Photo by ISI Photos
So you were wondering who the best players available in Friday’s draft are, are you? Wonder no more.
After speaking with several college and pro coaches, and sitting through six MLS Combine games, I have come up with a list of the Top 10 forwards, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers in this year’s draft.
Before we get to those lists, I will also give you the All-2008 MLS Draft First and Second Team, a Best XI and second Best XI for those of you wondering who the best players are at every position.
Let us start with the Draft Best XI:
ALL-2008 MLS DRAFT TEAM
First Team
———–Patrick Nyarko————Xavier Balc————-
—————————-Eric Avila—————————
Brek Shea—————————————–Shea Salinas
————————–Ciaran O’Brien————————-
Chance Myers———————————–Sean Franklin
—————-Julius James———-Andy Iro—————–
—————————Dominic Cervi————————
Second Team
————————Ricardo Pierre-Louis——————–
———————–Peter Lowry——————————-
Roger Espinoza————Mike Videira————-Alex Nimo
————————-Andrew Jacobson————————
Eric Brunner—————————————–Jon Leathers
——————-Pat Phelan——–David Horst—————–
—————————-Josh Lambo————————–
TOP 10 BY POSITION
FORWARDS
- Patrick Nyarko– Not a great Combine but dominated in college and has shown tools to be special.
- Xavier Balc-Awful combine but passing and free kick skills make him valuable
- Ricardo Pierre-Louis– Unknown before the Combine, someone will take a chance early
- George Josten– Not overly fast or overly big, but finds the net from near and far.
- Yannick Reyering– Huge striker (6-foot-5) is coming off an injury but will be drafted.
- Ely Allen– Fast and active, could help on the wing and up top.
- Kevin Forrest– Big kid looks like a smaller Nate Jaqua, not a good Combine.
- Lukasz Tumicz– Had plenty of chances at the Combine, missed too many of them.
- El-Hadj Cisse– Looks like a target striker, plays like a winger, too slow for either.
- Ryan Cordiero– Played all over at the Combine, the type of versatility teams crave.
MIDFIELDERS
- Eric Avila– Can just flat out pass the ball, could be a star once he matures physically.
- Brek Shea– Only 17, he’s already bigger than most MLS wingers, an exciting prospect.
- Mike Videira– May be most MLS-ready midfielder in the draft.
- Peter Lowry– Doesn’t play D, is a tad slow, but he scores and creates chances in bunches.
- Stephen King— A very talented two-way midfielder who’s height (5-8) hurts him.
- Andrew Jacobson-Solid defensive midfielder who should go in early second round.
- Ciaran O’Brien— Didn’t show a ton at the Combine but is young, decent and cap-free.
- Shea Salinas– Fast and shifty, but also tough (played Combine with facial fracture).
- Alex Nimo– Long-term project will be taken at some point, just not in the first round.
- Joe Germanese– Like Salinas, Germanese is fast and shifty and good crosser from the right.
DEFENDERS
- Julius James– Strong, fast, tough and ready to start in MLS.
- Andy Iro– Tall, strong and aggressive player with major upside.
- Pat Phelan– Polished, smart and strong leader may be most mature of the top defenders.
- Chance Myers– Best left-sided player in the draft, great left back, can play left mid too.
- Sean Franklin– Fast, tough and smart MLS-ready right back can step in and start
- Eric Brunner– Left-footed center back is well-rounded and can even play some left back.
- Jon Leathers– Smallish center back projects as right back, but can play in the middle too.
- Yomby William-Think a less muscle-bounded but faster Iro, could be a nice sleeper pick.
- David Horst– Not as much upside as others, but looks capable of seeing time in year one.
- Julian Valentin– Highly-rated, smart and instinctual player, not everyone is sold on him.
GOALKEEPERS
- Dominic Cervi– Big (6-foot-6), aggressive and quick, Cervi is closest to being ready to start.
- Josh Lambo– Only 17, Lambo has a linebacker’s build and the tools to be a star.
- Brian Edwards– Not as much upside as the top two, but Edwards impressed at the Combine.
- Matt Allen– Solid, if unspectacular Combine, but size and quickness will get him picked.
- Billy Chiles– Sleeper pick has good size (6-3) and quickness, may get look from D.C.
- Jason Landers– Boasts good size and college stats, but some consider him overrated.
- Andrew Kartunen-Decent first day at the Combine may be enough to get a look somewhere.
- Casey Latchem– Showed up to Combine out of shape, will struggle to overcome that.
- Mike Graczyk– Not the biggest (6-1) but is considered a sleeper with good upside.
- Chris Cahill– Imposing size (6-foot-6) and strength will lead someone to take a flier.
If Valentin is highly rated, how are people not sold on him?
Also, Ryan Cordeiro is from my town, and played in my school Monroe Woodbury. That would be awesome if the RBs draft him
USL Teams can send coaches to the combine
kpugskev, if you scroll up, we talked about that deal a bit. just a head’s up….
Off topic, but the striker logjam at Fulham just got thicker: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=499259&cc=5901
Oh, and Ives: did you talk to Osorio or any member of the Red Bulls staff while you were down there regarding their strategy for the draft (drafting for now vs. the future, what level of talent they think there is in this draft, etc.)?
Where is Ives today?
Ives, what do you know of Joe Lapira? He didn’t attend the combine because he’s doing trials in Europe, but I think he’s in the draft and highly rated. Also, do you know anything about Rob Valentino, the Generation Adidas defender? I like your lists and your lineups. I’ll be interested to see what happens in the draft. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Red Bulls sit back with their #14 pick and take the best defender available, because I am willing to bet that there will still be a defender left at that spot who can be a capable MLS starter.
“# Billy Chiles- Sleeper pick has good size (6-3) and quickness, may get look from D.C.”
Thanks for the list, Ives, why is DC interested? Sorry if I missed this earlier…
Just based on the clips posted online from the U-23 camp, Billy Chiles looks amazing. That guy saved almost everything that came his way.
I agree with Al. A best available ranking would be awesome.
The Marlon King to Fulham move is very surprising. With Watford moving down the Championship table, you’d think they would want to keep their top scorer around to push for promotion.
Maybe EJ’s going to Watford instead. Ha! That would actually be a better move for him than going to Fulhamerica.
Doesn’t look good for EJ going to Fulham now. King coming in and McBride coming back. I just hope they keep Dempsey on the field as a winger or a withdrawn forward or a central attacking mid.
http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2008/January/WhitesPersueKing.aspx
IVES WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EDDIE JOHNSON?
Fullback is actually quite weak after Myers/Franklin. That’s why he has 4 center backs on his second team.
Not to get off topic, but I’m sure Ives knows who anonymous is, as host sites keep traffic statistics including IP addresses. If Ives was up for it, he could run a comparison report of posts to IP hits and identify him. ANYWAY, another great post. I do like the Josh Lambo idea, assuming there is nothing that will fill a glaring need for RBNY.
1) Hose…I’m pretty sure the combine is open to the public, they wouldn’t start banning anyone unless the attendance was overflowing, which I doubt will ever happen.
2) I’d like to see RBNY take a stab at Lambo if nothing good on the winger/defender front happens.
3) Anonymous, the fact that you are anonymous only proves how little you know. Not only that, but true idiots like me would much rather post with an identity and get ridiculed rather than post anonymous criticism like a coward and run away from the site with your tail between your legs.
Great work! I’ve been looking for a summary like this.
It would appear that (from what I gather from this post) that the fullback position appears to have depth. As a RBNY fan, this is great news as at the moment we don’t have a first round pick.
Just curious if USL teams are able to attend the combine?
There has to be more players attending the combine than will be drafted, and many more attending than will make an MLS squad. It would be nice if USL teams were also able to scout these players to sign those that are not drafted or get cut from MLS squads.
Good stuff Ives –
What about my request for a best 10-20 players.
You often hear coaches say ‘we took the best player available’ rather than fill a need/go for a specific position.
It would be interesting to get your take on these players in a Best Avaialble format.
Cheers
Al
If Ives had done thorough research on every college player, including those not at the combine, he would probably be on the scouting staff of an MLS team (if they had any).
Instead he runs a great blog and reports on the combine, european soccer, MLS rumors etc.
Kudos, Ives. Boo anonymous poster.
To Anonymous,
Why dont you give us your rankings, if you have done your research enlighten us.
Clearly, you haven’t done thorough research outside of what you’ve seen at the combine. That explains why most of players come from the combine except for the goalkeeper position. I would venture to guess the reason you have more than five is due to your need to fill the ten slots.
Ives, thanks for all the info on the players!
^ Bah! Ives beat me to the punchline!
@Tim
Nah, Ives thinks Cervi’s fast enough to run from one goal to the other and play for both sides at once.
😛
No, Cervi is good enough for both teams. Just kidding. Thanks for catching that.
Ives, just FYI you have Dominic Cervi as your first and second team goalie
Ives,
This is great. I assume you mean Josh Lambo for second team goalkeeper?