WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

As much as I would love to be in Baltimore for the MLS SuperDraft today, I will not be. Work here in Dallas is keeping me from being able to attend and report from there but it doesn’t keep me from writing about it before, during and after it. Plenty of little nuggets to throw out there for everyone before the draft here in a couple hours.

I will start out with some rumors going around and some things to look out for and then I will wrap everything up with a first round prediction of who I see going where and what not.

First thing…

Even though the Wizards traded for the number one pick, word has it that they are openly shopping the pick to the right deal if it becomes available to them. Kinda crazy if you ask me but with the many question marks on this draft it doesn’t surprise me all that much. More than likely they won’t trade the pick but they will move a player or two during the draft and trade one of their other picks away.

Keep an eye out for whether or not the Wizards trade midfielder Sasha Victorine. Apparently they are making him available in this draft and want to move him in the right deal. Kind of sounds like they want to package him with a pick for another pick or something. Maybe trade him and a pick for a player, probably a forward to try and re-tool their forwards with the future loss of Eddie Johnson.

Speaking of the Grown Ass Man, word has it that he is going to have to go on a trail to get a work permit to play in England since he hasn’t appeared in the 75% of national team matches required to secure a work permit. He’s appeared in 72%. Kind of lame really that he will have to go on trail for that so he can transfer to Fulham but I still expect a deal to work out in the next day or so. Hence the reason why the Wizards are dealing as much as they can to replace him. Makes loads of sense because after Johnson, they have no offense!

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Houston is NOT looking to trade into the first round. Even though they were looking to yesterday, today, not so much. Probably because they really have no one to deal with in a reasonable manner. Some teams are probably wanting too much while the Dynamo are probably offering too little.

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Real Salt Lake has been approached by a couple clubs about a trade involving back-up goalkeeper Chris Seitz. This is a real risky deal for any club due to the fact that Seitz probably won’t be in the MLS too many more years. A sale overseas would mean a lot of money down the road and RSL would still get plenty of that (weird transfer/player selling rules in contracts).

Anyways, I would expect the RSL – Chivas deal involving Alecko Eskardarin to be announced today, if not by the end of it from what I hear.

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Don’t be too shocked to see LA make a trade or two today as well. I am reading that now they are looking to cut costs by shipping defender Chris Albright. Who’s the potential match in the trade? Stay tuned because your guess is probably as good as mine at this point with the Galaxy.

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And now for the WVHooligan SuperDraft Predictions:

1. Kansas City Wizards: Eric Avila (UCSB) – I just haven’t bought into the fact that the Wizards will draft Patrick Nyarko at number one yet. I know they are looking to sign a Columbian forward to make up for the loss of Eddie Johnson but drafting Avila makes the most sense to me. A great attacking midfielder, very crafty would fit in well with the talented Wizard midfield.

2. FC Dallas: Patrick Nyarko (Virginia Tech) – KC might not draft him but I can’t imagine Dallas not picking him if he is available here. Best striker and probably best player in this draft pool. Any team would love to have him and Dallas needs a scorer with the recent loss of Carlos Ruiz. Not to mention he is a steal for Dallas since he is a Generation adidas player.

3. Real Salt Lake: Peter Lowry (Santa Clara) – They are getting Ian Joy and apparently a Columbian defender to round out their defensive needs, which leads me to think they will go for Lowry at this spot, unless Dallas and KC pass on Nyarko or Avila. Something RSL needs is a good attacking midfielder and Lowry can be that guy for them.

4. LA Galaxy: Julius James (University of Connecticut) – The best defender in the draft should fall here, then again what do I know they could try and take Andy Iro even if James is still on the board. I still think this pick could be traded away with the word that Rudd Guillet’s dislike for what he saw at the MLS Combine but for now I will go with James here.

5. Colorado Rapids: Chance Myers (UCLA) – A guy who can play in the back or in the midfield. Even though the Rapids need scoring help, they also need midfield help. Which I could argue is more important and harder to find than scoring help. Myers seems like a good fit here. Not to mention Colorado needs to add depth and youth to their defense.

6. Columbus Crew: Xavier Balc (Ohio State)- Columbus always likes taking the local boy when they can. I see them doing that with Balc here even though he didn’t have the greatest of Combines.

7. Chicago Fire: Josh Lambo (U.S. Under-17 national team) – With Pickens likely on his way out to Norwich City, the Fire get a very young and and athletic keeper. Some say at his age he is already ahead in terms of progress over Brad Guzan and Chris Seitz. Wow.

8. FC Dallas: Brek Shea (U.S. U-17 national team) – Another Generation adidas player for the Hoops. To me this pick just makes sense for Steve Morrow and Dallas. With the recent change in formation for Dallas, adding some depth to the midfield only makes it better. Shea is young and definitely a good talent to grab here.

9. Toronto FC: Pat Phelan (Wake Forest) – The defense was weak for Toronto last year, so this is almost a no brainier.

10. Toronto FC: Mike Videira (Duke University) – This is if Mo doesn’t trade this pick away. I like Videira, very good two-way player who can fill a lot of roles. And with the likely-hood of Maurice Edu and some others gone for the Olympics this summer, Videira will get plenty of playing time to fill in for those guys.

11. Kansas City Wizards: Dominic Cervi (Tulsa) – Kevin Hartman isn’t young, and really isn’t what he used to be. Cervi will be a great replacement in the near future for the Wizards if they grab him here.

12. Chicago Fire: Andy Iro (UCSB) – I really doubt Iro will fall this far, but if he does expect the Fire to go for him. Question will be if he wants to stay on board or go home to England.

13. New England Revolution: Alex Nimo (U.S. U-17 national team) – I struggled to figure out this pick (like many) but the Revs need some midfield depth in this draft and Nimo seems like a good project to take on.

14. Real Salt Lake: Jon Leathers (Furman)- Leathers is one of the most polished defenders in the draft and he can play in the middle or on the right side. RSL still needs defensive help even with their potential signings.

Check back during the draft, I will try to make my instant analyis as it goes on!

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