The draft's talent, even if not that great anyway, is mostly with attackers. I don't think that's going to work well for us since we need defenders. But as always, draft the best available and then just put them at Reno if necessary to see if they can be MLS level or not.
Friends - Check this out! These idiots think we should draft another central midfielder. WTF?! We need to draft defenders, even if they aren't #12 pick worthy. A central mid would be a waste. Omsberg would be a better choice for us. Another "mock" draft has us taking a forward, which is a little better. We could probably get some prospect defenders later and loan them to Reno where Ian will coach them into quality MLS level players. We need central defenders, outside backs (especially if we're going to play with four in the back), could use a speedy outside mid or two, and another striker could come in handy. NO Central midfielders, thank you. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Well, the other school of thought is: if there isn't a valuable player in the position of need, draft the most valuable player available. They still have value and you can use them to trade for a defender later. We really need to package Alashe and draft picks as trade bait to move up and take Thomas Hilliard-Arce. Hopefully we can talk LAG into this. That would be Hilliard-ious.
Unless a player with potential to immediately start in MLS is still available, I would suggest that draft selections shouldn't be based on need but rather the best talent that remains on the board. That assumes you can develop players, an ability the Quakes have yet to fully demonstrate. The reason for picking the best talent is that you can spend time to develop it (especially now with the affiliate teams) and then trade later for need. This is much better than selecting a player based on need who has little potential to actually succeed. Previously the Doyle brain trust tended to draft players who were personally known to them and had good character. Very little to do either with talent or need. That was stupid and lazy. Even if they were to try to do a proper job of evaluation, I don't think they knew how. And never mind development. So what factors could be used to evaluate "best talent" for development in a college draft (or otherwise)? Number one, an understanding of the game at an advanced level. Number two, a set of skills that could translate to playing in one or more field positions in a specific system or style of play. Those skill sets could involve many different combinations representing a particular "prototype". The prototypes that tend to get overlooked in the U.S. aren't necessarily skill players who are very good with the ball at their feet. Most domestic players who develop those skills do so to overcome severe shortcomings that otherwise make them incapable of playing at the highest levels. And worse, a player with natural abilities who is already pretty quick doesn't need to develop world-class dribbling, passing, shooting and game-reading skills since the speed alone would be sufficient to excel at the highest level of competition in this country. In other words, we're not about to develop anything close to a Messi under the current system. So I suspect we tend to make the mistake of placing too much emphasis on ball skills, possessed by players who don't have complementary skill sets to succeed at a professional level. Instead, we should focus on those prototypes we could successfully evaluate for further development. These would be players with a combination of game understanding and specific, not necessarily extraordinary, natural skills ... for example in the mold of a Phillip Lahm, Thomas Muller, Kevin De Bruyne, Ricardo Carvalho, or if we are talking current players in MLS then Diego Valeri, Seba Giovinco. etc.
Five players to watch at the 2018 adidas MLS Player Combine 5. Chris Mueller (Midfielder, Wisconsin) 4. Joao Moutinho (Defender/Midfielder, Akron) 3. Jake Rozhansky (Defender, Maryland) 2. Wyatt Omsberg (Defender, Dartmouth) 1. Gordon Wild (Forward, Maryland)
Armchair Analyst: 2018 Mock SuperDraft v1.0 12 Mohamed Thiaw FORWARD - LOUISVILLE Thiaw lined up everywhere across the front line for the Cardinals during his college career, and I'll admit I'm still not sure what his best spot is. But he checks a lot of boxes, and for the Quakes at this point it's just a matter of pure asset collection.
TDS: 2018 MLS Mock Draft: Version 1.0 12 Drew Skundrich Stanford M 5-10 165 Playing in San Jose's back yard the past four seasons, Skundrich should be no stranger to SJ's technical staff, even with the changeover. He's not a Scandinavian, though he's leadership and intangibles make him a strong addition to the team's central midfielder stables.
Hopefully we are beyond making the convenient Stanford pick just because we saw them play a lot. Jackson Yueill was an exception to that rule, but also a post-Doyle pick. Of course we don't have a real high pick this year either.
Oops, I accidentally posted 1.0 from Dec 25, here is 2.0 from Jan 10... 2018 MLS Mock Draft: Version 2.0 12 Christopher Lema Georgetown M 5-10 160 New Homegrown signing J.T. Marcinkowski can put in a good word for Lema to the San Jose coaching staff. In the right system, Lema's a quality No. 6 that can bring stability centrally.
2018 MLS Draft Big Board: Version 1.0 Rank Name School 1 F Francis Atuahene* Michigan 2 M/F Ema Twumasi* Wake Forest 3 D Tomas Hilliard-Arce Stanford 4 F Christopher Mueller Wisconsin 5 F Jon Bakero Wake Forest 6 M Rafael Andrade Santos VCU 7 D Joao Moutinho* Akron 8 D Tristan Blackmon Pacific 9 F Mason Toye* Indiana 10 F Daniel Musovski UNLV 11 M/F Alan Winn North Carolina 12 D Justin Fiddes Washington 13 F Mohamed Thiaw Louisville 14 M Mo Adams* Syracuse 15 M Christopher Lema Georgetown 16 M Ken Krolicki Michigan State 17 M Jake Rozhansky Maryland 18 M/F Jon Gallagher Notre Dame 19 F Gordon Wild* Maryland 20 F Brian White Duke 21 F Marcelo Acuna Virginia Tech 22 D Wyatt Omsberg Dartmouth 23 D Carter Manley Duke 24 M Drew Skundrich Stanford 25 M Oliver Shannon Clemson 26 D Tim Kubel Louisville 27 M Jose Carrera-Garcia California 28 M Manuel Cordeiro Akron 29 M Alex Roldan Seattle 30 F Arthur Bosua Columbia The board goes to 50, but since we have picks 12 and 30, I only posted up to 30. Weird that the two players they had us taking with the 12th pick are ranked 15 (ok) and 24...
If Gordon Wild is there at 12 we we take him as Wondo's eventual replacement (after passing up on Patrick Mullins, who I wanted us to draft as Wondo's understudy in 2014)? He had 33 goals in his first two college seasons, and would have been one of the top picks last year if he had come out. Now he's coming off a terrible junior season (only 5g 2a, and two of the goals were PKs)... Maryland is one of the top programs and he was surrounded by talent (Eryk Williamson, Jake Rozhansky, Sebastian Elney, etc.) so failing to score in his final 13 matches looks pretty bad.
From your mouth to God's ear, or in our case, the front office. Scoring Arce would be the biggest coup ever in Earthquakes history in relation to our Draft.
Who knows what is going on with international slots. The front office should have an idea, based on whether certain players are about to get their green cards. If we do have an open international slot, we should use it on Rafael Andrade Santos if he falls to us at 12 because other teams don't want to use one on him. Matt Doyle has him dropping to 17 and says this about him: He was probably the best No. 10 in college last year, but the Brazilian might end up being a better long-term prospect out wide on the left as a wingback, or maybe even as a fullback. TDS has him going 14 to Atlanta in 1.0: This would be a perfect landing spot for Santos, the best attacking midfielder in college soccer this season. Also capable of playing as a left back, he would thrive under head coach Tata Martino -- provided the team has enough international roster spots. 13 to SKC in 2.0: After dealing Benny Feilhaber to LAFC, SKC could take a flier on Santos, a Brazilian attacking midfielder that could slot in as a No. 10 or as an outside forward in a front three. He comes with international status, though there should be no doubting his quality.
I could see trading Godoy for LAFC's first pick and then drafting Arce. Even assuming Jungwirth might have to start at CB for a while, that still leaves Ceren with Alasha as a backup at d-mid (and Yueill could slot in there as well). Arce might be ready to start this season, but it would be better if he did so next to an MLS veteran.
That's a steep price, but may be worth it in the longer run. But you have to be really, really confident he'll MLS caliber player. You don't give away known value for unknown value easily.
Not 100% certain but I suspect Arce is the most-MLS ready player in the draft. I wouldn't really suggest giving up a Godoy level of value for anybody else. Also if they do get Quintana then the urgency to add another CB won't be as great, but I'd still think it a wise move to lighten on d-mids in favor of CBs especially if it helps with international slots.
I think it would take more than Godoy to swing the deal for the number one pick to snag Hilliard-Arce... but I'd do that deal in a heartbeat.
I remember many years ago there were two 'can't miss' CD's in the draft. Both went high. Chad Marshall (Stanford) had a long MLS career, but never really rose above journeyman MLS player. Of the two, he was drafted first. Cochrane (SCU), drafted next by the Quakes was out of the league in a few years. No less than Johnny Moore said he thought the Quakes got the better of the two. Point being: college drafts are a crap shoot. Odds are much higher of getting a bust or mediocre player than getting a top level player even with high picks. I think Godoy has to be considered an MLS top level player.
A fair point but you short-changed those two defenders, especially Chad Marshall, who has won MLS Defender of the Year more times than any other MLS player. He is far from a journeyman - one of MLS's best ever defenders. Cochrane wasn't all that good but lasted 8 years or so and won a few MLS Cups with Houston. Sadly, the Quakes managed to miscalculate him not once but twice - once as a high draft pick and then they made him their 1st pick of the expansion draft in 2008! As GW Bush said, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, um......you can't get fooled again!"
Do you mean "journeyman" in that he's nothing special... Honors Columbus Crew Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 2008 Major League Soccer Supporter's Shield (3): 2004, 2008, 2009 Seattle Sounders FC Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup(1): 2014 MLS Supporters' Shield(1): 2014 Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 2016 Individual MLS Defender of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2014 MLS Best XI: 2008, 2009, 2014 Or do you mean "journeyman" as in he's moved around to many different teams... Senior career Years Team Apps (Gls) 2004–2013 Columbus Crew 253 (16) 2014– Seattle Sounders FC 118 (7) Because either way you couldn't be more wrong. Also it's a bit early to use "had" to describe his MLS career, considering he was starting in MLS Cup just a few weeks ago and is still under contract.