MLS Draft Thread(Crew)

Barry Rice is another Ohio player that is still out there.

 

thanks for the live update

 

Any chance we take Two-Boys with one of our picks. I haven't seen him drafted yet.

 

Something tells me we want to get either Verhoff or Sarkodie and call it a day...

 

There goes Sarkodie

 

Well then. I guess it's going to be Verhoff.

 

Johnson and Sarkodie are gone at 51 and 52.

We're getting towards the bottom of the barrel here. Who will be left at 60, 61, and 63?

 

Verhoff, Blades, and Rice still left

 

Bright Dike

 

BTW, ESPN had Dike as the 4th best striker available when we drafted him. So... it wasn't that much of a reach.

 

Just curious, but has anybody considered that Bright Dike might not have been drafted to be a forward, but instead a defender? I don't know if this happens as often as in the past, but it used to be that you could convert forwards to MLS defenders, and the logic was that a lot of highly talented players are shoved into the forward mold early on, but at the pros that isn't really going to be their best position. I'm looking for a silver lining here, so humor me.

 

I'm not judging, just taking that softball cleazer tossed out and hitting the obvious home run.

 

Seattle just picked.

Crew is on the clock!

 

Verhoff, Blades, and Rice, here we go!

 

Kwaku Nyamekye from Harvard and Othaniel Yanez out of Louisville.

 

I'm going out on a limb and saying we pick up Two-Boys with one of our last picks. Just a hunch though.

 

Nyamekye is supposed to be very good, Yanez "no way Jose, too negative" says Mauceri.

 

Interesting.

http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msoc/2009-10/bios/nyamekye_kwaku - Swiss F/D. (!!)

http://www.uoflsports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/yanez_othaniel00.html - American M/F

 

63. Shaun Francis from Lindsey Wilson

 

Played for the NAIA champs. He's a winner.

 

http://www.lindseyathletics.com/roster/14/2/2523.php

 

Well, he sounds a bit like Knox Cameron to me. Robert did like Knox (and we did win some games with him up there).

I had no problem with Duka at #8. He's a GA. He's a versatile midfielder (more of an attacking CM who could play wide as well). Certainly Bone or even Gavin would have also been interesting.

But the Dike thing is shocking. Yes, we needed some F help. But there were good GA midfielders still available (Bone, Gavin). Duka + Gavin/Bone would have been a huge upgrade over Elenio and Grendi on the Dev. Roster. And with more wide options, maybe Gaven/Ekpo could have seen more time inside. Downer would have been no forward help.

If we wanted to go the non-GA route, seems like Akpan would have been the better choice, but others apparently had him falling as well.

Still, you can see Robert wanting to play down the flanks and get crosses in. Very Poland of him. We have another target guy. 6-1 is one thing. 223 is another. That is a beast, my friends.

Overall, I'm pleased with Duka. I think he will help, but I think we could have done better.

 

Nyamekye looks like a good pick. He's supposed to be a solid center back. Yanez is supposed to be nothing special. No idea about Francis.

Why would we not take All-Americans in Rice or Blades and ignore Verhoff? The coaches must have really not been impressed with Verhoff when they've seen him in person.

 

Ives had Nyamekye as a second rounder in his mock draft, and Yanez as a third rounder:

 

I'm not too upset. We'll see what happens with our three late picks, but Duka is quite skilled, and Dike is the kind of guy who can really clear space. (I don't think the guys in the studio were as negative as this thread might have implied - I just watched the draft off my PVR.) Like Lalas said, Dike coming off the bench is the kind of player who makes defenders groan. If he's got any ability to strike the ball (especially with his head) he could be an incredibly effective late-game sub. Even if it's just to clear space for other players (Marshall + Brunner, for example).