San Jose fan in peace curious of your guys's move as we will be just a few below you wondering where you are gonna go. I know its a few months off, and things always shake up leading up to the draft, but i think its worth talking about. Judging on watching you guys this season i think you will want to re-enforce either your central defense or defensive midfield with your pick, and seeing your a top 3 pick i was wondering where you think you guys want to go. Top 8 looks like it SHOULD shake out Kelyn Rowe (CAM), Darron Mattocks (F), Andrew Wenger (D/DM), Austin Berry(D), Dillon Powers (DM), Tyler Polak (LB), Casey Townshend (F), Brian Ownby (F/RM). outsider perspective seems like youll be sizing up Dillon Powers and Andrew Wenger pretty good. I think Dillon Powers is exactly what you guys need in the middle of the park and thatd be my pick, but i wanted to hear what you guys think you should do.
Trade the pick with other picks to get some established talent. the team is young and energetic enough. They lack mental toughness and veteran class. The Caps need a great 2 way central midfielder to play the way Thorrington did last night on a consistent basis and a Right Back and a Central Back to partner with Demerit (I'm not sold on Carlyle yet)
yes. I don't think we need another 18 year old project. We have a lot of young talent in the system; let's get some more established players in.
Well I think more often than not the guys coming out of the draft will be older than 18 as they'll have had a few years of NCAA under their belt. Unless one of these guys is a can't miss, there's bound to be a team, perhaps like a NYRB that would part with a Teemu Tanio type player and their lower pick for our second or third overall pick... Tanio for example makes about 200k... I don't know where we are at in the whole salary cap thing right now, but if Dede is going to be off there's some relief there I'd think... Hainault would also be someone I'd target in a trade, especially since he'd assist our Canadian quota. Jazic also.... If I'm king for a day those are my three targets for acquisition from inside the league. I'm also up for bringing guys back from Europe or parts unknown. Tanio, Jazic, and Hainault (or players of that type) are the three spots I'd highlight as priorities. We seem to be good for attacking players, we just need a rock to play beside Koffie in midfield...Thorrington is an ideal third on the depth chart type of guy at Centre Mid.
i can see how your initial reactions to the draft may be sour due to taking such a project in Salgado. that is a LOOONG term project but he has tons of upside and i still think he was worth taking there. Youll reap the benefits in 3-4 years on him. But more often than not there are shovel ready players that enter the draft consistently, and lucky for you they are defenders and defensive mids. I think either of Andrew Wenger, Dillon Powers, or Austin Berry is going to make you guys happy campers. Austin Berry is probably the most game-time ready; hes basically this years AJ Soares. Andrew Wenger has the most upside and versatility but probably the highest bust risk; this years Perry Kitchen. Dillon Powers is the in between of those two, and i think he is an absolutely ideal pick for you guys. you want a sick nasty defensive midfielder to marshall the field, you gotta go with him.
We have a nasty defensive central midfielder that is young and gifted, Gershon Koffie. We need a guy to hold the ball and support the attack from that position that isn't a defensive liability and can play well in long consistent stretches unlike Davide Chiumiento... who is that player but is such an enigma...and hasn't really been deployed at all this year in a central role in the midfield...
We have a nasty defensive central midfielder that is young and gifted, Gershon Koffie. We need a guy to hold the ball and support the attack from that position that isn't a defensive liability and can play well in long consistent stretches unlike Davide Chiumiento... who is that player but is such an enigma...and hasn't really been deployed at all this year in a central role in the midfield...
salgado will only be here in 2-4 years if the Caps coaches handle him better than they did this year; quality coaches know how to deal with all types of players on a team- a cookie-cutter appraoch where all players are handled the same way just does not work in today's modern game- some players can handle a 'kick up the arse' and public chastising and perform better; another player will loose a lot of confidence and perform worse, aka salgado motivating each player is critical to getting a player to improve and perform well-- the strategy with salgado has failed miserably this year--hopefully, the new coach, MR, can do a lot better
I agree. With Vagenas and Salinas in the lineup, the Caps are really playing a 2 to 2.5-man midfield, with Koffie and the other winger doing all the work. No wonder the D looks flat-footed at times, as opposing attackers get up a full head of steam coming unopposed through midfield. Look at what a difference replacing PV and SS with Thorrington and Khalfan made. No strength in midfield means a weaker back line as well as an anemic attack. If the Caps do nothing but strengthen the starters and the depth in midfield, we'll see a marked improvement next year.
That's what I hoped at the beginning too. But I'm not convinced Chiumiento has the work rate or the tackling ability needed in a central midfielder, even an attacking one.