Mr. Martin has left to go to church services. I hope he is praying that we get the selection we have our eyes on. From our lips to God's ears . . (as if there weren't more important things to be concerned with).
It looks like Sean has been on the clock for 12 hours, so Mr Martin/deuteronomy are on the clock and can pick at any time. I will send them both a message.
We were going to pick after the 12 hours, but let it slide some. Will be posting shortly, and it wasn't going to be Gooch.
Since I was looking for a creative player this round, my three names were Benny, Rolfe, and Bedoya. Of the three, Rolfe was my favorite, but I can understand why others might prefer someone else. Specific to Bedoya, that move to Scotland a couple of years ago was really ill-advised. Didn't fit his style at all. Will be interesting to see where he lands next. For round five, Gooch was the only name my list, though I was pretty sure he wouldn't slip that far. Time to come up with some more realistic possibilities.
Wait a couple of rounds. Up ahead is less excitement, more fitting the needs of your team. And after that comes a mixture of desperation and wishful thinking.
Hmmm, new story on MLS web site. Report: DC's DeLeon called up by Trinidad and Tobago http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/01/27/report-dcs-deleon-called-trinidad-and-tobago Both for this year's draft and for the US in the coming years, I hope the kid declines the callup again.
Balerion, Good picks, I'm a bit surprised you didn't select Howard with your fourth round pick and Castillo with your 5th out of Respect for Howard. . .
He can't complain too much about adding the #1 GK and the #1 left back in the draft, but looking at his roster, I think he would've been better off if there hadn't been a run on midfielders leading up to his pick. He could really have used one of them.
I honestly thought about both as well for my picks, but while I think the world of Howard I couldn't do it with the drop off in talent at several other positions (like right mid for instance). I have never personally liked Castillo myself due to his struggles defensively. But he is definitely getting better in that regard and hopefully he can keep improving.
Deuteronomy, it's funny you mention that. The reason why I picked Castillo first was that when I posted the pick I wasn't 100% sure who I was going to pick next. Howard was a bit of a snap decision. I was considering a few other players -- and definitely a few midfielders, Hararea -- but at the last moment I decided that the top midfielders remaining on the board didn't separate themselves from the pack by enough distance to justify taking them at this point with Howard still on the board. So with that, you guys can end a run on midfielders and begin a run on left backs and goalkeepers.
MLSNHTOWN -- I feel your pain on Kitchen. I think he may have been an ever-so-slight overdraft, although I think he's a good pick. I doubt that he would have been available when your 6th round pick came around. Additionally, I am glad that you drafted him because I would have been really annoyed had he dropped 21 picks, only to see you snag him just before my turn came around. This is my third US Draft and my second picking on the ends of the snake. It certainly adds another element to drafting calculations.
Deportivo Vejete's pick at #51, 3d in the 5th Round, was coming down to Gaven vs Gordon, with a couple of other names also in play, but slipping down our team's priority list. MLSNHTOWN grabbed Gaven with the #47 pick, a player I really like, so Gordon became our pick. The drafting gets tricky from here on, as others have also noted. Do you grab the best player or fill a need from an ever-shrinking pool. We wanted another scorer, but didn't think Gordon or the few others still on the board would make it to our next pick late in the 6th Round. Waiting 18 selections between #51 and #70 allows for runs on certain types of players that one can't control and can't stop once they get going. I did also like the Kitchen pick, a promising young player, and I was wondering when Howard would be taken. Top of the 5th Round for the clear #1 keeper is certainly a great value.
Good picks, Gordon and Kitchen were on my shortlist, and Gordon was definitely the best striker left imo
Ahhhh, Martin, you're always a gentleman. You know we wanted Gordon the whole time. I have learned and would emphasize, balancing one's team early is critical. We have noticed with our picks so close together (it's 18 selections before we get another crack) that a number of players who would be an excellent complement have disappeared. Some of the things we like about Gordon was that: a. he balanced our team as a target forward option b. We thought he was the best attacking player left on the boards. c. Attacking options of quality are now very much scarce and at a premium.
Again, using Harper916's format, but only one round at a time (Harper provides a very useful full list of all rounds every few days): Fourth Round 37. bmo180 - Nick Deleon 38. Neuwerld - DaMarcus Beasley 39. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - Matt Hedges 40. Sebsasour - Michael Parkhurst 41. Harper916 - CJ Sapong 42. MI-Soccerfan - Clarence Goodson 43. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - Benny Feilhaber 44. Hararea - Chris Rolfe 45. Sean... - Oguchi Onyewu 46. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Alejandro Bedoya 47. MLSNHTOWN - Eddie Gaven 48. Balerion - Edgar Castillo DeLeon (15th Round) and Hedges (17th Round) are the biggest climbers from last year's draft. Castillo rose from the 6th round and Rolfe and Gaven rose from the 5th round, last year. Parkhurst and Bedoya remained very stable in Drafter's minds, sticking with the 4th round both years. Parkhurst actually rose only one spot from 41 to 40, and Bedoya rose one spot from 47 to 46. The other 5 players taken in this year's 4th Round fell from higher rounds. Onyewu dropped the most, from a 1st Rounder in each of the last two drafts (Giffenbone and I took him at #11 last year); obviously injuries and age taking a toll. Feilhaber and Beasley slipped from the 2nd Round. Sapong and Goodson fell from the 3d Round last year. Of the 48 picks in the first 4 rounds, I count: 0 Keepers 13 defenders 18 midfielders 8 offensive mids or wing forwards 9 forwards Though some may differ a bit on how certain players are categorized.
Looking back further, Gooch had been a first-rounder in four straight drafts and six of the last seven, peaking in 2006 as the #2 overall pick. He had never dropped beyond the second round before. It's been a long time since he had a run of success, and I'm not optimistic about his situation at Malaga, which is what made me pass on him. But I think Sean got a great player with that pick. He's healthy now and just needs to get games to shake off the rust.
Updated Draft Board First Round 1. Balerion - Clint Dempsey 2. MLSNHTOWN - Michael Bradley 3. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Landon Donovan 4. Sean... - Jozy Altidore 5. Hararea - Fabian Johnson 6. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - Geoff Cameron 7. MI-Soccerfan - Jermaine Jones 8. Harper916 - Graham Zusi 9. Sebsasour - Daniel Williams 10. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - Mikkel Diskerud 11. Neuwerld - Timothy Chandler 12. bmo180 - Omar Gonzalez Second Round 13. bmo180 - Josh Gatt 14. Neuwerld - Brek Shea 15. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - John Anthony Brooks 16. Sebsasour - Herculez Gomez 17. Harper916 - Stuart Holden 18. MI-Soccerfan - Sacha Kljestan 19. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - Steve Cherundolo 20. Hararea - Terrence Boyd 21. Sean... - Jose Francisco Torres 22. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Eddie Johnson 23. MLSNHTOWN - Chris Wondolowski 24. Balerion - Matt Besler Third Round 25. Balerion - Will Bruin 26. MLSNHTOWN - Chris Pontius 27. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Mo Edu 28. Sean... - Kyle Beckerman 29. Hararea - Juan Agudelo 30. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - Brad Davis 31. MI-Soccerfan - Joe Corona 32. Harper916 - Dax McCarty 33. Sebsasour - Carlos Bocanegra 34. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - Luis Gil 35. Neuwerld - Kenny Cooper 36. bmo180 - Aron Johansson Fourth Round 37. bmo180 - Nick Deleon 38. Neuwerld - DaMarcus Beasley 39. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - Matt Hedges 40. Sebsasour - Michael Parkhurst 41. Harper916 - CJ Sapong 42. MI-Soccerfan - Clarence Goodson 43. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - Benny Feilhaber 44. Hararea - Chris Rolfe 45. Sean... - Oguchi Onyewu 46. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Alejandro Bedoya 47. MLSNHTOWN - Eddie Gaven 48. Balerion - Edgar Castillo Fifth Round 49. Balerion - Tim Howard 50. MLSNHTOWN - Perry Kitchen 51. Deportivo Vejete(Mr Martin/deuteronomy) - Alan Gordon 52. Sean... - Eric Lichaj 53. Hararea - Michael Farfan 54. Real Soccer FC(soccersubjectively/joe cleats) - 55. MI-Soccerfan - 56. Harper916 - 57. Sebsasour - 58. Academìa C.F.(AutoPenalti) - 59. Neuwerld - 60. bmo180 -