alright guys be gentle, i went with this knowing what two or three MLS starters you may already have on your squad, guestimates on the MLS Superdraft 2011, and for the MLS expansion draft players i feel clubs will leave exposed for one reason or another. And i also did one on Portland on a Best Player available draw down from 1 to 20 on players that would be picked. I follow MLS pretty closely, and i think most people from each respective club could *at least* see a scenario where the singled out players are exposed. MLS Superdraft Cody Arnoux (1st/2nd overall pick) expansion draft Sutton (RBNY): with my draw, he was the last player taken in the expansion draft. It fulfills foreign player requirement, and hes Canadian i reckon that holds some bearing despite the guys age. Christman (DC United): Gives you a bit of brawn to go on your frontline with Arnoux and a target in the box. Rogers (Columbus): out of favor with Columbus, the Crew will take a gamble that he wont get taken in the expansion because of his salary. They are wrong in my scenario, and i have you guys taking him. He was my second selection for you guys after portland took Brunner. Tierney (NE Revs): Revs are gonna be PISSED to see him go, that was my first pick of the expansion draft for you guys. Beitashour (San Jose): Quakes fans wont be happy with losing another home product, but due to the dearth of right back options in the expansion draft left available, being young cheap and servicable is appealing for the Caps to snap him up. Stahl (Phili Union): This is a risky pick to be sure, but Stahl has just been getting some tough luck at Philadelphia and making some poor decisions on the field being a card machine. Hes got the talent, he just needs to stop being such an airhead and make smarter plays. Holblein (KC Wiz): smart young centerback who isnt getting any time at KC because Meyers, Conrad, etc are snuffing him out of playing time, a smart pick here. Sturgis (Seattle): a servicable left back by MLS standards, thats all you need to know, smile and nod. Akpen (Colorado): a young backup forward option that gives you a little something off the bench Davies (Dallas): FC Dallas are having a heck of a campaign due to a stalwart defense and there is no room left for the former U-20 USMNT captain. Hes still a darn good player and would be a perfect compliment to Bruner. ------------------Sutton------------------- -------------Davies--------Holblein----------- Beitashour-----------------------------Sturgis --------------------Stahl-------------------- Tierney-------------------------------Rogers ---------Arnoux-------------------Apken----- ---------------------Christman--------------- this one turned out to be the opposite of Portlands, more offensively sound and a little more insecure in the backfield. Its just the way my own Best Player Available picks shook out when i picked them. be gentle guys....howd i do , anyone else try and take a stab at it yet?
It doesn't include any current players or players that have recently signed (including the two swiss chaps) It also doesn't include any potential DP's and it doesn't include any canadians currently playing abroad. Most of the current backline nucleus will go to MLS from the team right now is my guess, including but not limited to Janicki, Alkoul, Akwari, Knight, and Tsikaridze (Can't spell it right ever!)
there is NO WAY this will even come close to the caps opening roster for MLS 2011-- if it is, the caps are in BIG trouble-- and i dont believe they will be foolish enough to do this-- a minimum 2 DPs-- midfielder and forward, plus an assortment of present caps (2-3), draft picks, trades, new signings (2-3), etc no way they go for sutton as their starting goalie-- a better and more experienced goalie with nolly as back-up
No one has yet rolled out a starting XI with 10 picks from the expansion draft. I suspect the OP knows that, thus I'll hope he's used that lineup just as a conversation starter. The idea of Sutton isn't all bad. He'd be a useful backup to fill a Cdn. slot. The problem, I suspect, is that he'd be too much of a cap hit to make that worthwhile. Overall, if that's what we get in the expansion draft, no more than three or four of them will be here by July.
for an initial roster, you guys need something, and thats the mindset i went with. If u really want to just ignore the starting 11 and focus on the 10 from the expansion draft. Everyone starts like this thats an expansion team. Guys like Christman, Rogers, Davies, Tierney, and Sturgis are more than servicable MLS players. Something along these lines will be a significant portion of your roster after late november. I naturally expect you to use some of your own USL guys, bring in a few overseas guys, maybe a DP, but i went with what was remotely predictable. Everything starts with the expansion draft. Think of this as.....a mock draft more than a starting 11. exactly. heck i did this when San Jose came back into the league. Its an exciting thing. Heck im excited FOR you guys. I was lining up expansion prospects mid season for San Jose. Its a conversation starter, a rough abstract, just for fun.
I am not seeing Crew leaving Rogers unprotected. They have refused a number of trade offers for the kid so I doubt this would happen.
i disagree, Rogers hasnt even made the bench in the past three weeks at Columbus. Hes very much in the doghouse right now. I could see them going for a salary dump here. Columbus fans do too, they see him as surplus requirements at this point (and dont think of him too fondly either these days either), hes burned his bridges there.
Brunner to Portland, Rogers to Vancouver? The crew get the pleasure of losing 2 players they developed over time while Kansas city doesn't lose anyone because their squad sucks. Please allow each team to lose only 1 player. Portland and Vancouver can get by with 8 players each from this draft. Can't wait to give another talent to Montreal next year.
Given the RSL/CUSA precedent, I imagine that teams will get to protect one additional player for every player they lose in the draft. So while Columbus could lose one of Brunner/Rogers, they could then protect the one that didn't get picked.
I can see Sturgis being selected but I don't see him as a left back, he's been playing center-mid all season (and not doing too badly).
I'll tackle this from the other perspective: who we're likely keeping. And FYI: Anyone who thinks we would take Old Man Sutton in place of Jay Nolly is out of their mind. No offense! Nolly Rochat Akloul Janicki Knight ???? ???? ????? Khalfan ???? Chiumiento Martin Nash, Terry Dunfield, Ridge Mobulu, Gershon Koffie and Cornelius Stewart on the bench. We'll assume Salgado fits in there somewhere if we get him in the superdraft. Quite frankly, the expansion draft is not going to be of tremendous consequence to the Vancouver roster. Mostly benchwarmers and trade-offs, I suspect.
sutton sucks why would we ever draft him, personally i don't care about the expansion draft more interested in the super draft. though it would be nice for SJ to leave Joey Gjertsen available(doubtful) Id love to see him back in Vancouver.
ummmm, i think youd be surprised, if i were to guess san joses protection list itd be: Geovanni, Convey, Wondolowski, Cronin, Stephenson, Opara, Hernendez, Busch, Leitch, Corrales
Sutton would be a waste of a pick from the available Red Bulls players. I say this as a Red Bulls fan. Guys I would pick from RBNY if i were an expansion team (in no particular order): Sinisa Ubiparipovic Whichever left back is unprotected (Daneligh Borman or Roy Miller) Whichever right back is unprotected (Chris Albright or Jeremy Hall) We're going to be forced to lose 1/2 real contributers in the expansion draft, guys that can certainly add something to a team.
no way all those guys are MLS quality. Divide which you think are MLS quality by two, and youll get which ones are MLS quality. Portland thought the same, but they only signed three of their roster players. Seattle also. I reckon the same will be done here. Id say take 3 maybe 4 at best of the most elite of the squad and thats probably what will happen. Im quite certain that Vancouver is gonna snatch up one of Cannon or Busch for instance whichever is exposed of San Jose, unless they pick up MacMath in the second round and even then theyll probably still want one of those experienced keepers.
I'd agree there's a tendency to overestimate the players coming up from the previous sides, but ... Seattle was closer to six - LeToux, Nyassi, Scott, Levesque, Graham and Eylander. And Portland has already said they'll likely be bringing along two more, putting them at five (six if you count Johnson). Plus, Vancouver has done far more in the way of bringing people in primarily with an for next year - Rochat and Chiumiento clearly fit that, Dunfield and Akloul probably do as well. (To be fair, Seattle did that with Nyassi and the re-signing of LeToux.) And, it appears roster expansion is in the works for next year. Therefore, when you put it all together, it wouldn't surprise me to see 10 to 12 of those currently on the Vancouver books here next year. But a chunk of those will spend far more time playing in the reserve team than with the main squad.
Rochat and Chiumiento were signed from the Swiss Super League, and Mobulu from Swiss Challenge (div 2). Rochat was immediately loaned back to FC Zurich until the end of their season, so we haven't seen him yet. Akloul is a product of the French top flight, having also done some mercenary work in Algeria and UAE the past two seasons. This guy is hilarious, btw. Broke his ankle scoring a goal in his first appearance, and was just working back into training at the end of the season. Khalfan - Well established Tanzanian international. Very crafty. Nolly - USSF D2 keeper of the year. I'll take him over old man Keller anytime. The rumor is that Rochat, Chiumiento and possibly Akloul were paid front-loaded contracts so the Caps could carry them into MLS. It's not like they were picked up because they weren't good enough for Europe any more... on the contrary, they were lured here a year early so the Caps could carry them into MLS as part of their roster.
I suppose thats fair. Demerit if signed will certainly acquire one of the central back spots, Akloul probably the other. Throw Rochat in there you already got an MLS calibur defense. Knight....not sure, but left backs a crapshoot anyway even in MLS. If say anthony wallace of Colorado is left exposed, it does give you something to think about there, but defense is pretty set. midfield, im thinking guys like Jewsberry, Grabavoy, Carr, Alvarez, while not flashy do provide MLS veteran experience that can be counted on. It might be a good idea to get a focal point in the middle be it a DP, another foreign product. forward theres Chiumiento, certainly good enough. Omar Salgado will be the first pick in the superdraft but will be a sub in the mold of Jack McInerney, a young player that can come off the bench. That other forward spot, im honestly not sure theres anything worth grabbing in the expansion draft. Might take Alan Gordon just to be a depth guy, but again, that needs to be adressed in free agency in say, South America or Africa. Nolly you may keep around, but honestly Busch or Cannon would beat him i think. Going into the battle that is MLS without a proven goalkeeper costs you points, ask Philadelphia.
I was hoping to see a little more from this list....but just to clear one thing up, Nathan Sturgis, the one you have being drafted from Seattle (not likely) is not a back. He is a Center Mid, and will likely be protected as he was a key to Seattle's post-Freddie success. The best players likely to be available from Seattle are: Brad Evans (mid) James Riley (back) Leo Gonzales (back) Mike Seamon (mid) Michael Fucito (forward)
Sturgis is a defender and a midfielder. He actually played some LB last year i believe. But that was short lived before Seattle signed Leo Gonzales.
Sure Sturgis played a few games as a replacement at LB, but he is a mid, not a back. To put him on this list as a serviceable left back is stupid.
alright its been a good while since i did 1.0, now im gonna go ahead with 2.0 since i got some appreciated feedback -------------------Nolly----------------- -----------Akloul-------Demerit---------- Rochat----------------------------Knight -------------------Evans---------------- Gjersten---------Grabavoy--------Khalfan ---------Jaqua---------Chiumiento------- Vancouver is much more ready to come up with an MLS ready defense than Portland IMO (and portland vica versa, offense to D). Theyll lock up Jay D, which is a great pickup and already have some solid leadership theyll lock up thats MLS ready. Midfield i chose Joey because he has history here and hes reasonably skilled for his salary, he'll be more than happy to come back. Evans will be a very good pickup now that he appears to be expendable from Seattle with Sturgis's emergence. I grabbed Grabavoy as veteran leadership in the middle as a tried and tested MLS vet. But i think Vancouver is going to need to use their DP there or do some digging in South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, etc. Of the power forwards i feel will be left exposed, it was between Jaqua and Gordon and i think Jaqua will be much more useful to you guys.