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Gems or germs? Jury is out on teams' selections at MLS draft
Updated: Thursday February 08, 2001 6:06 PM
OK, so every Major League Soccer coach and general manager said they were happy with their draft. What did you expect them to say? That they made awful picks and that they should be fired on the spot? The SuperDraft isn't a place where you can find cure-alls for what ails you or fill in all the holes. But astute scouting and drafting certainly can go a long way, especially when you get out of the first two rounds. Case in point: Last year, the Kansas City Wizards used a third-round pick on Kerry Zavagnin, who had decided to spent a year in the A-League honing his game after getting limited playing time with the MetroStars. Zavagnin went on to play in 31 of 32 games (missing one due to yellow-card accumulation), helped K.C. to the MLS Cup title and was called into national team camp as well. Finds like Zavagnin are few and far between, but they can also turn into the difference between an also-ran team and a title contender.
We'll know better come September if there were any gems in the bottom three rounds, from which players traditionally find it difficult to make the team, let alone make an impact. Saying that, here is a quick look at who made out and who didn't in Monday's SuperDraft: Dallas Burn (A) -- Give general manager Andy Swift and new coach Mike Jeffries some high marks for taking Joselito Vaca and defender Ryan Suarez in the first round and later on Under-17 forward Edward Johnson, a Project-40 players. Vaca has been hyped as the second coming of Marco Etcheverry, even though they are different types of players. I have to admit I was impressed with the 18-year-old Bolivian at the Umbro Select All-Star Classic. If he passes the same way to Jason Kreis and Ariel Graziani, they both could finish with 15 goals or more. Johnson, who scored one goal and set up another in the 4-0 victory over Guatemala in the preliminary to the U.S.-Colombia match on Saturday, is a find for the future. In fact, the Burn was the only team to nab two P-40 players, taking 17-year-old forward Miguel Saavedra in the sixth round. After Mark Dodd retired, the Burn needed a backup keeper and Dallas took Adam Zapala (Stanford) in the fourth round. D.C. United (A-) -- Of course they get high marks. What do you expect from a team that had virtually all the picks in the opening round? OK, I'm exaggerating a bit; United had only three. Between trades, draft choices and speculation, there is little doubt D.C. dominated the draft. Midfielder Clemson Mark Lisi (third overall), Stanford defender Ryan Nelsen and Project 40 forward-midfielder Santino Quaranta are all promising players, but it is rare for three rookies in the same lineup to become major impact players overnight. Imagine if they start along with Bobby Convey, who turns 18 in May. That will be one young side. Then there is the question of the new chemistry mix after trading away four defensive national team players. But that's another question to be answered at another time. Tampa Bay Mutiny (B+) -- Duke forward Ali Curtis should make a good fit, giving the Mutiny a complement to Mamadou Diallo up front. Curtis won't have pressure to fill the net, but he should get some dangerous opportunities because Diallo will be double-teamed for most of the season -- and thanks to the pin-point passing of Carlos Valderrama. The Mutiny also shored up their defense by grabbing Rochester Raging Rhinos defender Craig Demmin. The Trinidad native, who turns 30 in May and was one of the older players selected, has speed and some bite to his game. On Friday, the Mutiny were forced to waive defender Kalin Bankov to conform with MLS' limit of three foreign players per team. The Mutiny made two curious picks in the fifth round -- defenders Mersim Beskovic and Hector Navarette, who played for the Westchester Flames (Premier Development League). No doubt coach Alfonso Mondelo, the former Project-40 coach who knows a bit about amateur and semi-pro soccer in the New York City area, did his homework on these two picks. Whether they can stick remains to be seen. Columbus Crew (B) -- In baseball, the saying goes that you can't get enough pitching. In soccer, you can't get enough scoring. The Crew has a definite glut of forwards. With rumors of Brian McBride going to English first division side Preston North End permanently, the Crew fortified itself with five forwards. New Zealand native Duncan Oughton was selected in the first round, Long Island Rough Riders forward Edson Buddle, a Project-40 player, was grabbed in the third round, and McKinley Tennyson, a key component of UCLA's 1997 NCAA Division I championship team, was chosen in the fourth round. I'm a bit surprised Buddle lasted so long. Perhaps I was biased because I saw him so much last year, but I think he's a diamond in the rough. This isn't the first time people didn't listen to me. Of course, I raved about Giovanni Savarese before the very first MLS player draft in 1996, and he didn't go until the ninth round (out of a 16-round draft), as the MetroStars wisely selected him. Savarese became only a handful of players who scored at least 10 or more goals in each of the first four MLS seasons. And oh yes, the only non-attacking player taken by the Crew was Kevin Adams, a defender from Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago). The Crew certainly helped itself before the draft when it was allocated Ugandan international and Pittsburgh Riverhounds defender Tenywa Bonseu, who played six games with the Chicago Fire in the 2000 players. San Jose Earthquakes (C+) -- Perhaps the Earthquakes did the right thing in trading away their other first-round picks. You have to wonder about their first pick -- Chris Carrieri, who has similar characteristics to forward Ronald Cerritos. This is not doubting Carrieri's talent or abilities, but Curtis might have been a better fit. They did add some youth to their backline by taking North Carolina defender Eddie Robinson in the second round. And yes some speed in Jeff Agoos, who at 32 still can motor. They have to hope their allocations come through big time to turn things around. They already took one in Richmond Kickers defender Dwayne DeRosario. On Friday, the Earthquakes waived 32-year-old defender Dan Calichman, who joined in the trade that also brought over defender Mike Burns in exchange for Mauricio Wright. Kansas City Wizards (C) -- This time around coach Bob Gansler and general manager Curt Johnson didn't have to rebuild an ailing team, only fill in a couple of holes. They can only hope that Project-40 defender Jose Burciaga, a 19-year-old, enjoys the same success as last year's first-round pick, Nick Garcia. They also took Seattle Sounders midfielder Andrew Gregor in the second round. Perhaps they're hoping for another Zavagnin in the midfielder who played 10 games with the Crew in 1998. Sorry, the rest of their selections just didn't turn me on. To help make up for the loss of forward Miklos Molnar and Alex Bunbury, the Wizards had already traded midfielder Chris Henderson to Miami for Roy Lassiter. New England Revolution (C) -- The Revolution backline got even younger with the second-round selection of Nick Downing, a 21-year-old Project-40 player out of Maryland. You wonder if the Brian Dunseth's days are numbered with the Revs after he slid during the second half of the season. Because of trades, the Revs did not have many early round picks. Another Rochester player, midfielder Yari Allnutt, was tabbed in the fourth round. Allnutt was one of those A-League players who earned a living thanks to playing in the second division league and indoor soccer as well. Allnutt was the oldest player drafted (he'll turn 31 on Feb. 17). Los Angeles Galaxy (C) -- Just by looking at the way coach Sigi Schmid drafted you assume Cobi Jones is a goner. His first two selections were forwards -- Creighton All-American Brian Mullan, who was his side's best player at the NCAA Division I Final four, and Brian Ching, who played for the Spokane Shadow (Premier Development League) after leaving Gonzaga. It would be difficult replacing a player of Jones' quality, especially since the Galaxy want to be at top strength for the FIFA Club World Championship come this summer. L.A. needs a top-flight allocation or two if it loses Cobi to an European side such as Leicester City in England. Miami Fusion (C) -- The Fusion took forward Ali Ngon as its first pick in the second round. Who's Ngon? Never heard of him? He's a Cameroon-born member of the Canadian under-20 team who scored six goals in 17 games for the A-League Montreal Impact last season. He's promising, but can he help Miami immediately? What made headlines in South Florida? The Fusion's fifth-round pick -- Teofilo Cubillas, the son of former Fort Lauderdale Striker and Peruvian great Teofilo (Nene) Cubillas, who was selected in the fifth round. The elder Cubillas was a long-time Strikers teammate of current Fusion coach Ray Hudson. But the Fusion got what they really wanted in a trade with United -- a veteran defender who can shut down the opposition in U.S. international Carlos Llamosa. Colorado Rapids (C-) -- Nothing much to get excited about. The Rapids did choose Stephen Herdsman, a 25-year-old defender with the West Michigan Edge (PDL) as their first overall pick in the second round. Maybe coach Tim Hankinson knows something the rest of MLS doesn't. Only time will tell. Just call their draft Ryan's hope. UCLA defender Ryan Lee (third round) and Virginia midfielder Ryan Trout (fourth) could surprise some people. MetroStars (D) -- Since I cover the team closely, I'll probably catch hell for this grade. But you have to question some of the moves. First of all, the MetroStars traded the 10th overall selection to the San Jose Earthquakes for veteran defender Francis Okaroh and the 13th overall pick. But Okaroh was jettisoned because the MetroStars said they had to get under the salary cap, so the MetroStars lost three positions in the draft. They took a virtual unknown -- forward Rodrigo Faria, who played with the New Jersey Stars in an amateur league, at No. 13. Coach Octavio Zambrano and general manager Nick Sakiewicz will be under fire if Faria doesn't produce off the bench in light of midfielder-defender Steve Shak, who underachieved after he was the first pick overall last year. The rest of the picks were strictly New York related. And goalkeeper Russell Payne in the fifth round? He struggled last year in his only appearance last year, surrendering two goals in eight minutes and turning a 5-1 laughter into a 5-3 nailbiter against the Colorado Rapids. The team also skipped over him in favor of Long Island Rough Riders keeper Paul Grafer when they were without Mike Ammann and Tim Howard in the playoffs. I realize one game and eight minutes don't make a season or a career. But his 22.50 goals-against average (which has to be the highest or one of the highest in league history) sticks out like a sore thumb. Chicago Fire (D) -- As the lottery saying goes, you've got to be in it to win it. Because of trades made last year to obtain players such as DaMarcus Beasley, the Fire did not have very much to work with. The Fire had to wait until the end of the second round to make its very first pick, naming Pittsburgh Riverhounds midfielder Justin Evans on the 23rd pick. Chicago, which could use a backup keeper (just remember how disastrous it was when Zack Thornton went down), took South Carolina's Henry Ring in the third round. For the record, the Fire had four selections, total -- one in the second round, two in the third round, none in the fourth or fifth rounds and one in the sixth round. That's why the Fire's most important move of the week was signing midfielder-forward Hristo Stoitchkov to a two-year contract. Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He was recently honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in the college division of its writing contest for Life is Beautiful, a column on University of San Francisco coach Steve Negoesco.
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