Lewis: MLS clubs rely on poker face

BALTIMORE -- The build-up to the MLS SuperDraft is like watching a giant poker game.

Just imagine all 14 players sitting at a table, playing as close to the vest as possible, not revealing their strategy until they're called upon.

By 6 p.m. ET Friday, everyone will have revealed their hand at the Baltimore Convention Center (the first hour on ESPN2, 2 p.m. ET), as 56 players will picked for their chance at a professional career.

Already some coaches aren't particularly enamored with the deck of players they have been playing with, claiming that this year's crop of players isn't as deep or strong as in previous years.

"If I am honest with you without criticizing or hurting anybody, I don't think there will be enough players to wait around for the second round," said New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio, whose first pick isn't until the second round (16th overall). "We're analyzing all our options and will decide if we should move up."

Osorio said he felt that there were five players at the adidas MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale that were good enough to compete for a starting position and not more than 10 players who could make a team.

"I'm not just speaking on behalf of my own opinion but on behalf of the all the coaches as part of a general consensus," he said. "This time around doesn't have as many players as previous ones."

Los Angeles Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas has been through this drill before.

"Invariably people say, 'Well, this is a poor crop or there wasn't very good soccer played, this and that,'" he said. "Most of it is posturing because at the end of the week when the draft comes closer, the players tend to look a whole lot more attractive.

It's a lot like wine. You have your good years and your bad years."

Compared to other U.S. professional leagues, there are very few players who are considered sure bets, such as an All-American running back in that other football or that 6-foot-7 guard who can take over a game and turn a deficit into victory.

Plus, the gap between college and pro soccer has grown.

"Our league is getting better and better, which means its getting harder and harder for draft picks to have an immediate impact," Kansas City Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said.

Added Lalas: "Invariably you're going to have a player who shows up in the fourth round or the supplemental draft who is goes on to be great. This is not an exact science."

Regardless, there will always be a first overall pick. As of Wednesday night, the Wizards owned it after sending veteran defender Nick Garcia to the expansion San Jose Earthquakes. And like many other of his fellow coaches, Onalfo was playing it close to the vest on what the team might do with it.

"It's a win-win situation," he said. "It really is good to be in this position because you can get a player who is young and who has a long future ahead of him ... or you can get a player that is little more established.

"We're sitting in a very, very good position going into the draft."

And probably the most popular team as Wizards general manager Peter Vermes and Onalfo expect a lot more phone calls from their colleagues between now and 2 p.m. Friday.

"Of course," Onalfo said with a laugh. "Everybody's formulating their plans on what they want to do. There's some interest in the first pick."

There has been talk that Virginia Tech forward Patrick Nyarko could very well be the top choice.

Then again, some teams that don't have a first-round selection, such as the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo, which doesn't have a first-round selection, has tried to trade up, but with no success for now.

"We haven't sat still," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We've had offers knocked out. It's not through lack of trying. For us to part with a player (for a draft pick), it will be difficult."

But there are some gems to mine on the second round and beyond.

"When you go to the third and fourth round, when you see something you like, players who may fit into the team's plans in the future," Kinnear said.

Everyone has their own way of evaluating players. Osorio interviewed prospective draftees one-on-one at the Combine. Kinnear, on the other hand, prefers to talk to their college coach.

"You want to make sure a player can handle the athletic aspect," he said. "They're not playing 18-19-20 year-olds. They're playing 25-year-olds."

The man who has enjoyed the most success on draft day is New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol. Every season it seems he finds at least one, if not two players who become regulars in Foxborough, Mass.

Asked what his secret was, Nicol replied with a laugh: "I would like to know that as well."

Then he became serious.

"A lot of things go into it," he said. "It depends on what you're looking for, what the other teams don't need. At the end of the day, you're looking for a player who has ability, who enjoys playing the game, who wants to play the game, obviously somebody is going to fit into the group, on and off the field. It's a combination of all those things, plus $100."

"The nature of the draft, you can't do it," he said. "You have to go in with an open mind. Things change quickly. You have to think on your feet as well. If a team goes before us and picks a guy that we want, the guy is a center forward and somebody takes him, it's not necessarily a case of you take the next best forward available."

Perhaps the direct opposite to Nicol is former Dutch master Ruud Gullit, the new Los Angeles Galaxy coach who is just learning about the seemingly endless list of MLS rules and regulations.

"The past three days have been, I would say an eye-opening experience, to say the least, for Ruud," Lalas said. "To understand, not just the talent and the young talent that exists, but also the mechanism that which we find that talent. it probably takes more than three days to digest it all. Having said that, he hit the ground running."

Many of the coaches agreed on one thing.

"If we have a player who contributes significantly to our first team, we think it as a bonus," Onalfo said.

Michael Lewis

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