Getty Images Following up on the previous ProSoccerTalk post, a few notes on which MLS drafts and draftees from the last five years are still worth talking about:
Philadelphia’s most recent three drafts have the possibility of forming a solid Union backbone over the coming years. From 2010 came Danny Mwanga (the top overall selection), U.S. under-23 Amobi Okugo and young attacker Jack McInerney (still only 19 years old). Kyle Nakazawa, now with L.A., also came out of that Union draft class. In 2011, Peter Nowak selected goalkeeper Zac MacMath (now past his early 2012 butterflies) and Michael Farfan. (And you could note that that drafting Michael Farfan was a huge boost in eventually signing his brother, Gabriel Farfan, who has a starting role at PPL Park.) Then in 2012, the Union took promising UCLA forward Chandler Hoffman, who is already taking some of Mwanga’s minutes.
Just because officials from a team have drafted well, that doesn’t mean the club necessarily did as well in holding and cultivating that talent. For instance, officials at D.C. United demonstrated a keen eye for talent in 2009. From that draft emerged a budding star (Chris Pontius) and three MLS starters/quality reserves (Milos Kocic, Rodney Wallace and Brandon Barklage). Only Pontius remains at RFK, however.
The best run of recent drafts, combined with ability to retain and nurture that talent? From 2008 to 2010, Sporting Kansas City turned up the highly useful likes of Teal Bunbury, Matt Besler, Graham Zusi and Chance Myers. Bunbury is one of the first off the bench for the Eastern leaders, while the others are starters. Over those same three drafts, FC Dallas pulled Brek Shea, George John and Zach Loyd, who represent a big part of order at FC Dallas Stadium.
Over a three-year stretch from 2009-2011, New England Revolution draft picks who stuck around to contribute (to varying levels) at Gillette Stadium included Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Zack Schilawski, Zak Boggs, A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy.
In the 5-year and 3-year draft performance rankings on the previous post, one gem could significantly improve a team’s spot in the order. New York, for instance, hasn’t performed spectacularly over the last few years. But Tim Ream (pictured), who rose quickly to U.S. international status and then to EPL transfer target, was a terrific get.
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- wesbadia - Apr 26, 2012 at 4:34 PM
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It’s ironic that you say “New York…has performed spectacularly over the last few years” considering the fact that Soler and Backe have uniformly chosen to forsake the draft process the past two seasons on account of it “not historically producing quality talent” [paraphrase].
Here’s a list of the draftees by NYRB since 2010 in the order they were drafted and what their current club is in parentheses: Tony Tchani (Columbus), Austin da Luz (Carolina), Tim Ream (Bolton), Conor Chinn (Rochester), Irving Garcia (LA Blues), Corey Hertzog (NYRB), John Rooney (Orlando City), Billy Cortes (Unknown), Ryan Meara (NYRB), Mike Volk (Unknown).
A few interesting notes — Only Hertzog and Meara are still with NY, but Hertzog has only made 5 appearances since being drafted. Meara is obviously dire to the RB defense since their GK troubles. Also, NY had only one pick in the 2012 draft (having traded away all their other selections) and used it on Meara. That’s looking good on them now, but it’s impossible to say how good (or bad) their picks could’ve been had they retained them. I’m assuming Volk (’12 supplemental pick) was released because I couldn’t find a single thing on him post-draft.
NYRB’s actions during the 2012 Superdraft makes it apparent that they are putting less and less emphasis on it. Although, their academy has yet to prove worthy of top tier soccer either. It seems like they’re content on just pulling players from Scandinavia or making the occasional trade intra-league. I can’t honestly say (looking at their draft picks the last three seasons) that they’ve done a “spectacular” job, though. Most are in the 2nd or 3rd divisions and/or relegated to reserve status. Only Ream stands out, and I’d consider that more of an anomaly than anything.
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- Steve Davis - Apr 26, 2012 at 4:51 PM
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Just a mistake … I assure you. Hence the “But, Tim Ream … . (Sorry that you put in all this good work to counter my “argument,” which was just a typo. But if if makes you feel any better, we’re in 100 percent agreement.)
Oh, and for the confused among you, I fixed my boo-boo.
Your’s humbly,Steve
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- wesbadia - Apr 27, 2012 at 8:49 AM
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Ah… well that makes a heck of a lot more sense now! LOL
Consider my contribution as further analysis instead of a critique
