I would comment on this, but after taking a huge hiatus from here during election and holiday seasons, I realize that my contribution would be ..... um, limited, at best. How do I know? Well, I just found out TODAY that Kevin Payne is no longer with DC United. Yikes.
With Salihi likely moving on and Dudar's status still in question. I still contend that depth up top and at CB remain the most important issues to address. I think wingbacks and wingers will wait till the supplemental draft. These would be my top five draft choices should they drop to DCU: 1. Dylan Tucker Gangnes 2. Dillon Powers 3. Ashton Bennett 4. John Stertzer 5. Taylor Kemp Gangnes is probably the second best CB in the draft next to Zimmerman and can be groomed(ala Chris Schuler) to take over for Jakovic or BMac if they move on to Europe. Powers and Stertzer are both hard working CM types that would fit well next to Kitchen. We'd be set at CM with Thorrington, Saragosa, and Rozeboom pushing Powers/Stertzer for time. Bennett would provide a nice speed option off the bench against a tired defense and would be a good 70th minute sub. The only negative with him is that he takes up an international slot I'm pretty sure. If all these guys are taken(and any others good GA or senior players that might fall far during the draft) then I'd take Kemp. He would probably be the best option out there at that point and is arguably the best fullback in the draft.
I keep hearing people say things about Europe in Bmac's future? How is this so? I cant see how after last season he earned a move to a better league. He's was good, but not great.
We've got one international slot available right now (that includes Dudar and Salihi). Wasting one on Bennett seems like a bad move, especially when we have decent (not great) coverage on the wings and can find similar players in the Supplemental draft and in lower leagues. I'll be shocked if we don't get a LB in a draft that has many good choices at that position.
The only thing entertaining about this draft is Alexi Lalas and his strange who-cares facts about players
Well, these days MLS is as good as a number of European leagues... BMac has the physicality and athleticism to play in a number of European leagues. But he also just renewed his contract last year.
fine with the pick. I think we have some defensive question marks, so why not draft some backup? I think DC has some wiggle room to go after our midfield insecurities.
Did we trade Kemp? I haven't been able to watch; when I saw our pick on the draft tracker, clicked Kemp's bio, it said current club: Montreal Impact
AFAIK, he's with DC. Tracker is likely wrong, as they tend to do that when typing up stuff in a hurry
This was a necessary pick. We needed another fullback. Najar has one foot out the door ... if not this year, he probably leaves next year. By then the concussions might finally catch up to Woolard, and Russell will reach retirement age. Might as well start investing in our fullback future now.
Or Najar might play midfield again, and move Korb to the right. Glad we have the JSF seal of approval.
I think the main reason it comes up is because when he left SJ for here there was a stated desire to go to Europe. And whatever he is, he's good enough to get a job there, even if it's not a glamorous one. The fact that he re-signed with us diminishes the likelyhood, though. He may have changed his mind. That's fine, just because your comments might be uninformed, old, and stale doesn't mean we can't ridicule them.
Steven Goff @SoccerInsider D.C. United tracked Taylor Kemp since freshman at UMD, saw him play countless times. Even recommended his hernia surgeon last fall #dcu
We've come a long way from trading for people -- then watching them fall to groin surgery mid-season. I like this idea of having someone who's already had his groin done. It smacks of an odd kind of forward planning...