MLS Combine Report Day Two
January 11th, 2009 . 9:28 pm . By: Buzz CarrickDay Two is kinda like Saturday at the Masters. Players stock can rise and fall dramatically. Generally speaking the team play is better on the second day than on the first and that’s true this year as well, but we also see individual players come up and down. Some guys realize they stunk it up day one and turn it on. Some guys get tired and start to make poor decisions. Still others maybe just needed a day to get over the travel. Maybe some others got a little fear of the career being over, which can push a player either ways. So like every other combine, this day saw some swings in form. I’m going to concentrate on those. If a player changes my thinking on him one way or another I’ll comment on it. If I don’t mention a guy it means he did what he did the day before and maybe in his career. I may mention a few of those that I really feel need a comment, but unlike yesterday I won’t write up every player. Keep in mind that on moving day a player could be falling an still be better than almost everyone else, and the opposite of course is also possible. A player will be rising or falling relative to himself and in my opinion of him. Probably some other people’s opinions too I imagine. Some News and Notes- Ezra Hendrickson is with the Seattle staff. Not sure if that’s been announced yet, but it sure looks official here. I certainly could have missed the announcmenet. - Apparently Andrei Gotmanov is hurt cause he doesn’t play today. No report on what the injury might be. He’s sitting on the bench in a track suit. - No one from the league PR seems to know what happened to Rhett Bernstein of Brown who never showed up this weekend. - The only coaching staff I have not seen is Columbus, which doesn’t mean they aren’t hear, I just haven’t seen them. - My boy Jeff Harwell got hurt and had to leave part way through the first half. He didn’t return. If you don’t follow this site during the year, he’s a kid out of SMU who’s game I like despite being unheralded relatively speaking. - Alex Grendi of Penn has to leave the game with his ankle problem again. I applaud him trying to give it a go. - I think Chris Clements is hurt. He’s limping and can’t run as well as I have seen him on previous occasions. - Paul Gerstenberger looks to have hurt himself as well. He only comes in late in the second half and also looks to be limping. Ok on with the games… Game One: adiTunit (Blue) – 1 vs. adidas Tiro (White) – 1Blue in a diamond 4-4-2 again, White in a flat four. I would have liked to see a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 by someone. Maybe on Tuesday? Blue is the most dangerous attacking team here, and White would be the best defensive team if they would chose the right set of players. Predator adiTunit (Blue) 1st Half
2nd Half
adidas Tiro (White) 1st Half
2nd Half
Comments and Thoughts on Moving DayRising… 41 Josh Boateng – A second above average performance by him. Running with ball and his head up. Watching him go head to head with Alston is a blast. Great battle. His pass to spring Marosevic for the blue goal was a nice one. 60 Ryan Maxwell – Not as impressive early as Wallace is handling his speed… woops… spoke to fast. Round about the twenty minute mark Maxwell figures out he can beat Wallace on the run and takes him multiple times. He beats Wallace and cuts inside for a give and go with Schunk…. Maxwell’s nice flick shot is saved by Frei, impressive reaction save, but the rebound is finished by Parera for the White goal. 70 David Hertel – Also confirms what I saw yesterday, but in a good way. Great pace, can run the field and play in combination, beats a couple guys with the ball. Really nice defensive skills too. The early leader in the clubhouse for my 5th Annual Chris Rolfe Man Crush Award. He cramps late in the game and comes out. 71 Maduro – Better today. Someone must has talked to him as he’s one step quicker. His moves are coming off. Although to be fair the midfield he’s against isn’t near as good as the one he faced yesterday. He should be a good player in the USL. 54 Peri Marosevic – Continues to be a rabid terrier up top and has a way of getting goals when he gets in the box. Not a refined player by any means though. Pure goal poacher. He scores the blue goal when Boateng springs him behind the defense and he scores low to the near post. Not the kind of player I expect to sign Ga. 63 Kevin Alston – Much better today, more time as a right back. Some serious pace on display and he’s getting to the opposition end line. His battle with Boateng is terrific, although he does get caught up on the goal when his team turns it over and Boateng is behind him. Goal came through his vacated spot. Not so much his fault… but timing is everything. 75 George John – Again reading very well and his passing is great. He had meniscus surgery that ended his college season a little while ago and considering is moving very well. I only sense the slightest hesitation against wanting to run flat out. Great conversion to center back from holding mid going on here. 6 Stephen Frei – Looks really confident on crosses. Looks like the legit prospect he is supposed to be. 40 Trevor Banks – Looking better, getting caught out of place less. More conservative play from him, but more solid. 13 Steward Ceus – Looking like he might be the second best keeper here. Holding Steady… 76 Ross Schunk – Man this kid works his tail off. Smart player, knows how to make runs and where to be. Unfortunately he has no class to his touch nor pace to really be a prospect 55 Babajide Ogunbiyi – Covering his entire back line. Second solid day. 43 Richard Jata – Commits three bad fouls trying to play defense in midfield. Should have been carded. Effort on D is there, timing isn’t. His feet are really nice, and he can do great moves… but it doesn’t get results today. 61 Michael Lahoud – Played some wide mid when he first came in but then spent a lot of time in the middle again during the second half after Maxwell comes back on. Has someone in MLS asked that he play central a bunch? Could be. 65 Calum Angus – Ok right back. Hum. Not sure I’m liking that. I don’t see the pace or passing I want there. Still if you want a stay at home defense first outside back it would work. 66 Evan Brown – What’s he doing playing center back? Oh. Letting Calum Angus play wide right for about 25 minutes. Once he went back wide was the great player I know. Again late was perhaps White’s best offensive threat. 45 Brandon Barklage – Showing some ok pace but not much else to his game. 51 Chris Pontius – Solid as a wide mid on the left, but not exciting like he was up top. I think he’s a guy who may start as a wide player early in his career then become a second striker later in the Jason Kreis Career Method (trade mark Jason Kreis, Inc.). Falling… 68 Dylan Curtis – Unfortunately doesn’t look fit enough as he’s struggling I think. That’s not a good state to bring to the combine. Not showing then end to end engine he did early yesterday. Whip him into shape and there is something here I bet. 46 Pavelid Castenada – Plays center back today and is more confident and comfortable. But he doesn’t have a lot to speak of in terms of upside. 77 Nick Parera – Confirms what I saw yesterday. A big, stiff, typical college forward. No thanks. 44 Rodney Wallace – Handled Maxwell early, but then struggled once Maxwell realized he was faster. Wallace had to resort to fouling a couple times. Against slower players he’s dominate. I have never been crazy about him like some others are and he’s reminding me why at the combine. 56 Daniel Revivo – Had a wide open chance in the box from Wallace but couldn’t bring it down and ran out of time despite the acres of space he had. Did little else. Game Two: Predator PowerSwerve (Red) – 2 vs adiPure (Green) – 0Green in a diamond 4-4-2, Red in a flat four. Red is the most balanced team of the four, and unfortunately for Green they look like the weakest team overall, although they do have a couple nice players. adiPure (Green) 1st Half
2nd Half
Predator PowerSwerve (Red) 1st Half
2nd Half
Comments and Thoughts on Moving DayRising… 81 Oscar Castillo – Better. Not getting caught up, although the guys against him aren’t as fast as Blue. Runs all game long, great engine. Couple nice crosses 21 Raphael Cox – Looking sharper. Moving well. A diagonal running type. Not as much upside as some others. 30 Wed Knight – Better today. Not the modern line runner Adams is but a better defender. Show some pace running today. One of the better rights backs I think. 20 Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe – Still really running, he’s all over the place today. Not a lot comes out of it, but he is creating some tension in the back line. He again hits a nice cross. Should he be a wide mid? 96 Omar Gonzalez – Nice day from the big man. For some reason he is almost man marking 20, instead of the bigger Brito, and is keeping up with him. Omar runs himself all over tracking 20, and even keeps up on full sprint when 20 has the ball. Omar can look slow cause he’s so big with such a big stride, but today you can see he isn’t actually slow. 35 Michael Holody – Looks better today, like he knows what he’s doing. I’m giving the benefit of the doubt and not putting it down to man marking DeMartin who he knows so well. 25 Darius Barnes – Marks Zakuani today and virtually shuts him down. Nice job with one of the more dangerous players here. 32 Jean Alexandre – This guy is a man child. He’s going to scare the crap out of people if someone makes him a holding mid. He also got forward well and hit a real cracker of a shot. Late in the game playing forward he out jumps everyone but a foot and a half on a cross. Could be a mid round steal. 26 Matt Besler – Class player, Green’s best defender. A real player here with enough game to be a good pro I think. A finesse kind of defender. Might be a great mid round pickup. 28 Aaron Clapham – Nice smooth midfielder. All his passes seem to go to players on the break or into danger spots in the final third. Nothing going backward or negative in play. Not as good as Cronin but I like this guy. 80 Quincy Amarikwa – Tenacious as hell, never ever stops trying to get the ball off defenders and beats them by dribbling through them rather than around. On the first Red goal he beats like 5 players by bowling them over and bouncing off them… not very pretty but he scores. Strong, tough, and dogged. 87 Sam Cronin – Not sure how you can be rising when you’re the best player. Hits a fantastic corner that the defense bundles into it’s own goal. Amarikwa wants to claim it but I don’t think he touched it. Holding Steady… 85 Lyle Adams – At right back? Oh right… he’s not left footed. You can see the instincts are a bit backward for now, but he’ll get over that. 95 Nick Zimmerman – Looks to be a slightly above average midfielder, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. 84 Akeen Priestley – Has some game and athleticism but is out of place in the middle I think. Move him wide and he might be worth talking about. 91 Ryan Mirsky – Right back? Hum, interesting. More pace than Angus showed. Can play a little. I might want to see some more of that. Would be a project out there. Moves central later in the game when Adams come in for Gonzalez. 22 Juan Guerra – Great lead pass to Seabrook. But also a couple turnovers. 34 Jeremy Hall – Keeps popping up in the box but never really creates any real danger opportunities. Doesn’t seem to be motivated. 89 Bryan Irwin – Knows the game, moves well. But just doesn’t have enough to play up top. Will someone please move him to a new position? I’d like to see if he can do a Mark Burch like transition. 93 Steve Zakuani – Was handled fairly well by Barnes in the first half when playing more back to goal. Doesn’t seem to be able to beat people with a one step move, like Pontius did yesterday, seems to always be beating defenders on the run. Moved to wide left mid (did someone read my stuff?) in second half. I like him deeper, rather than as a target, cause he can run at people. I’m really thinking wide mid or high wing for him rather than outright striker. Falling… 17 Evan Bush – Looks a little nervous and hesitant on crosses. 10 Neal Kitson – Not saying he’s at fault on the second goal, but…. ok he might have been at fault. 83 Keum Sung Kim – His second straight poor day. Not good. 88 Doug DeMartin – Couldn’t separate from Holody. I’m sure Holoday knows him to well, but DeMartin as smart as he is doesn’t have any way to get space. 31 Paul Nicholson – If anything he was more invisible today than yesterday. Never saw much of the play that I can recall. Wash Day Tomorrow, Nothing CleanSo Monday is the off day, or at least it is for media. I believe there is a keeper workout for the coaches to go to but don’t quote me on that. That means no Combine Report from me. I might try and put together something for the site, maybe a top ten of come kind… or I might just go to the beach. 34 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I am curious to know what you mean by “not as much upside as some of the others” a comment you made about number 21 Raphael Cox. Thanks
I mean that I see more upside in Patterson, Maxwell, Cruz, Hall, and Boateng.
Great report – muchas gracias, Buzz.
Looks like it’s safe to say Gonzalez is worth the #2 pick, but is there a chance Seattle could even take him at #1? How would that affect FC Dallas?
Thanks for the write ups, Buzz.
Buzz, (regarding the very last part) either way – you are still the man. Avid viewers appreciate you getting these reviews up – even if it is at 2 in the morning over in South Florida!
Thanks for the updates. Any idea why Tosaint Ricketts isn’t there? He was No. 10 in your forward rankings.
Eugene, sure there is a chance and getting larger each day Zakuani doesn’t dominate. as for how it would effect dallas… Not much.
Eric, Ricketts withdrew to “try Europe” somewhere in Scandinavia IIRC.
what does “upside” mean? than
ks
Rhett Bernstein pulled a hamstring at training on Friday, so was not able to compete.
Buzz,
Any sign of Harvard’s Mike Fucito? I believe he was invited to the combine but I haven’t seen his name anywhere.
What are the chances that FCD would take any of the Wake Forest players? Can they fill a void?
How did Brito look yesterday?
Buzz, do you think Darrius Barnes could be moving up some draft boards right now with these performances? Guy is certainly athletic enough to play in MLS.
Any chance for Jean Alexandre to be converted to an outside back, could he play there? Seems to have the strength and skills, just wondering if someone will try him on the outside
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Mary, a player with upside means that his skills give him room to grow and progress as a player, giving him more “upside” in which to develop. If one player has more upside than another, then IMO he has the innate skill to be a better player down the line. Marcus Tracy is so coveted for example because he has massive upside. Eddie Johnson has (or had) massive upside but has never really achieved it.
Evan, Furcito pulled out of the combine as he didn’t recover in time from an injury.
Keith, they certainly could. There are quite a few exceptional Wake Player in the pool.
Dan, Brito looked ok. He hasn’t down much to distinguish himself. Hasn’t been able to separate from defenders.
Eric, on mine he is. I would think he is on others as well.
Other Eug, outside back. Possible. I think his intimidation and physical domination won’t be as impactful out there. He could probably do it.
When are you going to say something positive about Quincy. Some attributes like tenacity and ability to dribble,… you make it sound negative. Why do you think that the Red team is balanced?
How did Seabrook look for Adipure after scoring the lone goal on the first day…you don’t mention him in game two against PowerSwerve
Carlos, I don’t mean those things to be negative specifically. But he doesn’t have some of the tools I had hoped for. In my mind he’s not as good as I anticipated. He’s still one of the top ten strikers but I don’t think he’s a cant miss guy.
The red team I think is more balanced cause they have good players all over the field and are not lopsided. White for example has good D, but their Forward stink. Blue is the opposite, great attack not great D. Red is not quite as good in each specific spot but is a more well rounded team.
Amy, Seabrook looks good. Same as the first day. His first day moved him up on my boards and day 2 reinforced that. Just nothing specific to ad.
Carrick,
Based on what you’ve seen at the combine, is George John a potential prospect for the Sounders taken at the second round?
Gene, sure I can see John going in round 2.
Buzz what big ten players do u think will go in first two rounds…. between Holody, Peri, Hertel, Alston, Demartin?
Sweet. Pari and Alston will go top 2 rounds. Hertel might get up to 2, at least I would take him there or even bottom one based on need. Holody and DeMartin I won’t be shocked if they don’t get picked. DeMartin late maybe…
another B10 player who might get their names called is OSU’s Danny I.
I must say this icelandic player Elizarbetson has wowed me – heard he was the machine behined very supricing sweet 16 record of UNCG Spartans.. Saw his amazing pass in the Green first game…
Buzz,
I must say that you are pretty harsh on Marosevic, a guy who now has scored a goal in every game. Again Buzz, the kid is very smart on the field. Who calls themself Buzz anyways? Not a GA player?..again Buzz, do the homework. Find out where this kids from. I’m assuming Zidane is your favorite player by looking at your layout. European players are just better than americans. Adidas knows it. You however may not. Peri comes from the same slavic nation. He may not impress you at the combine, but I assure you that this kid knows how to play.
guys, why so defensive over certain players? If it helps, I really like Marosevic’s potential. His problem will be that MLS teams aren’t patient with domestic forwards but in the right situation he could be something special. Shades of Razov I think.
Buzz, anyone ever hear why Sinovic and Fucito didn’t show up? Are they concentrating on school for now?
[...] has a few media members at it, sometimes giving conflicting reports. One has Zakuani being a wing player that shows promise and the other says that he only showed flashes and looked [...]
I’m glad to see Aaron Clapham performing well for the Green team at the Combine. I watched him play all year for Louisville and he was an extremely steady presence in the midfield, and one of the best playmakers that I saw in the Big East.
Buzz:
Look around a little bit more.
The Crew staff is there: Warzycha, Lapper, Kirilov and Bliss plus McCullers on Saturday and Sunday.
Tell Bob Rifle I said hey.
Bill
Jamie, thanks for reading the site. No one calls themselves Buzz. I was given that names by my grandmother when my grandfather, who I am named after, passed away.
And I didn’t say Marosevic wasn’t a GA… I said he’t not the kind of player I expect to sign Ga. As in style, quality, and skill. He’s not “flashy” gas are usually flashy. It’s unusual.
undrafted, Sinovic got a red shirt for his freshman year and returned to school.. Fucito missed out with an injury he didn’t recover from in time.
Bill, I’m sure they were but I never manged to see them all weekend. Just weird for me to never see them one even though I’m quite sure they attended.
Buzz,
I don’t mean to be so harsh. I’m sure you’re doing your job well. I just know Adidas likes to sign guys who have the it. Though he may not be flashy, he is effective. Peri’s a little better than the credit you give him, but I guess I am biased. Again, him and Ring are fun to watch and it’s amazing that the were on the same team in high school. Just keep your eyes on these guys. They will produce. Keep up the good work, and again Buzz, nothing personal, as I’m sure what you’re seeing is a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off trying to impress. Do your research on this kid, and you’ll realize what I’m talking about.
All you need to do is look at the staggering amount of information on the player in the pool on this site to know I do an immense amount of research on this kid and every other kid.
Yes, he is better than what he is showing. But this is a combine report, not a draft ranking. On this article he gets the credit for what he is doing at the combine.
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