Meram has Rod Dyachenko written all over him, from the two matches I saw him play. Very talented for the college level, but he looks to me like he could be easily disrupted with pressure and professional defending.
We need a talented center forward, an experienced leader in the center of defense, and a button down left back. We're not going to get the experienced leader outta this draft, and "the speed of youth" hasn't really been the issue with the left backs we've had, so I'm thinking you're right. The real question is, is Salgado a surer sure thing than anyone else, and are we willng to horse trade to get him? Heck, I'm sure we have some dirt on Soehn. Then we just corner Portland in the locker room again, and take their lunch money...
Meram finished his college career with a nine match scoring streak that included some multi goal games against some very legitimate competition: Michigan State Northwestern Michigan State Wisconson Penn State Central Florida South Carolina Maryland Akron All but two of these matches were road games. (Maryland's only home losses were to Michigan and Michigan State.) That's a pretty good lucky streak. I don't get to see that much college soccer, but as a Michgan grad I have watched the Wolverines whenever possible. Meram has embarrassed more than a few defenders from very respectable programs. He plays with skills that would mesh well in DC, though he probably shoots and scores too much to be a really good fit. Some of the other available players may be better, but I have to think Meram is legitimate. He sure finished the year better than some Hermann trophy candidates. He may not be #3, but the guy deserves respect. There are no guarrantees in the draft. I don't want to see a Michigan guy to fail with DCU, but it sure would be fun for me to see one succeed. Contrary to most posters here, I do think Ben knows what he's doing and look forward to seeing his picks.
Trading player for player I don't have an issue with. You (as a club) don't lose anything. It's the trading of players for picks (1st round pick to get Dyachenko back; 1st round pick, Fred and allocation money last year for Perkins) that pisses me off.
I expect that if the Goff rumor about Simms/Pontius is true, then you're likely to be pissed off. DCUnited doesn't need nine players at midfield, particularly if they are only going to play 35-38 regular season games, that's assuming the 10 reserve games don't rate. Why not trade one of the two for draft picks and/or allocation money to build towards the future?
They do if they all play different positions. You would expect to carry at least 8 (4 starters, 4 backups), so 9 isn't that surprising given the number of roster spots. Now trading a d-mid makes sense because there's an actual logjam. Between, Simms, McCarty, King, Morsink, Barklage, and Shanosky, there are way to many DM/CM, so I'd expect the highest paid one (Simms) to be on the trading block. But why the FO would want to trade Pontius is a mystery to me. Unless they're looking to grab another first round pick, it would make sense to keep a player who showed well when healthy and can play in positions where we have very little depth.
Agreed. I'll be surprised, and very disappointed, if they trade Pontius away. Before his injury he showed flashes of being quite good and I think he has huge upside. If they trade him away, it'd better be for some real firepower. I have to say that I quite like all the moves I've seen this offseason, so I'm more than happy to sit back and let Benny shape the team as he sees fit to do.
I think everyone is in general agreement with this sentiment. It wouldn't surprise me if we come to find out that Pontius is being used as "bait n' switch" for a trade - get someone talking, then hopefully throw out Simms or someone else. I think Simms is a serious trade offer. He's expendable with the number of players at the position available.
Regarding Pontius: I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if he was traded. He is young but already has a history of hamstring issues. Hopefully his recent surgery solved those hamstring issues but it may not have. He also had a real problem finishing (in 2009-I'll dismiss any performance issues this year due to injury); Chris Webb (during the UnitedMania podcasts) repeatedly called Pontius out for missing easy headers and straight shots on goal-almost as much as he called out Fred. If you people tell me his finishing can be dramatically improved then trading him might be a bad idea. But so far to me, he's looking like a very good college player that as a professional has scored a couple very good goals (his first in LA 2009, and in CCL at Toluca) but may not be able to make the transition. As Matt wrote, Pontius has shown "flashes of being quite good" not emphatically demonstrated it.
If Tino and Najar are the starting outside mids and Hernandez and New Striker are starting up top, where does Pontius start? Presumably not the middle, which wil be manned by Dax and Bustovic. You can argue whether Tino is better than Pontius or not, that's a fair debate. But if you're looking to move one of them, Pontius likely brings more in a trade.
With rosters expanded to 30 players now, I don't think having 9 midfielders is out of the question. Assuming you have 3 goalkeepers, that leaves 27 field positions. Now obviously it's not a 9/9/9 split between defenders/mids/forwards. In fact, I would expect this team to have more people from midfield forward. This is what I see as a probable breakdown of a 30 man roster: 3 goalkeepers 9 defenders 12 midfielders 6 forwards Some of those midfielders are combo forwards such as Quaranta and Pontius. To your other points, I wouldn't be pissed off if this team traded Simms. Pontius, yes, Simms no. Simms has regressed in my opinion and with a back log of DM players (not one of them I would rate as a replacement for Simms) it wouldn't shock me to see him go. Shanosky is not ready to step up yet (as I've been told by a few people who have watched him in training), but if you offload Simms, you really don't have a pure DM replacement. And if anyone mentions Morsink, then I'm done with this conversation altogether. I think with Shanosky in tow, I don't think they will go after a DM like Dillion Powers or Perry Kitchen if they're available at #3. I think that is WAY too high for a DM to get picked. Those top draft positions are for pure impact players like goal scorers or stud defenders. None the less, it's been a wild off-season so far and sure to get wilder over the next 6 weeks.
Totally agree. I'm a Michigan fan too and I've followed this team all year. I think Meram will be a solid pro, just not for the #3 pick.
Just to touch on a couple of points. 30-man roster playing at max of 40 regular games and probably a dozen reserve and friendlies? I'm guessing the team will go with 28 players through most of the season saving on salary budget (even though Uncle Will doesn't get the money, the team saves flexibility for the future) and roster space. The mixture of 3 GKs, 8 defenders, 8 midfield, 5 forward and 4 "extras) (any position, but these guys are most likely reserve game fodder) seems right. I don't consider Hamid, Najar, Shanosky, or White (and Sarkodie, or whoever is picked at #3) as "youth types" because I want them in the regular mix - I'd like to see each of them get as much as 500 regular game minutes. What future? I've already said it, even if this team pulls in a "big name" forward at DP, it still won't make the playoffs in 2011. There are simply too many holes. So far I like the changes made by Olsen. I think things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I'm wrong and the team wins everything, but I'm not holding my breath just yet. I think the team needs to continue to make a couple of upgrades. Moreso, I think players like Hamid and Najar and the #3 pick need to get more experience - sophomore slumps need to be played through. That's why I'm looking more to the future, 2012. Finally, what about drafting Sarkodie and moving him to what I think his more natural position of right mid? Push Najar into the middle of a diamond 4-4-2, with BB on the left, and McC behind Najar. I also think Najar could play two-way in a flat 4 man midfield because I recall him being fairly active on defense on several occassions. Having a Najar/McCarty midfield for the next five years could be a good thing to try. Quaranta can play right if Sarkodie doesn't work out . . . . I'm being slowly sucked in the Sarkodie at number three draft. . . . I'm moving into the light. . . . we'll just leave that alone.
Given that Goff mentioned Simms/Pontius by "parties involved" it could be wishful thinking on the party of the second.
Our threads namesake has spoken, and listed college GK's void of GA signings. http://proplayerpipeline.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/2011-mls-draft-goalkeeper-rankings/
Joe, What's your assessment of Jalil Anibaba and J.T. Murray? I know that you see Sarkodie and Vanetin as the most desirable fullbacks that could enter the draft, but would you rate either Anibaba or Murray among the top fullbacks after the Akron duo?