SuperDraft to shape expansion Whitecaps
Posted January 12, 2011 2:55 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — Decisions made by the Vancouver Whitecaps in Thursday’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft will help determine the team’s success in their inaugural MLS season, plus shape the club’s future.
The Whitecaps have two picks in the first round, including the No. 1 overall selection, in the draft of U.S. college players. Vancouver will also have the first pick in the second and third rounds (19th and 37th overall) of the draft, which will be held in Baltimore.
“We think it’s going to be a great draft,” Tom Soehn, the Whitecaps director of soccer operations, said in a telephone interview from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday.
“We are really happy we have two, first-round picks (and) think we have the potential to land two good players. Even in the second round we feel like we can get someone that can make our roster and be a significant piece.”
Toronto FC traded their first-round pick to Vancouver. They will have to wait until the second round, 26th overall, before making a selection.
“Because we are picking so low down you never know what you are going to get,” said Paul Mariner, Toronto’s recently hired director of player development.
“You obviously hope some teams miss some players so you can get your selections. We figure we can get a player that can help us.”
Any draft can be a gamble. The Whitecaps have the option of trading the possible potential of a No. 1 pick for the certainty of an established player.
Soehn said the Whitecaps will consider any offers.
“You’d be silly not too,” he said. “You sit back and evaluate every possible scenario that you feel is a good decision for the organization.
“There are talented players in this draft and guys we’d love to have wearing a Whitecaps jersey. We are getting lots of calls. We will evaluate and collaborate and then, at some point, will make a decision as to whether we feel we make that pick or trade that pick.”
Darlington Nagbe, an attacking striker who led the University of Akron to the NCAA championship, is regarded as the best player in this year’s draft. The junior from Lakewood, Ohio, won the Hermann Trophy as the top college player after scoring seven goals and collecting 13 assists this season.
While Soehn wouldn’t tip the Whitecaps’ hand, he agreed Nagbe is a player full of potential, someone Vancouver could build a marketing plan around.
“That talk is definitely warranted,” said Soehn. “Speaking with him, I think there is a good character to go along with the talent.”
A story in a Portland, Ore., newspaper Tuesday suggested Nagbe didn’t want to be drafted by Vancouver.
Soehn said Nagbe has never expressed any reluctance to him about possibly playing for the Whitecaps.
“Speaking with him, he’s ultra-excited about what ever opportunity that came his way,” said Soehn. “I think the important thing for him is he’s going to a place he’s wanted.”
The Whitecaps elected to pick first in the SuperDraft after winning a coin toss with the Portland Timbers, who also will make their MLS debut this year.
Two of Nagbe’s Akron teammates — midfielder/defender Perry Kitchen and defender Kofi Sarkodie — are also expected to go high in the draft.
Among the 10 Generation Adidas players in the draft, four are strikers. Generation Adidas players have signed MLS contracts before the completion of their NCAA eligible. They receive grants to further their college education and their salaries do not count against the MLS salary cap.
Both Soehn and Mariner attended the MLS combine in Fort Lauderdale last weekend, which attracted about 70 college players plus several international players.
“It’s been a useful experience and something to solidify your last opinions about guys,” said Soehn.
Curtis Ushedo of Mississauga, Ont., a six-foot-four defender for the University of Alabama-Birmingham, was among the college players at the combine.
The Whitecaps currently have 11 players under contract, but just one forward in Atiba Harris. Adding more offence makes sense, but Soehn said Vancouver will draft by talent, not position.
“We’re looking for the best available player,” he said. “History shows there is a fine line of guys that can make that next step.
“Drafting by positional needs, in a salary cap world, it’s difficult.”
An expansion team like the Whitecaps also must decide which players can have an impact this season, and the ones that need time to mature.
“If you draft well, they can fit in right away,” said Soehn. “The older they are, the more likely they are to make that jump (from college to professional).
“Some don’t make that transition, some do. It’s up to you to study and make sure you are prepared.”
After four MLS season, Toronto is looking to add pieces, not build a roster.
“We are really looking at someone that can help us,” said Mariner. “We’re not looking at a project.
“We need to add to the core group. We have some very good players. We need to get them some help.”
Aron Winter, Toronto’s new head coach, has promised the team will play a fluid, attacking game. That means FC will probably be looking to add strikers to its roster.
The SuperDraft has proven successful for teams. Since 1999, eight of the 11 players chosen as rookie of the year have come from the first round of the college draft.
Toronto used the first pick in the 2007 draft to take Maurice Edu. He went on to be rookie of the year and currently plays for the Rangers in the Scottish Premier League and the U.S. national team.
