MLS SuperDraft 2007--------by Section 112 Blizzard
Jan 12th 2007
MLS Superdraft
2007 will be held on Friday in Indianapolis. 52 players will be selected in
four rounds. TFC will have the first pick in rounds one, three and four. The
second round pick was dealt to FC Dallas as part of the Ronnie O'Brien trade.
Although the SuperDraft will not have as big an impact as the Expansion draft on
TFC's starting lineup the performance of the players selected in 2006 suggests that
the first and third round picks can be expected to see significant playing time
this summer, while the fourth round pick is more of a long shot to make the
grade.
The SuperDraft primarily consists of graduating NCAA players but 8
Generation Adidas players (mainly US U-20 and U-17 players) will also be up
for grabs. Generation Adidas is a program run in association with the USSF and
Adidas to enable early entry of promising young players into MLS. In addition to
a guaranteed contract Generation Adidas players also receive grants towards
their college education should their career in soccer not work out.
It should be noted that contrary to what was predicted by the Toronto MLS
blogspot BC's
Tyler Rosenlund has not signed a Generation Adidas contract. It will be
interesting to watch Mo Johnston's strategy in this draft and whether or not he
will focus on the Canadians that are available or will instead simply aim to
select the best players available regardless of nationality given the fact that
TFC has up to 5 youth international roster spots available in 2007 and American
franchises may be reluctant to draft Canadians given the limited number of
international roster spots that are available to them. Undrafted Canadian
players can still be invited to training camp and signed to the development
roster.
Four Canadians were invited to this week's MLS player combine in Fort
Lauderdale:-
Nigel
Marples, Towson University, Delta BC, Defender, 1985
Jeffrey
Gonsalves University of Rhode Island, Markham, Forward, 1986
Rich
Asante Syracuse University, North York, Midfielder, 1985 CSA
Profile
Riley
O'Neill University of Kentucky, Campbell River BC, Forward, 1985 CSA
Profile
The two most highly rated Canadian prospects Jeffrey Gonsalves and Riley O'Neill
did not attend due to illness. There are rumours that Mo Johnston may trade
the top pick for another team's first and second picks as the player that
TFC have identified as their top target is not generally expected to be selected
first overall. The Generation Adidas players who appear to be most highly rated
are the University of Maryland midfielder Maurice
Edu and goalkeeper Chris
Seitz. Soccernet
and 3rddegree.net
have provided detailed assessments of many of the other available players.
The SuperDraft will be shown live at noon on Friday on The
Score and on the mlsnet.com website.
The bottom line as always is that the Red Patch
Boys messageboard is the best place on the internet to discuss all the
latest happenings at Toronto FC.
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