Oh, and I take full credit for the entire hall shouting "Sit Down, Shut Up, You've never won a thing!" at the PBnJ (Pink Bull new Jersey) douchebags booing our pick of Duka.
Heard same awhile back, said if we got the guy they were looking for we would have heard of him but not a Gerard level. So probably a strong mid-level guy to go box-to-box and save Guille's legs.
I'm underwhelmed by the Crew's draft. I would have taken the offer from San Jose or taken Bone. Gavin, Bone, and Sarkodie would have been a good day. Dike sounds like Knox, version 2.0 If we do bring in a striker via discovery or allocation, Dike might not even make the team.
If the Crew didn't pick Duka then he would of gone to NYRB. Like HHM said in his post when he talked to McCullers....Duka is versatile. I saw him play at Rutgers and reminded me of Brian Carroll. I might still have the video I shot at the match that I saw him at. If I find it I will post it on here.
And Mike was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning: "Outside the ballroom, Mike Blankley stood with his face painted in yellow and black stripes, having come from Ohio to cheer the draftees of his hometown Columbus Crew. "My deal with coming here was about making the new guys feel like part of the family from day one," he said." Way to go!
I think Duka is supposed to be a lot more attack-minded than Carroll. I also wouldn't call Carroll very versatile...he's pretty much a one-trick pony.
MLS insider has an interview with Dike, also I checked out this article which states why he did not play his Jr year of college it's because he switched majors and was forced to sit it out. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/01/15/crew_draft_1-15.ART_ART_01-15-10_C1_O7GAB32.html?sid=101 [ame="http://vimeo.com/8624328"]http://vimeo.com/8624328[/ame]
I had what could only be described as a frighteningly vivid nightmare last night - Carroll suiting up for for Seattle in 2010.
Re: MLS Pre-draft Thread(Crew) With names like that they have got to be good....I can't wait to hear the Nordecke come up with a Bright Dyke chant.
Something to keep in mind- Of the current Crew roster, only a handful of guys have been selected by the Crew in a draft. William Hesmer and Danny O'Rourke- taken by Toronto in 2006 Expansion Draft, then traded almost immediately to the Crew for partial allocation Andy Gruenebaum- 1st Round(3rd) 2006 Supplemental Draft Kevin Burns- 4th Round(50th) 2007 Supplemental Draft Cory Elenio- 2nd Round(20th) 2008 Supplemental Draft Duncan Oughton- 1st Round(10th) 2001 MLS Superdraft Chad Marshall- 1st Round(2nd) 2004 MLS Superdraft Jason Garey- 1st Round(3rd) 2006 MLS Superdraft Jed Zayner- 2nd Round(13th) 2006 MLS Superdraft Andy Iro- 1st Round(6th) 2008 MLS Superdraft Steven Lenhart- 4th Round(48th) 2008 MLS Superdraft Alex Grendi- 3rd Round(35th) 2009 MLS Superdraft We only have 7 players on our current roster from the Superdraft. I'm not sure how that stacks up against the rest of the teams, but a ton of credit must go to Mark McCullers for assembling this current squad. We seem to have more luck trading our picks for allocations or players than we do when we draft them. Duncan has been good for so long, Chad was a perfect pick, Zayner and Lenhart are on the rise, and Garey/Iro(hes slow, but his talent has to show sometime)/Grendi(started earlier in the year then got the red card against Rochester and was hurt for the rest of the year) have potential. I expect Duka and Bright to make the team, but Bright's chances could be cut short if we go out and bring someone else in.
I think Duka is more of a Adam Moffat insurance policy if he is unable to return to pre-knee injuries form. To a lesser extent Rogers insurance if he transfers or is gone with USMNT. I found it interesting that Robert told Mitchell that Dike could come in right away and challenge for starting minutes. There must be something that Robert scouted about the guy that most other coaches missed. Or he just fits the mold of Robert's plans better than other teams (tactically).
Anybody else think that Bright kind of had the deer-in-headlights look on that video? Oh well, we're not all divas in front of the camera. Hopefully he brings the real deal to the field for the Crew.
I hope the Bright Dyke experiment works. Seems like Sigi and Warz(..) like to have a holding forward up front like Moreno. They tried like heck to get Knox Cameron to play that position but he just wasn't the guy to do it. It worries me, though, when it's reported that he isn't that good with his feet. That's the primary skill he needs to hold the ball up.
I don't think they drafted Dike to be a holding forward. From what I've seen, and that's only a video, he seems to be a one or two touch and shoot guy, or he'll run straight at the D make a move and shoot. If this is the type of player he is, he has a shot of starting if he can get some chemistry going with Guillermo. We all know he can put the ball wherever he wants. All he needs is someone to be there to receive it and put it in the net.
Lets be real- this dude is going to start off so far down the depth chart. Emilio Renteria doesn't have this guy's weight, but hes built like an ox. Lenhart is tall and troubles defenders. Garey is the best finisher of all our forwards(excluding Guille). Dike is going to be behing Lenhart, Garey, Renteria, and Schelotto- and that is assuming that Dike makes the team.
Let's be real. None of us has really seen this guy, so we don't really know what he has to offer until he steps onto the field in a Crew shirt. That goes for all of them. When you move up a level in competition, all of a sudden it's a whole new ballgame.
Well, Mitchell has Robert's take on Dike, and why they took him ahead of Bone, for instance. Robert think Dike can play right away, and the other guys (Bone, Akpan?) were more like projects. Don't know about that. From Mitchell: http://blog.dispatch.com/crew/