but players do get more injury prone and slow down as they get into their 30s. I really have no idea what we're going to do, Dom is always fun on draft day so it'll no doubt be interesting. I like the idea of Blake Smith personally as I've also heard him mentioned as being able to play on the right so he can cut in with his left, sounds like he could be valuable both as depth and as offering a variety of positional options if we go 4-3-3.
And the live online draft broadcast will be here starting at 11am Houston time tomorrow, for anyone interested: http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2013
says a lot without saying much: http://www.houstondynamo.com/news/2013/01/depth-key-dynamo-thursdays-draft i think i've finalized my prediction.
It does say Dom is happy with CB and DM. So you may take from that those will not be the depth positions taken.
My head will explode if we take a DM. Everything I read and hear about the combine over the last day or so says that there are a lot of decent left-sided players in this pool.
Seems likely he takes attacking mid or LM in the draft if a cheap option is available. If a GA slips to 13, all bets are off though.
Most mock drafts seem to have Houston drafting with the entire pool of left mids still on the board. With Dom commenting on how we are good at CB, it really makes me think the following: He views Ricardo Clark as a viable CB option He views Kid N' Play as a viable CB option OR It's just pre-draft smoke....haven't seen much of it in MLS so I doubt it, but it's possible. Based on performance, I am completely ok with Taylor, Boswell, Brunner, Clark, Creavalle being our CB pool. We may possibly need a little extra depth at outside back then.
Which is why for the life of me I have never understood every team passing on Danny Cruz for two rounds. Sure roster spots are tight, but there should have been at least one team that took that guy before we did. Unless he signed something with the league that said he would go to Houston, it never made any sense.
The rules in 2009 limited GA players to four (if more older ones went to senior roster). Also you had to have a "development spot" open. So while I did not go through the entire draft, pick by pick, it is possible teams did not have the developmental spot or the GA spot available. Also 3-4 teams had multiple picks during the first two rounds and they may have just not rated him - which took a large portion of the "passed picks." (e.g. DC had five picks before we selected Cruz)
Ives reports lots of trade activity starting up. As a Dynamo fan, I'm just expecting to add a bit of depth tomorrow (unless we get involved in a trade), but as an MLS fan generally, it'll be fun to see what happens. I'm curious to see how the clownish FOs (Chivas, NYRB, TFC, maybe Montreal) deal with the whole thing.
You can already see Chivas working well. They announced who they are taking with the 2nd pick and every mock draft board has the kid in the 6-12 range. So instead of shutting the hell up, trading down 4-8 picks and picking up an extra 2nd round or some allocation money --- they now run the risk of the team picking first to either take the kid and trade Chivas for him and pick up something or trade out of the pick for someone that really loves the kid more than Chivas. I don't know what GM school those guys went to, but I guarantee you this draft strategery was not taught there.
Exactly! I see through their clever, conspiratorial scheming! There's no way they get Cam Weaver, man! No way!
So far Toronto has traded the 1st pick to New England for the 4th + allocation money and Colorado has traded the 11th pick + allocation money for Larentowicz.
If he drops and we have an international spot, I don't see why we don't pick Jason Johnson. Highly rated, was projected as high as a 4th pick, has had a bad combine so stock has dropped, versitile, can play both as winger and forward in the 4-4-2 or the 4-3-3, Jamaican, Generation Adidas. ....or to ruin Anderson's month we can draft a defensive mid and try to convert him into a CAM.
Surprised we didn't trade for Jeff Larentowicz instead of Chicago. I heard he's the next Beckenbauer.