Nikolas Besagno

Well with the U-17s, he's a tough and big d-mid that holds the ball well and is a fierce tackler. At the MLS level, he's a 16 year old rookie in a man's body. Who knows how/if he'll work out at this level.

 

Supposedly he has great speed as well.

 

Mr. Besagno was at the game on Sat and knocked the ball around at half-time. The comment that he has a man's body is correct. Apparently, since RSL drafted him, he has grown another inch and added another 10 lbs...He is now thought to be 6'1" and 185...and he looks it. Even if he does not grow any more, he's formidable looking.

Those who saw him last Wed at the reserves game did not see enough of him to guage his speed. I will say this, if he is a good ball winner and has speed, we may see him for RSL this year...our mid is sadly lacking in both of those areas.

 

I prefer to compare him to Chris Armas. Tough as nails but holding, very strong and can push forward when needed.

 

and...unlike Armas, he is a physical specimen who should be strong in the air. Remember, Armas has had his best games for the US against teams playing a South American style...on the ground with skills, vs over the top...he was exposed against Ireland (and I think he played against Germany) prior to WC2002...the bigger players physically dominated him. Nick should have no problems with size.

 

And more importantly, how does he stack up to O'Rourke.



.....Sorry, still bitter.

 

Ahhhh, , I was waiting for someone to come up with this. I spent quite a bit of time watching Mr. O'Rourke last Sat. He is solid: solid in the tackle, solid tactically, solid knocking the ball around...BUT, I did not see any reason to believe that he will ever be anything more than solid. He is not the second coming of Mulroony (hence one of the reasons the Smurfs are leaking goals).

According to all the reports we have been hearing, Besagno has the chance to be "special."

So, do you take the solid starter (who is better than Kamler) or take your lumps now and develop a star for the future? There is no question that we would be a better team NOW with O'Rourke, but in two years? We may be very happy we took this chance (Ellinger is betting on it).

 

I would like to read what you are reading. The only reports I have read that say this are directly from Ellinger and/or Real. Keep in mind that Basagno was a draft day shocker. Most people didn't even have him being drafted in the first round...let alone as the first pick. I hope he turns out to be great, but I haven't been convinced from what I have read that he will turn out to be any better than O'Rourke.

I admitted I was bitter. Not even as much about the Basagno draft decision, but more about the FOs inability to address the fact that we had a hole at D-mid until Basagno was ready. They didn't do anything to fill that hole. I have never been a GM, but I have watched MLS for 9+ years and I could have told you that Kamler wouldn't fit the bill.

 

Completely true...I think the front office recognized the problem because we heard some comments that they were looking for a d-mid internationally, but those stopped about the same time we got Pope...(no mun=no fun).

In the press Kamler has been getting a free pass...I think due to the fact our writers know next to nothing about the game and the front office is unwilling to throw him under the bus because they know he does not have what it takes.

 

Kamler isn't a superstar, but he has been getting progresively better at a foriegn position.

Now back to the topic...

Besagno (from my observations) is deceptively quick and a great ball winner in the air. He tackles well and is huge. I wouldn't be suprised to see him as a regular starter before the end of th 06 season. I also wouldn't be suprised to see him get a start or two in the summer months when he is with the team.

 

Besagno was not a draft day shocker, he was the best talent in a weak draft. This choice was the same as last year's NBA Dwight Howard vs. Emeka Okafor pick. Do you go with the more talented high schooler (Howard,Besagno) or the extremely accomplished college guy (Okafor, O'rourke). Both did very well and averaged double-double's (basically exactly what they should do) but Dwight Howard already has shown himself to be the right choice for the continued improvement of the franchise.

You won't be sorry with Besagno in the long run, he'd be playing now if he was in town. Besagno has more offensive capabilities than O'rourke and similar defensive.

 

You're calling a draft that's already produced Guzan, O'Rourke, Ihemelu, Freeman, Parkhurst, and Riley weak?

 

Barret, Rolfe, Melamed, Seally, Ward, Meidate, Storey, Chisoni..................

 

Yes, last year we got Dempsey, Adu, and Marshall who are all significantly better than this group. I was only saying it was weak on #1 pick worthy players who we had several of last year. Your argument is for a deep draft.

 

Calling those three as worthy as a number 1 pick I agree with. All received plenty of minutes and shown for their clubs. Basagno will not even play for an expansion team in his first year. I admit he may turn out to be strong in the end, but comparing him to those top three is way out of bounds and in my opinion worse than comparing the list compiled by ChrisE and stopper4 to the three from last year.

 

My bad, I get sort of reactionary about some topics. The problem with your NBA comparison is that Besagno may pan out like Dwight Howard, but he also might end up being Darius Miles (bust) or Jermaine O'neal (four years of nothing before breaking out). I don't have a big problem with the Besagno pick - RSL wasn't going to be competing for a championship with O'rourke - but it's not the obvious selection that you make it out to be. It's a gamble, and one that I think probably wasn't worth it when the team badly needs sure-thing MLS-caliber midfielders.

 

The next Steve Shak?

 

That's Chris Gbandi. I think we should let the 16-year old play a game first before labelling him a bust.

 

My NBA comparison was for the selection of him with the first pick. You weigh the odds and normally go with the higher potential guy (Howard, Lebron James, Kwame Brown, etc.). You're right, sometimes they don't work out but RSL made the rational decision.

RSL honestly had no way to please their hardcore fans b/c their only rational decision as an expansion team was to build for the long haul and that's what they did with Besagno, Watson, and Nolly (from college but GK's take awhile to develop). O'rourke, while actually better than advertised, would not have been expected to make more than 1-2 wins difference in a season that still wouldn't see a lot of victories.

Anyway I'm just saying that patience is the key to building this franchise and hopefully Besagno is the right building block for it.

 

My argument that I made was that nobody, including Besagno, would be a #1 pick in a good year, hence that this was a weak draft. At the very least it is weaker than last year at the #1 position that RSL was drafting from.

That said, I argued that Besagno was the best available pick for RSL, and refined my point further in a later point.