By MIKE NASTRI
The Houston Dynamo came away as the big winner on draft day taking Kofi Sarkodie and trading up to select Will Bruin.
Sarkodie, the dynamic right back from Akron, fell a few spots lower than expected on draft day. Houston took the best player available with the seventh overall pick in Sarkodie despite just recently signing a right back in Hunter Freeman. The Generation Adidas fullback has the attacking skill set to fit in as a right wing player, potentially helping fill the role left by the trade of Brian Mullan last season.
The Dynamo then traded allocation money to Portland for the rights to the eleventh pick, which Houston used to take Generation Adidas forward Will Bruin. The Indiana target forward is a good finisher and very good in the air.
Despite having just one pick heading into the draft, Houston ended up with two quality players that can start on the team now. These additions will give a boost to team looking to get back into the playoffs in 2011.
SBI had a chance to interview both Sarkodie and Bruin, as well as Dynamo head coach Dom Kinnear. The video interviews are after the jump:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18765943 w=440&h=292]
Kofi Sarkodie Draft from Soccer By Ives on Vimeo.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18777429 w=440&h=292]
Will Bruin Draft from Soccer By Ives on Vimeo.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18766192 w=440&h=292]
Dom Kinnear Draft from Soccer By Ives on Vimeo.
The Dynamo do have a lot of Hispanic fans, makes the games fun 🙂 Dos Santos deal is dead though, other rumors were Daniel Luduena and David Suazo but I think those are both DOA as well.
I’m hoping we may see some South American players that were scouted on some of last month’s expedition, if we could find a #10 type along with a speed option at striker I think we’d be in decent shape to start the season.
Yeah, Oduro wanted something like double the money he got last season and he simply isn’t worth that much. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us both add a speed option, possibly as a DP, as well as deal either Garey or Weaver.
I actually liked Hertzog as our pick at striker due to his pace (he ran some track in college as well, 400 I think) but I have a feeling Dom is looking at a longer term replacement for Ching.
Psh… dude… Houston is Mexico… wouldn’t be a problem if it was Gio or friggin’ Gerardo Torrado
Interesting proposition. However, considering that Kinnear said he is looking for another CM, not another winger, and another forward, that move seems highly unlikely. Ashe definitely has the speed, and may have better accuracy than Oduro (strangely enough Oduro had better accuracy whenever he shot off balance than when he had just a normal plain shot)so we may see a move like that if injuries pile up upfront (weaver and ching = lots of injury time waiting to happen with how old they are getting)and if the other forward option (if speed based) is unavailable.
A Mexican star who isn’t impossible for USMNT fans to get behind would be HUGE.
Oh man shows what I know. Maybe he’ll play Corey Ashe in that position?
I am not sold on getting a DP. You could get Lionel Messi for all I care, but if the guy does not work well with the team or simply destroys the team chemistry, it is not worth it. Based on who Kinnear has as his players and the amount of position switching the players do, a big name player who has honed his skills in a single position to doing only one or two things may or may not fit into the team’s chemistry. It may work because he will be a player you can always count on to doing the same thing. It may not work because players that have moved into different positions may not be able to provide the skills that the DP requires. Thus, for Houston, I hope they are focusing on well rounded player is rather than just the name and how big a profile the player is. We should be looking to how he the player’s skills both help the team as well as the team’s abilities around him.
Nice draft, but the key is getting a DP deal done…I wonder if Gio Dos Santos could still be in the works
I didn’t know until I looked it up, but Oduro is a free agent (Wikipedia), and he is not listed on the roster (club website). Is Houston looking at someone? I don’t know if Garey is fast, but Bruin, Ching and Weave sure aren’t.
I always liked Oduro as our speed forward, he’s very good when the guys around him are playing well. Obviously he’s not the best but I don’t think we’ll get anyone else to fill that role.
Some more speed couldn’t hurt. Maybe Hertzog would have been a better choice at 11? (I didn’t see the combine, but heard he was fast.) There is still time to sort this out.
Something else to consider, unlike other sports this is only one of many ways to add players to your team in MLS. We’ve got some young guys with great potential and made the most of our picks, were these the only players the Dynamo added I’d be complaining but I have a feeling we’ll see a number of other changes and additions between now and opening day.
I would argue Sarkodie is looking to back up the LB position or challenge Chewie for the starting job. For one thing Kinnear made a point in stating it in the video, second I do not see anyone else on the defender’s list playing LB right now. Kinnear likes versatile players who can fill in gaps as is often needed in MLS. Look at all of his players, you have Andrew Hanault who played RB, but is actually a CB (where he will play this year most likely), you have Danny Cruz, Corey Ashe, and Collin Clark who have played on both outside wings, Brad Davis can play in the middle and LM.
So he may have been a RB in college, but I think Kinnear is looking to convert him into LB (hopefully he gets good so that he can help out the US in that position one day.)
I would have to agree with you about Will Bruin not being a major contributor any time soon. He is most likely to be either the new Brian Ching the team will build around in the future or future trade bait. Right now the team has 3 target forwards, Cam Weaver, Brian Ching and Will Bruin. I am not sure what type of forward Jason Garey is. So whether Houston made a good choice with him will depend who Houston gets in a trade for him, or if he really becomes to future striker of the Dynamo.
great post.i see it the same way. time will tell, tho.
Good stuff, definitely well done by the Orange. I’m curious if Bruin pairs up with Ching or becomes more or his understudy, I’d like to see us get a burner at forward to pair with either one of them.
“Came away as the big winner”? That seems a bit of a reach to me.
Sarkodie and Bruin may turn out to be great players. But I think Sarkodie is doing to end up at right outside mid rather than right back–so that’s a position change for him. That doesn’t mean he won’t do well, it just means he is not only going to the pros but a new role. As for Bruin…great college career. But college tends to reward those kind of physical, direct strikers like Jason Garey. Maybe Bruin will be Brian Ching-lite or v.2.0 in which case that’s a fine draft choice. Or maybe he’ll discover that pro CB’s can match him in the air and he’s not sophisticated enough on the ball to diversify his game.
I’m not saying these are bad draft choices. But Houston has always been a team that has a great foundation, integrates rookies into that foundation and knows the players it acquires well b/c most of them come from other MLS teams. They’re in a big transition period now (much like NE is) and I’m not so sure (for different reasons) either will be a major contributor this year…in which case it’s hard to argue they were the “big winner.”
here is to hoping coach plays em this year.