Marshall wows 'em at MLS combine

By Scott French, Soccer America

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CARSON, Calif. -- Two days into Major League Soccer's pre-draft player combine at the Home Depot Center and the buzz was all about Stanford defender Chad Marshall and his man-among-boys performance on the first day of the camp.

Everybody, it seemed, had Marshall on his mind -- nobody else was being mentioned -- including U.S. under-23 coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick, who called up the U-20 defender for the remainder of his pre-Olympic qualifying camp.

Marshall, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound Project-40 signing projected as the second selection (by Columbus) in Friday's draft in Charlotte, N.C., debuted with the U-23s Monday, starting with the "A" team in the second of two hour-long scrimmages against the full U.S. national team. He was sturdy in the back during a 1-1 tie before a few hundred spectators -- including MLS and A-League coaching staffs -- on the HDC's No. 1 training field.

"I'm very impressed," said U-23 left back Chris Wingert, who on Friday won the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy as college soccer's best player. "He's great in the air, he's very strong on the ball. Today's the first day I've ever played with him, but I've seen him play a bit in college -- he had an outstanding [NCAA] final four last year as a freshman; he had a very good U-20 World Cup. The more he can be here with us, kind of mesh with our team and organize our defense, the better that will get.

"If Mooch is going to play him as one of our center backs, that's good with me."

Myernick said he was impressed with Marshall at the U-20 championship, but he wants to see more leadership from soft-spoken central back.

'LITTLE BIT TOO QUIET'

"He's by nature a little bit too quiet of a player for me, in terms of his taking some leadership back there and organizing," Myernick said after Monday's scrimmages. "I think part of playing in the back is taking advantage of the fact that you can see more of the field than the guys in front of you, and you need to help them with a little direction. He needs to certainly grow in that area. ...

"Being able to organize of the field, to me that's just part and parcel of what that position requires, like heading, tracking, passing. Talking is part of it. He needs to take a serious look at himself in terms of that component of the game as he now tries to play at the upper levels of the game."

The U-23 team faces Aguila of El Salvador on Friday night at East L.A. College. The national team meets Denmark on Sunday afternoon in the HDC's main stadium. Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey, all in the U-23 camp, will play with full national team.

Jeff Cunningham gave the national team a first-half lead in the second scrimmage, and his Columbus Crew teammate Edson Buddle scored in the second half for the U-23s. The Olympians hit the woodwork twice in a second-half sequence, with Bobby Convey clanging off the post and Buddle heading Convey's subsequent corner kick against the crossbar.

The national team won, 1-0, in the first scrimmage, against a U-23 reserve team that featured Karlsruhe forward Conor Casey. Ante Razov scored the goal. Carey Talley suffered a left ankle injury in the game.

The national team on Friday beat the U-23s, 3-1, pulling away against the reserves in the second half.

Marshall is one of three collegians on the 26-player U-23 roster, which Myernick must trip to 20 before heading to Guadalajara for the Feb. 2-12 CONCACAF qualifiers. The others, both available in Friday's draft, are Wingert, out of St. John's, and Santa Clara goalkeeper Steve Cronin, a P-40 player who is participating in the MLS combine.

Myernick said there were about 10 players battling for the final four or five roster spots.

Marshall was happy with his play Sunday in the combine.

"I thought I played decently," he said. "We [the adidas F-50 team] played with three in the back, with a sweeper and two marking backs, and I was one of the marking backs. I kind of stayed on the right side. I've never done that before, so that was a little different for me. I thought I did all right. Completed most of my passes, so I think I did pretty well."

Told of the buzz around the HDC, Marshall flashed a smile.

"That's cool to hear."

Scott French is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine.