Also, what's up with all of the ".5's" on the rounds? Seems like somebody at MLS HQ needs to take a refresher course on basic math.
It looks to me like RSL did the better job. Kries, Williams, and Countes is a decent nucleus to build your team around. Of course, Jason can be a bit of a prima donna, though he spent a lot of this past season on the bench. Chivas took EZ, Gomez, and Orlando Perez as their long-time veteran guys. I think that EZ is probably a pretty good choice, and I've always liked Gomez. Perez is a hot head. Probably not the sort of player you want your youngsters imitating. Unless you want a team full of thugs. And I must admit that I'm not familiar with all of the players taken, but CDC took a lot of young guys and they are going to draft a bunch of young guys. Of course, they still have some foreign and discovery player slots to fill. They'll get some veteran players that way too. LONG LIVE THE QUAKES!! - Mark
Wow, what a reversal from last year, when the team appeared to be over-stocked with forwards. They'll probably need to pick up a couple. Maybe Levesque will finally be given more of a role. I'm still holding out hope for some speedster types though. Yeah, Jamil's gone, but I think the jury's still out on him. Hope for his sake he develops into a consistently good player, but not when he plays against the Quakes (OK, so not too consistently good).
So long, C. Brown and Jamil. I feel for Jamil. Now, he gets to go ride the bench in LA behind the Mexican-born strikers Chivas will bring in! On top of that, if he ever DOES get in, he'll go from being "JAM-ul" to being "ha-MEEL."
Please mods for the love of everything...delete the above post. We really don't want to go there...yet again.
I think with the selection of Walker, the post is best seen as mocking the previous general opinion of Chivas USA.
Looks like the Quakes really didn't want Jamil - even after another forward was selected they didn't protect him. Or they must think alot about Levesque. Actually I like both Hart and Conway and am glad they made it through the draft.
Draft Comments Not too many surprises today. Well, I suppose it was surprising that not only was Jonny Walker not taken (by either team), but the Metrostars had the audacity to protect back-up goalkeeper Zach Wells before they protected Walker. Ouch. However, Chivas is just filling in gaps and trying to pick up some young players who may or may not pan out. Real has a lot of work cut out for them, even if they pick up Clint Mathis. Building your offense around Andy Williams? Jason Kreis? They did make the smart move in picking up Pablo Brenes; that kid could turn into something special. It pains me to see Jamil Walker go. I never understood all the Walker bashing this year. Yes, his first touch leaves much to be desired but he has heart, speed, and great work-ethic. Yallop gave Jamil a chance and he thrived, helping us bring home another MLS Cup. He was not only hurt this season but was given little chance to play with a healthy Ching, meaning that he was only our second option off of the bench. With reserve teams being introduced next year and an expanded roster I saw no point in leaving Walker unprotected, especially given our potential dearth of forwards. It's a shame we lost him, we could still use him. markmcf8 One quick comment about picking up D.J. Countess: While I understand it. It looks like Keller is going to stay in England as long as he can (can you blame him?), so does Ellinger really want to start Countess? Yes, the two have worked together before on the U-17 level, but Countess is known to be a locker-room cancer, and if he loses P-40 status, will take up a salary of $100,000 p/y which will count against the cap. I think Real would have been better served by picking up a Henry Ring, cheaper, proven, and still young. Spejic If tearing up the A-League were an indication of anything Thiago Martins and David Testo would have torn up MLS by now. As it is, Testo languished on the Crew bench and was left unprotected for the draft (was protected today though.) Martins was injured this season, but that makes him no less of a gamble on Chivas' part.
For what it's worth: I thought Levesque was the clearly superior player in college. And I'm a Bronco...
That's probably true. But how many other MLS players could you say that about? Some guys (like Levesque) tore it up on the college level, but some just never show anything for it in MLS (Levesque certainly hasn't been given that chance yet.) Take Chris Carrieri, for an example. We drafted him with the first pick in 2001. He had a few decent years, then got dropped down to the A-League. I had the "fortune" of seeing him play with the Fire against the Crew back in October (worst MLS game I've ever seen in person I might add.) Some guy in Section 8, not even recognizing who this mysterious "number 25" was (Carrieri was added to the roster because of injuries and hence had no name on his jersey), said that he was the worst player he had ever seen play in a Fire jersey. The A-League analogy holds up. It doesn't matter how well you've played somewhere else, if you can't transfer that to MLS it means nothing. Jamil played like a stud in the 2003 postseason. Until Levesque can show he belongs on the first team, I'll continue to make the point that Jamil was worth holding onto.
Carrieri is a special case. He didn't go to the A-Leage because of a lack of skill, but because his mid-level salary demands were squeezed out of Colorado. He could easily find a place in MLS again, now that it is back to 12 teams.
Is it true the Carrieri is also bad for the old team spirit? re: Levesque -- I had the pleasure of watching him play a bunch of games when he was at Stanford. He was successful because of his total game. He was dangerous on the ball and on the run. He was always, always the best player on the field. Of course I may be wrong but I thought if anyone could make the jump easily from NCAA to MLS it would be Roger. How was he ever going to catch a break on a team with LD, DeRo, Ching, Walker and even Chris Brown, and a coach who isn't known for going with the rookies? I sure hope he has a breakout year this year, we may need it.