Who was the other guy? SN: “He [Dempsey] was one of two players that we thought we would get. I think (Chad) Marshall with the number two pick was the one that everybody knew that Columbus was taking, but everybody else was kind of second guessing what was going on. There were two guys that we wanted and thought we could get, one of them was Dempsey and we got him. We got him, but the other one was gone and that’s when we decided to take the allocation money from Chicago (instead of using the 9th pick.)” 3 Joseph Ngwenya F 4 Matt Taylor UCLA F 5 Ryan Cochrane Nike Project-40 D 6 Ramon Nunez M 7 Clarence Goodson Nike Project-40 D I think that everyone also knew that Nunez would go to Dallas. It had to have been either Cochrane or Goodson and IMHO it was Cochrane the Revs would have wanted. Player profile: Ryan Cochrane Position: Defender College: Santa Clara University Height: 6-1 Weight: 170 Hometown: Portland, Ore. Born: Aug. 8, 1983 - A semifinalist for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy in 2003. - Started all five matches at central defender at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. - Named honorable mention All-American by CollegeSoccerNews.com in 2002. - Tied for second on the U-20 team with 20 international caps.
This is the part I found interesting: RSN: So that allocation will turn out to be more salary cap relief rather than a player? SN: “Yes, it will be cap relief.” Sounds like they may have a high priced player in mind for one allocation and plan to use the for cap relief.
Re: Who was the other guy? It wasn't Cochrane, everyone knew (even all the mock drafters) he would go to his hometown team San Jose. He was working out with them the week before the draft and the coach said it in so many words. NE certainly didn't think they would get Adu, Marshall, Ngenya and probably didn't want Taylor of Nuenez so who could it have been?
While we're talking allocations, would anyone care to provide me with a short primer on what role allocations play in MLS? Hopefully there are others out there that could benefit from a review?
Re: Re: Who was the other guy? The only real "surprises" taken before the Revs picked were Taylor and Goodson. I wouldn't be surprised if Nicol was hoping Goodson or Cochrane would slip through. Cronin could have gone sooner, and the defender from UCLA (Russel, I think) could have been taken earlier. He wasn't P-40, but it sounded like he's more ready to contribute right now than Goodson.
There's nothing sexy about "cap relief". Hopefully that's the little (Hernandez) allocation and the big (Novack) one will bring us a top-flight player. I know Nicol has talked about having a pretty set roster, but I think every roster needs a little turnover to stay fresh and competitive. Unless we get an impact allocation, we may be going in with the same team +Dempsey (although you can make a good argument that we'll be "adding" a decent kid named Taylor something-or-other). The other "addition" could be a miracle comeback by JMM, although I consider that a real longshot. Hopefully White and/or Westfield comes to camp and is MLS-ready. The 6th rounders must be just training fodder or they wouldn't be 6th rounders.
Maybe so, but I hope the kid from Montreal might stick around. If nothing else, if these guys go through training camp and work hard and learn a few things, they could end up hooking on with an A-League side, which in Brilliant's case, could be his home town team. Not a bad situation for him. There really needs to be a place where these guys can go and develop. With 18-man rosters it's going to be tough for guys who are a little raw, but could be good players with a little seasoning. Then again, sometimes guys slip through the cracks in a draft, either by having an unimpressive combine or recovering from injury or whatever. Everyone seemed to pass on some guy named Damani last year who turned out to be and OK player.... Tom
There is plenty of room on the Developmental Roster. Last year each team got 6 slots. We've lost I Kante, N Downing, T Frias, and although he is still on the roster, I think Kyle Singer will be too old this year, leaving only Marshall Leonard. So I think Brilliant and Dorman have a good chance to stay, if they are willing to take the Dev slots.
If Marshall Leonard is still a DV player this coming year we have two senior roster slots open assuming that Cullen doesn't return. I can see one filled by an Allocated or Discovery Defender as we all have discussed elsewhere but that 18th slot is wide open. George
All hindsight now (in light of the Olympic qualifying results), but the decision not to choose Wingert looks pretty understandable now. From most accounts the draft's only "sure thing" defender - Chad Marshall - looked a little outclassed as well. And Nate Borchers and Ricky Lewis...well... These draft decisions may reflect a feeling that most American college defenders need considerably more seasoning before they're ready to step in as pros. Unfortunately MLS rosters don't really allow for keeping true "developmental" players on the team (the types of players who would be kept on reserve squads for example). Of course, we'll still have to see what Dempsey can do...
Sending kids right out of college, or those who have spent most of their young MLS careers on the pine, up against kids the same age from anywhere else in the world is potential slaughter. Our best defenders at national level are Pope, Bocanegra and Sannah (if he still has the wheels). I'm probably forgetting some but the common thread is that it takes years to develop US defenders because they atrophy in college and don't learn much in MLS until they start playing and even then the learning curve takes a good while. Our own Rusty Pierece is a great example of this. At 25 he still is a work in progress, although he is definitely progressing. Our development system for youth is pretty good and getting much, much better but at 19 years of age, or when a kids enters MLS, it just falls apart unless they are in the first eleven. I can't imagine anyone associated with the U-23 setup believed that the Mexico match was winnable with the defenders they put out. Again, all this makes Clavijo and Nicol's work with Pierce, Heaps and Francino all the more admirable. JIM DOW