Official thread here for when we start on Monday. 12 hours to pick. Try to limit discussion about players not selected. Here is the draft order: 1) lurking 2) joshc and KennyWoo 3) Short Corner (GunnersBT?) 4) davenport and beazley17 5) Elninho 6) Apooo 7) Geneva & Stillkickin 8) McNaulty & soccrbom 9) MLSNHTOWN and Kevin8833 10) Harper916 & Joedub83 11) Father Ted 12) Kuhn and IASocaFan After you make your selection PM the person behind you so they know that they are up.
I have to admit, from having taken part in USA Drafts in the past and moderating them in equal numbers, this wrinkle is a definite improvement on the formula. It should make things move much quicker, especially when we get into the later rounds.
Ill kick this off now because there is no point in you folks waiting on me waking up in the morning. With the first pick I select Landon Donovan.
You were suppose to hype up you pick and wait until 9 but w/e, no on better take me and Davenports pick,lol. I wonder who is gonna gt picked next,ummmmm Clint Dempsey
It only took us ten minutes to violate a courtesy (not really a hard rule). Beaz, I know it is extremely early and that the board is wide open, but try to limit your discussion of who the next pick should be.
Also try not to mention players who have not been taken yet. There's always a chance that someone else that picks before you is hoping to get that player and is hoping the other people in front of him forgot about the guy.
I just got back from a 3-hour dental nightmare (supposed to have been just a checkup!), complete with extraction and bad reaction to anesthesia....only to find the one player in the whole wide world that I wanted on my team already gone. [not that I'm surprised, mind you.] I hate Mondays!
The 18 year old phenom, the prodigy straight from Ghana, the next big thing for the US, me and Davenport take Freddy Adu! From Benfica
Little did the drafters in the US Draft v 5.0 know that Short Corner had been secretly replaced by USMNT head coach Bob Bradley. Nepotism! JK
I thought it would go Donovan, Dempsey, Adu, and then possibly Bradley based on present Big Soccer thinking. If you define 1st round talent as a player you could use to build a franchise upon and have no worries (does not include Goalies). I think only two players qualify, Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu, and I have some reservations on Landon as I thought he would have taken then next leap in his game by the time he hit 25. IMO Freddy is at the exact same level, and will surpass him within a year. My reservations with other players as 1st Round picks: Mike Bradley - His passing is, at times, is suspect. Otherwise he's a fantastic prospect. He's tencious in the defensive midfield, he's got a nose for goal, he's as strong as an ox, and he's got above average skill for the position. My grade for him is late 1st, early 2nd. Clint Dempsey - he's a man without a position, and without a true strength on the field as his dribbling ability mitigated by his lack of speed at the highest level. He's a fighter and an excellent finisher, both in the air and with his feet. He couples above average creativity with average passing. He's only downside is a lack of athletecism. My Grade: late 1st, early 2nd. I Believe Landon has been the 1st pick in every draft except last years, where he went #1 behind Dempsey, who's rapping skillZ were adjudged to be more valuable than Landon's butterfly kiss PK thing. Freddy I know went in the 1st round last year, and possibly his rookie year...but I'm not sure where he landed in-between.
Soccrbom and I discussed the Landon vs. Dempsey pick, but went with Dempsey last year. I think USSF's player of the Year (DEMPSEY) was the better pick. We'll see for this year!
If you put Dempsey & Bradley in late 1st round (or early 2nd !!), whom do you take ahead of them, Apooo? Not a question for now, obviously, we have to wait for more picks to play out, but I think they are both obvious top 5 picks, especially based on their club and country opportunities - they should be solid for 2008. Freddy was our pick at #6 in the 1st round last year. His stock has gone up for sure. I don't see him surpassing Donovan this year, but by the 2010 World Cup or just after he could be just as important, and that's saying a lot. I think he might have been an early 3rd rounder in the 2006 draft. We took a risk on him so early last year, didn't we, Sean?
It really is a tough, tough call, but I don't know that Adu is as solid of a lock as you contend. He has had a good year, no doubt. He led the U-20 team and was special at the U-20 world cup. He transfered to Portugal where he has started very few games and has been used as a late game sub (usually at least the #2 option off the bench). When he comes on he has done exceptionally well in several games, but not every game. Is he going to have a great year this year? We shall see. But I don't think it is a lock down certainty. Whereas you have Bradley who we all know will play just about every USMNT game of significance. Plus he had a superb year last year with both club and country (much better than Adu did). You had Bradley rated as late 1st, early 2nd? Really? Your draft board has to look totally different than mine. I guess you place more emphasis on the "have no worries" standard than I do. I think people are going to lean heavily towards upside instead of "have no worries" in the first round. But you never know. I know there are other reasons to select Adu first (depth at forward for instance), but I can totally understand someone going with Bradley when you look at last years resumes.
Remember earlier how I was saying that we only have two player (just an opinion of course) that are worth 1st round picks? This is what I mean. To be honest there might not be any players I would have taken before Dempsey and Bradley...but that's more indicitive of our pool than anything else. For comparisons sake, I think Mexico has around 4 1st rounds picks (Rafa, Gaurdado, Nery Castillo, Gio Dos Santos) This is where this excercise gets fun. In importance I'd agree with you, but what about in on-field ability? MLSNHTOWN - Another good example of why the draft is so interesting. I can't disagree with a think you say - because Bradley is probably going to have a more important role for his club and country than Freddy will. But what I also know is that if I have to start a team, I'd much rather have what Freddy can give me on the field than what Bradley can give me on the field. I think we saw this in the U20 tournament. If someone put a gun to your head and told you could only take one of Adu and Bradley from that tourney, who would you choose? Btw - Not a knock on Bradley, whom I think is a very good player.
My partner and I were in "100%" agreement that Dempsey was our top choice and that we would take him if he fell to #2. Josh and I didn't even talk after Donovan went #1, Josh just went onto the board and took Dempsey because he knew this was the move for us. Behind Dempsey, I had a list of about 7 guys I would have considered for my second choice while Josh had 2 guys, including Donovan. I wasn't really interested in taking Dono, so I was glad that Dempsey fell. Now, of course, we have a long wait until #23 and #26.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we have our first controversial pick ----- FC SeaPoo select Ricardo Clark, M, Fish Kicker, Houston Dynamo As he showed in the Gold Cup final, Ricardo Clark is a force to reckoned with in midfield. A two-way midfielder with a lot of tenacity, and good ability going forward, Clark can physically dominate and dictate the course of a match from th center of the field.
Balls of steel sir. I applaud your pick and the courage to make it. He turned the Mexico match. We should not forget that. Plus who hasn't wanted to kick Ruiz like that.
He's pretty versatile playing in both those positions. The Fish Kicker position is pretty uncommon these days, but Rico plays it at world class level.