The official 2019 superdraft thread

So Camara is the only Canadian not counted as domestic because he didn’t play in a US school. I would think that might mean he really was drafted for Reno.

 

Can anyone remember the last time the Quakes got an A+ grade for their draft picks?
Or for anything else? I can't.

2019 MLS SuperDraft Grades

San Jose Earthquakes
GRADE: A+ Two of the best attacking players in college soccer in 2018 were picked up by the Earthquakes in Siad Haji (No. 2) and Sergio Rivas (No. 26). While both have developing to do, few teams matched their draft-day haul in terms of bringing in upside. Mamadi Camara scored some sensational goals in Division II for Simon Fraser and is a handful physically.

Draft summary:

• Siad Haji (Round 1, #2)
• Sergio Rivas (Round 2, #26)
• Mamadi Camara (Round 2, #46)

 

Four or five college draft picks in the national team camp? Wow, I thought going pro earlier was the narrative everyone was supposed to believe? If that is the case, isn't it better for kids to finish their education as opposed to forgoing it?

Garber: SuperDraft will always have important role

 

Just read the article and the average of those grades is not a "C". Weird curve there.

 

And I think he is affiliated with TopDrawer and we knew he liked some of those guys going in. I think we just hope this year that the Almeyda & Co's convergence with him on evaluations of players means they all happen to have it right!

 

My nonagenarian Mom hates Brandi Chastain. Says she's lazy. This after watching her play for Cal.

 

Brandi didn’t play for Cal. She played at Mitty high school and Santa Clara University...

 

Can't believe we got Rivas and Haji, we may not see them play in San Jose this year but we'll get them in Reno, hopefully they'll get many minutes under their belts. Good job front office, you get a cookie.

 

Part of the my being a fan of soccer, and the Quakes, is the game itself. But the other part is the story as it unfolds each year. With Almeyda, then the new transfers, and now this interesting group of draft picks, I like the story right now. I hope it has a happy ending

 

Brandi Chastain played one season at Cal and then transferred to SCU. I remember reading once that she was pretty unhappy at Cal.

 

I didn't read back through this thread, but I saw this article on how Philadelphia traded all 5 of their draft picks for some paltry GAM.

In addition, @ExtraTimeRadio interviewed a lot of coaches during the MLS Combine, and some of the things I heard:

• Mandated in 2007, in its first 5 years the MLS academy system was not productive
• Over the last 5 years, now that coaches, education, facilities are in place, academies have become the major source of young talent
• Colleges are only getting the 2nd tier of talent because the top tier is going to the academies
• MLS staff at the Combine are mainly interested in attending "winter meetings"
• Interest in the players at the Combine is mainly by USL coaches and staff
• Many players come to the Combine with a USL contract in hand, which they can decline if they get an MLS contract
• Peter Vermes said that the amount of money each club has to put in for the Combine would be equivalent to and better spent hiring a scout to be knowledgable about college players. And then conduct the draft over the phone.

 

Oh wow I never knew that. Just looked it up. Looks like she ended up staying in school for five years.

 

Warshaw and whoever doing the commentary did mention some reporting that Combine was going to be phased out, potentially with the one they just had already being the last one.

 

Yeah, I just saw a Paul Tenorio article for the Athletic, where he also said it may get phased out very quickly.

 

3rd round pick, #50 overall, Nathan Aune, Seattle U. defender

 

4th round PASS. Draft is complete for the Quakes.

 

I've never noticed this before... what happens when a team passes? Is there any future compensation? Why would you pass, is there some substantial cost to picking some college kid and having him train in preseason?

 

It means they don't consider anybody worth the expense of flying him out and putting him in a hotel.

 

I wish we had taken more defenders.

However, we could still nab some defenders who get cut by other teams, send one or more of those guys to Reno and see if we can make something of them. We know that we are going to need more defenders going forward, same for strikers.

I have to hope that Matias and company know what they are doing.



Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

It could be worse, we could be LAG. They traded for picks and then passed, LOL.

 

If you're going to pick a CB to mold into an MLS level defender, 6'4" gives the Reno coaches plenty to work with... hopefully he's fast for his size.

Just searched youtube and found this:

 

This has both Aune and Rivas:

 

I know this will make some poster's heads explode, but I was hoping that we'd take Akeem Ward.

We desperately need a left side defender, we don't really have one, excepting Lopez, and that means that we don't have a backup. Also, we're going to be in the same boat next season, and the season after.

Unless the "braintrust" thinks that either Marie or Partida or both are going to come good this season or next, I'd have taken Akeem. Even if he's only ever good enough for Reno, Reno's starting left back is getting old, so it's still a good move.

So, now I'm going to have to watch the progress of both Siad Haji (I hope he's great!!) and Ward and see how they both pan out.

Also, I should really investigate our academy and see who's showing promise there.

Go Quakes!!

- Mark

 

Thanks for the videos @xbhaskarx. Aune appears to have some speed. We should need him this year, but he could well be useful down the line. Rivas could be good too. Here's hoping!

Go Quakes!!

- Mark