As that is all we have to look forward to now the question is do we get the 2nd pick of the draft and if so who do we take???? Or did we trade that in one of our great deals last off=season?? I think we also picked up an additional first round pick as well but not sure.
Alecko Eskandarian of Virginia U. A "younger" version of Tab who hopefully will be more durable. Great ballhandling skills, great open-field vision and can also put the ball in the net. Only problem is will he leave after his Junior year. The Tab "allocation"? We better get someone good. What good is having a marquee player if he doesn't play.
Re: Re: Who we taking in draft?? Please don't remind us ... think of Bocanegra, Edson Buddle AND Faria, and Kyle Martino all as Metros. None of these picks were surprises, we all knew about them and so should have the Metro "War Room". So do we have the pick or was it brilliantly shipped off? If so how about a common sense pick please? Don't find us fans a "diamond in the rough" from Colombia or whatever, just the common sense #2 pick. I guarantee it'll turn out better that way. It amazes me they actually took Brad Davis, it made too much sense for them.
Everything that I have read says that Alecko is a good as gone from UVA.....His father was even interviewed at the Cosmos reunion game and said as much....hopefully, they don't blow this draft.
If Diallo is gone and Faria gets a green card we get two new FA's. Chacon is riding the pine in NE, do we trade for him or hope for some 'league help'? Other posters have pointed out the 3 main weaknesses: - Central defense, Petke is an outside man marker - Right sided or central 'pure' playmaker (ala Donadoni in 96 & 97) - Depth is every position: forward, mid, goal (sorry Grafer doesn't quite cut it and Timmy will eventually go to Europe) We definitely need a very strong draft! What are the college prospects this year? A-league standouts?
if oz is back, which i can't frigging believe there is an outside shot of but nicks comments make me want to throw up..... its easy to see who will be picked in the draft..... look to see who oz represents..... and who ever we pick will be playing a position they're unfamiliar with....and if they do really well, they'll be benched....and to top that all of, if the player makes a mistake on the field, they'll be publicly criticized by the coach...
Do they award superdraft picks in reverse order of the league standings (so that we have a guaranteed #2 pick), or is it a weighted lottery (like the NBA)?
MLS does not have a draft lottery. We get the 2nd pick. But boy, a lottery would be fun! DC gets two balls the pot and we get one? The suspense!
Does anyone remember DJ Countess? I had to chuckle to myself when I read patrickdavila's post and the point about depth in the squad. DJ Countess, the best young GK prospect in the country falls into the Metros laps. One would have thought that NS and OZ would have been pleased to have a young talented keeper in reserve (pro-40 no less!!) along with veteran back-up Grafer. What would have been the harm in keeping him. Since he was pro-40 he didn't count against the roster. BUT NO! They ship him off to Dallas for Griffiths becuase they thought they needed help in the midfield. Griffiths is sent packing and turns up in NE,....the team that buries the Metros. Now,......fans are questioning depth in goal! What an absolute joke this team is. I will never go to another Metro match as long as OZ and NS are in charge of the ship.
We also have Dallas' 1st round pick (#7 overall). http://www.mlsnet.com/content/02/dal0313countess.html Unfortunately we need at least 3 quality players in the draft next year, not just one. I would take: Alecko Eskandarian - Forward - U. of Virginia http://virginiasports.ocsn.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/eskandarian_alecko00.html Nate Jaqua - Forward - Portland http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/msoccer/bio.asp?PLAYER_ID=357 Ricky Lewis - Defender - Clemson http://clemsontigers.ocsn.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/lewis_eric00.html To get these guys we'll probably need picks #1 through #3. I'd try: Trading Diallo to DC for the #1 pick. Trading the #7 pick plus something else (Lisi/Chrono) to move up to #3.
Metro? Drafting players? They all play on Metrostars Black. Nick is gonna be smart and have them play real poorly during the combine so that no one else will notice them. Paul
DC with balls??? that's funny!!!! you know MLS will have one of their super-secret drafts btw Metros, DC, and 4 teams that have no idea they are even in this secret draft....I recall that is how we got Countess
So the relevant question (Assuming that we have a new coach and GM) is who is DC likely to take with the #1 pick?
Well, they'll be dumping Lassiter in the offseason - and Moreno's health is in question - and Quaranta doesn't seem that durable, so the early answer is: Alecko Eskandarian - Forward - U. of Virginia Another reason why I would try to trade with DC so we can have picks #1 and #2.
Knox Cameron (Michigan) and Ricardo Clark (Furman). 2 collegians who are sitting on the fence RE: going pro. Both look to be contributors to the US U20 team. Metro have the U20 WYC qualifying tournament in South Carolina to scout some of these players. If they're smart enough.
With either the 7 pick in the first round or the 2nd pick in the second round I would like it if they took Diego Walsh from SMU. He is supposed to be a very good O mid, sort of a young Tab, is brazilian (someone for Faria to hang with), and was one of SA's top college prospects coming into this year. He was on the SMU team that won 21 straight last year, and he had a heck of a season feeding Fahim and Gonzalez with 10 goals and 11 assists in 2001, following 10 goals and 14 assists in 2000. Most importantly, he is a solid possession mid that doesn't lose the ball. We could use more of those. Maybe the best news, a Walsh with no annoying brothers. Someone who can dribble, hold the ball, and work with Williams to get the ball dangerously upfield to Mathis-Faria. Our defense sucks, but our record drafting D early isn't too good lately. I say go with the Offense. Whether it's Walsh or a guy like Noonan (Indiana)/ Eskandarian (UVA), go with O. I wouldn't be surprised with us drafting a defender like Abrahamson from Rutgers or Thompson from UCLA, hopefully in the later rounds though. With Akwari (and theoretically Zaidie), we have enough Defensive prospects to suit me. Dump Balboa, add an experienced International to go with Jolley, Petke and Akwari and I think our D will be better if they get to play together all year.
You're right that they may go 1, 2, and 3 respectively. But that would be huge if we could draft all three. It would make up for all the Steve Shaks and Mansour Ndiayes.
Re: Does anyone remember DJ Countess? I totally agree on the Countess issue. He was very impressive in the youth tournaments I saw him play in and probably cost near nothing! You have to agree that Grafer is A-league material though. If Timmy was in goal that game would of been a lot closer. You look at our bench and it's pretty poor. Davis should be a starter and who else do we have for an offensive spark? Klinger, Alvarez?
Either Ricardo Clark or Diego Walsh would make a nice backup to Williams but I don't know if that should be our number one concern. My best guess is that Diallo, Alvarez, and Klinger will no longer be here so our #3 and #4 forwards will be key. I'd prefer Eskandarian and Jaqua over Noonan. And Ricky Lewis solves our left back dilemna so that Chrono is trade bait. Then we can use our allocation to get a great Right Wing Mid.
When I hear "Allocation", I worry. Is it a "Sox "type of guy?? Never seems to pan out with these allocations for our team since Donadoni's days. I am not too hopeful here though I would love to see Berhalter/Hedjuk, Stewart ( any two of three) as a help. All others and I am skeptical of an OZ agent thing again.
Simply put, If A.Williams & Rodgrigo Faria get their green crad it helps out the metros tremendously! Nick.S is 50/50 on keeping Diallo, who still has some tade value with other MLS clubs. The problem is you only have Mathis for one more year and you need an effective strike partner for Faria in the future. We need two things 1) A two-way midfielder(Moore is agressive but plays to many poor balls and Ross Paule cannot play holding mid) 2) A Center Back ( we need an international who can red runs off the ball and organize the back 4). Nick S. will have the $ and the resources in 2003. Ramos and Balboa will be gone that alone will save us approx. 450K.