Approaching the MLS draft part 7

By: Felegy | January 10th, 2011

   

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Some (but only a little) insight into Vancouver and the top picks

UPDATE to the UPDATE: Director of Soccer Operations Tom Soehn is sure there would be no problems with selecting Nagbe, saying:

“We’ve done our homework and he’d be excited to be in Vancouver,” the Whitecaps’ director of soccer operations said Tuesday. “We talked to him recently and I think he’s excited for an opportunity to play in MLS and he wants to go somewhere where he’s wanted.”

UPDATE: Geoffrey Arnold is reporting a rumour that Nagbe may not want to be drafted by Vancouver. It’s just a rumour right now: Nagbe will speak to the media on Wednesday.

Here are a couple stories on the top two consensus picks. First up is Perry Kitchen:

Perry Kitchen familiarizing himself with Vancouver.

“It’d be great,” Kitchen told MLSsoccer.com on Sunday. “I’ve looked up the city online. It looks amazing. Beautiful complex. I’m excited.”

Beautiful complex? The stadium isn’t built yet. And neither is our training facility. Huh. But the city does look pretty amazing, fair enough.

I’ve pointed out that he can play in the back line (as he does for the US U-20 team) and as a defensive midfielder (which he did for his college championship team). Here are his (brief) thoughts on that:

“I like [midfield] better,” he said. “It suits me better. I think I do more. I’m more active pulling guys in and keeping them all from trying to move out. I think it’s my strong suit.”

Good. We’re fine at the back. I love players that want to play in the centre of the pitch, moving the ball around like they own it, and cleaning shit up as necessary.

Next up we have a short bit on Vancouver and Darlington Nagbe:

Thordarson disappointed with Nagbe’s absence.

“(It hurts) a little bit,” Thordarson said Sunday. “No doubt about it.”

“I was really looking forward to seeing him,” Thordarson said. “It didn’t happen that way and that’s unfortunate.”

I’m pretty sure Thordarson won’t decide based on a slight snub, but he could make a decision because he can’t actually see a player in person.

“I have only seen him on videos,” Thordarson said. “There are many talents (at the combine) and Nagbe is definitely one of those talents. He’s one of the players we have kept our eyes on a little bit.”

Kitchen goes up, Nagbe goes down. Maybe only a bit.

Approaching the MLS draft series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Category: Future Thoughts, Information, MLS, Team News, Team thoughts, Youth Development

   

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• Approaching the MLS draft part 4 - The Offside - Vancouver Whitecaps blog |  January 10th, 2011 at 10:23 pm | Pingback

  
  
  

  [...] the MLS draft: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Category: Future Thoughts, Information, MLS, Team News Tags: 2011, draft, Future Thoughts, [...]

  

• Harlan |  January 11th, 2011 at 7:02 pm

  
  
  

  Wow…no disrespect…but maybe we should combine some posts or spread them out a bit. I open up the MLS Offside page…and the Whitecaps are almost every post. I’m all for enthusiasm…but not at the expense of the others being blocked out.

  

• Brenton |  January 11th, 2011 at 8:40 pm

  
  
  

  Hi Harlan.

  Apologies, sort of. I haven’t seen many posts by other bloggers recently, so I’m not sure anyone is being blocked out. If the other bloggers are writing things, they will get into the rotation.

  Most recent posts:
  Chicago – October 24
  Chivas – June 12
  Colorado – August 25
  Columbus – December 27
  DC – December 10
  Dallas (you?) – January 5
  Houston – November 10
  Kansas City – November 16
  LA – November 23
  New England – March 28
  New York – December 15
  Philly – September 23
  Salt Lake – September 7
  San Jose – December 23
  Seattle – January 9
  Toronto – January 6
  Portland – January 8

  So my multiple posts have bumped your post, but only yours. No one else is writing anything. I can’t spread these out, as they are highly topical to the draft this Thursday. I could have combined several of them, true, but I usually try to get shorter rather than longer posts up.

  One solution I see working is having only the most recent post from each page in the rotation rather than the most recent posts from all pages in the same rotation. Why don’t you email Ian and ask if this is workable?

  

• Harlan |  January 11th, 2011 at 10:42 pm

  
  
  

  Nah…it’s cool. I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything. It just seemed like a whole lot all at once. If you feel they warranted separate posts, then I’m not about to tell you how to run your blog. A seven part series on individual games might be another story though…

  Glad to have you aboard.

  Harlan (Yes, the Dallas one.)

  

• Brenton |  January 12th, 2011 at 2:31 am

  
  
  

  Sorry if I came across as a little callous. You’re right, it was taking up space on the front page.

  I post a new piece every five minutes during games. Watch out.

  

• Approaching the MLS draft part 6 - The Offside - Vancouver Whitecaps blog |  January 12th, 2011 at 4:38 pm | Pingback

  
  
  

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