Good morning folks. I’m coming to you from the practice bubble at Giants Stadium. The place is filled with prospects hoping to land a contract. I’ll provide some live commentary from here for the next hour so feel free to follow along.
12:13pm– Osorio has left the building but we still have one more game going. Agoos and Williams are watching the last game.
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12:07pm- For those of you wondering, Columbus still has the rights to Teddy Niziolek but apparently the Crew and Red Bulls are talking trade again.
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12:03pm- Spoke to Francis Doe and it turns out he spent the off-season in Minnesota, where his parents live.
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12pm- We’re still going and Palacio finished off a nice sequence with a goal. The kid’s a player.
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11:45am- I’ve said it already but Kassel is legit. Obviously the competition is a few notches below what he’ll see in MLS but you can see the skill.
We’ve had two goals since the opener, including a nice one by Martin Nunez.
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11:40am- Here are the rosters of the teams today (some players are here who aren’t on the lists):
YELLOW TEAM
- Laurent Manuel
- Matt Kassel
- Tighe Dombrowski
- Scott Palguta
- Oscar Carmona
- Zen Darwcz
- Keith Hernandez
- Sola Abolaji
- Leo Buttitta
- Chris Megaloudis
BLUE TEAM
- Danleigh Borman
- Abimbola Pedro
- Marshall Leonard
- Martin Nunez
- Ted Niziolek
- Cody Ericson
- Hakim Zermouni
- Felipe Libreros
- Gabriel Ortega
- Christian Camacho
ORANGE TEAM
- Michael Palacio
- John Gilkerson
- Steve Curfman
- Ricky Schramm
- Spencer Allen
- Ben Clack
- Carlos Manuel Mora
- Mauricio Turizio
- Alex Cunliffe
- Kevin Mesa
- David Panchano
Goalkeepers in attendance are: Andrew Sparkes, Alex Satovic, JP Franchini and Bill Gaudette.
Now you can Google away.
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11:34am- We finally had a goal, scored by Gabriel Ortega. There was no roar from the crowd. Hopefully more goals are coming.
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11:26pm- We’re in between games again and there still hasn’t been a goal scored. I wish I could say it is because of the stellar defending but it hasn’t. There have been some players who have showed some skill so it hasn’t been a complete loss. I would still rate the action so far better than Day One, Game One at the MLS Combine. I’m still in therapy after that disaster.
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11:22am- One prospect who has looked decent in a central midfield role is Christian Camacho. Then again, he might just stand out because of the mohawk he’s sporting. Actually, he’s pretty skillful.
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11:17am- Marshall Leonard is certainly an interesting prospect. As a left-sided defender, he should get a long look as a bench option. He’s not doing much today but only because he hasn’t faced much in the way of attacks.
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11:12am- Yes, they are still playing. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve had a goal all day.
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11:03am- We’re in between games and I can tell you that Kassel, Palacio and Dombrowski have impressed. Defender Sola Abolaji has also looked pretty good today.
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11am- Yes, I just figured out I was putting PM on my updates. Supplemental pick Michael Palacio has been impressive today.
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10:56am– Tighe Dombrowski has looked pretty good in defense.
Stil waiting to see a left-sided player stand out.
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10:50am- Supplemental picks Michael Palacio and John Gilkerson look decent.
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10:42am- Former RSL defender Steve Curfman is also here.
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10:38am- Teddy Niziolek is here and playing center back.
Kassel with a nice surge forward that results in a shot saved. The kid can play.
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10:33am- Also in the house is Francis Doe. That is good news because it means he isn’t stuck in Liberia with visa issues.
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10:31am- A little 10 v 10 action is taking place right now and it’s about as sloppy as you would expect.
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10:26am- MLS veterans in attendance today include former Columbus Crew goalkeeper Bill Gaudette and former New England defender Marshall Leonard.
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10:21am- Guess who is on the field for the first action? None other than Red Bulls youth prospect Matt Kassell. Yep. The boy wonder is here.
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10:18pm- Richie Williams is gathering the players and giving them the rundown of things. He and Jeff Agoos are in attendance.
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10am- Head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has arrived and it looks like his brain is going a thousand miles an hour. I don’t have the heart to tell the prospects in this bubble but I think Osorio’s mind is on the foreign players he’s hoping to sign.