I'm a UCONN fan and was wondering how Gbandi and Shavar will be shaping up for you guys this season. I looked in the stats and it appears they haven't played one minute yet. Obviously Rhine gets some minutes due to his experience, but I loved watching these two from last year and before. Any info is great. Thanks.
Thomas got to camp a little late due to visa problems, and consequently wound up at the bottom of the depth chart. In central defense, he is probably behind Suarez, Bonseau, Morrow and 2nd year man Matt Behnke. However, I have heard some positive reviews of his athleticism and skills from various sources. With some training under his belt, anything could happen for him next year as Morrow will not be here forever. I doubt we'll see much of him this year however. Gbandi has gotten pretty positive reviews from camp but apparently had a pretty rough outing in the exhibition against KC the week before the season started. As you know Gbandi was brought in last year to fill the catastrophic void (so catastrophic that we passed on Twellman with the #1 pick!) that was the Burn defense in 2001. His biggest obstacle to playing time since his recovery from knee surgery has been the scrappy speed-burner Paul Broome. The converted midfielder was brought in as a stop gap measure until Gbandi's recovery, but has established himself in the starting eleven and clearly does not see himself as a temporary solution. However, I do expect to see Gbandi get significant minutes this season. Whether he will be able to dislodge Broome from the starting lineup is a matter of some discussion around here. Your best source for training news will be www.3rddegree.net