Just a review of the draft yesterday and the situations that USMNT-eligible players landed in. Ike Opara (3rd overall, San Jose) - Will likely be a starter on day one. With the current generation of center backs likely thinning out after this World Cup cycle, he could find himself right in the mix after a decent rookie year where the SJ defense shows some improvement. Zach Loyd (5th overall, FC Dallas) - The national team is not exactly longing for defensive utility men right now. If he becomes a stalwart player for a successful Dallas side, who knows. Amobi Okugo (6th overall, Philadelphia) - Don't know much about him, but he's been described as a box-to-boxer and his West African name bodes well for that position. Best-case scenario: Essien. Worst-case scenario: Djemba-Djemba. Likely scenario: Mo Edu. Jack McInerney (7th overall, Philadelphia) - Never been very impressed by this kid, and felt he was lucky to nab two goals in the U-17s a couple months ago. No obvious physical gifts, and all I hear is that "he scores goals". But being a fox-in-the-box in the Atlanta youth leagues and Bradenton is a lot different than MLS. Dilly Duka (8th overall, Columbus) - Same as McInerney, I view him as pretty overrated. Save for the spectacular chip goal, he was pretty weak in the U-20 tournament. Small, and lacks the pace and strength to be effective outside of a central playmaking position (a position I believe no MLS coach is willing to put him in). Zach Schilawski (9th overall, New England) - Know little about him, but Nicol must see something to pluck him this high. Blair Gavin (10th overall, Chivas) - Not likely to unseat Mike Bradley and Rico Clark any time soon. David Estrada (11th overall, Seattle) - Don't know much about him except that as a 5'8" guy born in Mexico, he's probably got some skill. Bright Dike (12th overall, Columbus) - I was kind of taken aback when I read negative scouting reports on this guy saying he was "all technique and size". That's a bad thing? I could live with having another Kenny Cooper in the pool. Corben Bone (13th overall, Chicago) - Primed for a Roethlisberger-style explosion to spite all the teams who passed on him. He's got talent surrounding him in Chicago and he's going to be my early Rookie of the Year prediction. Austin da Luz (14th overall, New York) - Sounds like a nifty player from what I've read. But I'm more interested in the strange similarities he has with my roommate, who's also named Austin, also has parents of Iberian heritage, also grew up in the Carolinas, and looks exactly like Austin da Luz. That will definitely get him a call-up once Sunil hires me to coach the national team. Collen Warner (15th overall, Salt Lake) - Know nothing about this guy. Feel free to chime in. Michael Stephens (16th overall, Los Angeles) - Unlike a lot of people, I think Thomas Rongen is a great coach and has good taste in soccer players. Stephens was obviously good enough to make his U-20 roster last year, and is supposed to be a real clean midfield distributor. Won't unseat Beckham immediately, but should become a solid player under Bruce Bruce. Anyone y'all see making waves for the senior team down the line?
Opara is going to (deservedly) get a chance before any of the rest of them and has the best chance of being an impact player for the Nats. And of course plenty of the other guys will be called up for the national team at some point. I'm not sre if any of them will have star quality though.
Hard to say at this point. Did people think Clint Dempsey was going to be a USMNT star when he came out of Furman? I know I didn't. All of these kids are projects in a way. Some will succeed, some will fail, some will become stars. If you asked me who amongst this group would be first to get capped by the USMNT.....it's still a tough question. It depends which kids are going to get an opportunity to make an impact the earliest. Opara's a good guess, though. By the way, I wouldn't be shocked if Tony Tchani ends up representing the US.
And doesn't Mwanga already have a green card? I'd imagine he wouldn't mind representing the US instead of the Congo.
Jack fits the Chris Rolfe and TightShirt Twellman mold perfectly. Jack had 6 goals in both Qualifiers and the WC (i believe) he'll be a solid MLS if he continues the path he's already gone down
There are always players drafted in the lower rounds who end up getting USMNT caps. For instance, Geoff Cameron was a 3rd round pick in 2008......and he'll be capped shortly. Robbie Findley wasn't a first round pick. Chris Rolfe was a 3rd round pick. It really is difficult to determine who amongst each draft class is going to become a USMNT player.
He'll end up being pretty good.......but he probably won't see much time next season. The typical problem of a U20 player.......hence why our U20 national team had so few players getting significant pro minutes.
i agree its unlikely he'll see any PT, however, i think him going to Philly is IDEAL... he very well could see some PT as its merely their first year...
I absolutely love Okugo. I saw him play a ton at UCLA this year and really think he'll be a really good player. Besides being very mature physically for an 18 year old, he is very poised and calm on the ball for a kid his age. I talked to a scout about him at a match and he told me that he thinks Okugo could be a real impact player for a top four club in a top four league at some point in his career.
theres always two or three guys from college that translate well. Last year it was Gonzalez, Pontius, and Alston. Theres also guys out of nowhere from the later rounds......much rarer but Bornstein was a 4th rounder and Cameron was a 3rd rounder. This year im thinking its Opara, Duka, and Bone. Tchani does count too, we just gotta make sure and not let him slip away. Mwanga stated he wanted to play for Congo already so hes gone. Tchani is still in our grasp from the USMNT Youth board braintrust. And you always have to pay attention to steve nicol and the revs he always finds someone useful in the draft. Some later guys are Irving Garcia and Justin Morrow, but you just dont know, its always interesting to see who translates.
I've talked to several scouts personally who say that Okugo could eventually turn out to be the best player in this draft. From what I've seen, it's very likely
Probably not. He'll be at Wake Forest still on day one. He might get minutes in June. But unless SJ have injury woes, he will be given time to get used to the team once he arrives in May I suspect. Yallop is generally conservative when it comes to throwing young players into the mix.