2018 MLS SuperDraft thread

Fair enough. Without a top draft pick, the stakes aren’t real, real high. But hopefully they’re ready to have an informed crapshoot at least. We’ve done reasonably well at times.

 

Wyatt Omsberg...Hmmm Kind of sounds Scandinavian in origin, our coach and GM seem to be leaning that way so maybe we should roll the dice for a speedy 6'-4" defender.

 

Agree. You can't coach size. Can perhaps improve a bit with speed and agility. He has checked all these boxes already. Soccer brain is where coaching can make the most difference. I assume this guy is no dummy coming from an Ivy. If he is not a locker room poison, I think he has a lot of upside for our back line.

 

Yeah, that was the point I was trying to make earlier in this thread. Maybe there is something innate or at this point unlearnable about soccer brain also but it seems like there is a better chance of improving that then there is the physical stuff. While it's true to some degree that soccer is not about size and speed, the Quakes have a team full of 5'7" midfielders with average speed. It is really homogenous in terms of physical makeup. Would it kill them to get someone outside that narrow band? If Ike Opara didn't struggle so much with injuries he would have been one of the best MLS defenders for the last five years or so.

 

Ah!! Now there is some analysis I can get behind. Even if he spends the year in Reno, we're going to continue to need speedy attacking players into the far future, so this guy might be a good call.

Again, I haven't watched any college soccer this year. (What a bad a lazy boy.) But at least the thinking behind this is something I can get into.

Here's more good thinking!

We need some young CBs, and again, even if this guy (or guys) spend a year or two with Reno, we will continue to have a need for tall central defenders going forward.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

I don't know about this stuff either, but I'd up for scouting it!



Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

A lot of the soccer brain is actually natural and cannot be coached. It has little to do with "book" intelligence. A bit of it can be coached but very difficult especially at higher levels, there are so many other things going on in training and usually it's about the team not individual players. And if a player has to catch up just to understand the game at the prior level they played, forget about it. This doesn't mean that a guy like Omsberg shouldn't be selected, he does have a certain depth of understanding and seems genuinely interested in continually improving.

 

What do you mean "unlearnable about soccer brain"? Soccer brain is all about learning, and the way that happens is the player having to figure it out on the field over hundreds of hours, continually improving their soccer brain as the level of competition increases. Only a few players can do this, it is not something that can be coached to a great extent. Of course it is always better to have a guy with great speed, size and soccer brain all combined. Nobody disputes that. But, neither great speed nor size by themselves will translate to success at the pro level. So lacking any actual skill much less soccer brain you simply must pass on the player as the chance for improvement is close to zero. Simply selecting on speed or size is so wrong and is exactly what keeps U.S. soccer in the dark ages.

 

What I actually wrote is that it may be "unlearnable at this point", actually giving you credit for your point of view that it takes countless hours, etc., and requires a certain aptitude. And yet it can't be entirely black and white - 100% either have it or you don't. There must be gradations in-between incredible soccer brain and no soccer brain. My point, once again, is that while it may take hundreds of hours, it is still at this point more "improvable" than physical characteristics. Did Ike Opara have a a great "soccer brain" when he came into the league? I don't think so. But he has always had great physical skills. And now he is Defender of the Year.

 

Yeah I guess there are gradients and you can always learn to some extent, and different people can learn different amounts regardless of age or development stage. So you are right there is no absolute "soccer brain". And you can even make an argument that some positions don't require the same extent or have as much importance. In MLS you can get away with having a CB who is almost purely physical (e.g. Muma). Of course by "get away with" it doesn't necessarily mean winning championships.

 

Make it happen front office!

 

if I were to put money on a pick that's where id throw it. Hes one of those scandianavian-ese types and we need a center back in a bad way. transitive law......

 

Well he definitely checks all the boxes, Tall, athletic and very fast and he fills a position that desperately needs filling. Even if he has to play a season in Reno I say we should try to grab him.

 

with the dire level of central defenders we have right now, i dont even think a loan is necessary if we go that route. Hes guy 4, pushing for guy 3. Good spot to be IMO. If he can help the squad now, then dont gotta loan. and we know the notorious durability of SJE centerbacks, he will be called upon.

(still dont think itd be such a bad situation if JJ Kovall was still given a shot as a young centerback but thats not here or there. I bet the new regime would have given it a fair run out and hed still had been an option)

 

We can't go just by the combine performance test, but assuming the evidence is there that he actually plays with pace, then I think it would definitely be worthwhile to target him. But right now he is rising in the draft boards and may not be available at #12. Fiddes, Blackmon and Bye are other fast defenders (according to the combine performance test) who also have decent quality and might be good punts.

 

It seems like a lot of players that weren’t outside backs in college are projecting to need to change to that position, including the Portuguese CB that might go #1. So, it might turn out that Quakes will draft 2 guys pegged for that slot in the 1st two rounds. It just ups the issue of crapshoot, but with some guys looking okay despite being out of their comfort zone for position that could make a weak class turn out okay.
Good chance if Quakes follow their history though, they will also draft someone that wasn’t even invited to the combine. Yeuill wasn’t a surprise, but I expect to end up surprised again this year.

 

This one has Omsberg falling way down:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...st-round-predictions-and-full-selection-order

 

The draft pick prognosticators are always wildly wrong. They may get some of the top five picks, but after that, they are way off the mark.

Given that this is so, it is impossible for our staff to know who will be available and who won't when we pick. Therefore, I assume, and believe, that we have a long list of guys we're looking at, and cross off names as they get taken.

And yeah, we're likely to be surprised by at least one or two picks, or even that OUR team has picked someone we wanted them to pick!! Yippee!!

There are plenty of player available in the draft who are good, kit's just a question of picking those guys we can use, and being patient enough to let them develop. (Which might mean a season or two in Reno.)

Go Quakes!!

- Mark