Revolution Draft Wrap Up

So with the 5 picks in the MLS super draft, the Revolution selected 2 defenders, and three midfielders (ALL FROM DUKE).  Plus they aquired veteran defender Chris Albright from the LA Galaxy in exchange for allocation money (which just makes the Galaxy stronger in my opinion)....

But the point is Steve Nicol and the Revs are obviously focused on strengthening the defense and the midfield.  It became clear last season that the Revs lacked an effective attacking central midfielder.  Despite the somewhat limited success of moving Ralston in the middle, it was merely a stop gap measure until the end of the season until Nicol and crew could find a replacement for the exiting Andy Dorman.  Also with burgeoning interest in Parkhurst and Avery John, and the Revolution's tendency to give up late goals, the defense needed some bolstering as well.  

The Revs added two 6 footers to their relatively small defensive core yesterday, Rob Valentino - a stand out from San Francisco, and Matthew Britner, a canadian born defender from Brown.

The three midfielders from Duke (Videira , Germanse, and Spenser Wadsworth) will certainly not all make the squad, but will provide some depth at attacking midfielder and also challenge the current squad to work hard for their positions.

Overall the draft was lacking in strong forwards (only one taken in the first round), but very deep in defense and  midfield.  I was not surprised that the Revs did not take another keeper, but with the recent injury problems to Twellman and only Cristman in reserve at the moment, I was surprised they didn't make a move for a forward.  Perhaps they are hoping that prep star Jose Angulo will be ready for the big time.

The Scoop

On Rob Valentino, from the pages of UC San Francisco...

USF's Rob Valentino Named to 2008 Class of Generation adidas

2006 WCC Player of the Year Led Dons to Back-to-Back WCC Titles and Three Straight NCAA Tournament Berths

Jan. 11, 2008

(New York) - USF standout Rob Valentino was selected to the 2008 class of Generation adidas as announced today by Major League Soccer and adidas. This elite group of nine players will all enter the professional ranks for the 2008 Major MLS season. These players signed MLS contracts before completing their NCAA eligibility and can be selected in the upcoming 2008 MLS SuperDraft.

Valentino, the 2006 West Coast Conference Player of the Year was named to the Hermann Trophy Award Watch list entering the 2007 campaign, before suffering a season-ending injury. Valentino spearheaded the Dons run to back-to-back WCC Championships (2004-05) and catapulted USF Soccer to three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.

A three-time All-WCC First Team selection and an Honorable Mention All-American, Valentino competed on the U-23 USA National Team in its 2007 trip to Japan and was the only collegiate player to start.

And the Revolution pick...

Rob Valentino??????

A defender from San Francisco who there does not appear to be much information about. Research has commenced.

With the second pick the Revs pick up Duke midfielder and Massachusetts native Michael Videira - this is someone who may actually see some playing time early in the season especially with the absence of a true attacking midfielder. Also played for Noble & Greenough high school (in Dedham!) and the FC Greater Boston Bolts.

With the third pick the Revs stay with the ACC Pipeline and pick Duke midfielder Joe Germanse, a St. Louis native.

Revolution pick up Chris Albright

In exchange for allocation money... this now gives them some much needed depth on the back line and gives the Revolution some breathing room in the draft. Could also be used as trade to a team that needs more experience in the back line.

Draft Update - part II

Columbus - Andy Iro (D) - from Liverpool England
Chicago - Patrick Nyarko (F)
Dallas - Josh Lambo (GK)
Toronto - Julius James (D)
Toronto - Pat Phelan (M/D)
Kansas City - Roger Espinosa???
Chicago - Dominic Cervi (GK)

Iro is a real bean pole.... 6'5" and only 205 lbs. Named Big West Defensive player of the year three years in a row.

Chicago picked up Nyarko - a player that many thought would go #1. The kid can score, and will probably help Chicago who are down a forward with Wanchope retiring.

Dallas takes Keeper Josh Lambo - not surprising as they were a bit old in this position with Dario Sala.

Toronto picks up UCONN stand out Julius James with their first pick - a solid choice, and unfortunately for Nicol and the Revs, they pick Pat Phelan with their second pick - another good choice.

Chicago picked up another keeper in Cervi - which gives them some very good depth at the position.

Update from the draft

So far its been all defenders and midfielders taken in the first four picks.

Kansas City surprised a lot of people by taking defender Chance Myers with the first pick after trading away a defender to San Jose to get to the top.

Dallas - Brek Shea (M/D)
Salt Lake - Anthony Beltran (M/D)
LA - Sean Franklin (M/D)

Pat Phelan is still on the board.

MLS Super Draft Today

The 2008 MLS Super Draft is today, Friday Jan 18, 2008, and I will be commenting on the Revs' picks as they come through.

The Revs have three picks, and are looking to strengthen the back line as well as find an attacking midfielder that can fill in the hole left by Dempsey and Dorman. Personally I think they need a scorer who can play up front with Twellman effectively, and maybe that person is Adam Cristman, but it definitely isn't Pat Noonan, whose contract option was NOT picked up by the Revs. However they did reserve the rights for 17 year old forward

Steve Nicol is a big fan of ACC teams.... so Pat Phelan (Wake Forest) is probably high on his list. Also on his radar is Stephen King (Maryland - no relation to the Maine version) - but probably as a late second round pick.

It all comes down at 2PM today.

MLS is holding Revs players back

Link to article

As they did with Revs players Clint Dempsey and Shalrie Joseph, as well as other MLS players such as Eddie Johnson, the league has basically handcuffed Revolution forward Taylor Twellman state side after rejecting an upgraded offer worth over 2 Million dollars.

Twellman is quoted as saying

QUOTE

"Something's got to give," Twellman said. "They made me sign a contract for the minimum salary [in '02] and I've jumped through every hoop with a smile on my face. They said I hadn't scored for the national team, and now I've scored six goals, then they said I never received an international offer of any magnitude, and now I have that offer. Now, they can either re-sign me and make a long-term commitment to me, or they can make money off my sale and I'll be gone. They can't withhold me from making three times as much money as I make here.

Galarcep includes the Revs' point of view (Link to Article)

QUOTE

"It needs to be made clear that [Twellman] signed a long-term extension with MLS last year and we fully expect that contract to be honored," said Mike Burns, New England's director of soccer. "I think by not accepting the offer, it says a lot about the Revolution and the league that this deal has been turned down. "We want to show our fans and our team that we want to put the best product on the field -- without Taylor, that lessens our chances of being successful, and that was, in part, why the offer wasn't accepted. "This situation didn't make sense for the Revolution. If it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, perhaps it would be viewed differently." This is where the sides disagree. For Revs management, the offer isn't enough to make the team consider giving up its most dangerous attacking player and one of the league's best forwards.

He goes on to say:

QUOTE

"My point is, if they're just going to turn it down in the blink of an eye, and they didn't even think about it, that tells me they're pretty much not selling me under any circumstances," Twellman said. "So if I'm not for sale under any circumstances and I'm going to spend the rest of my career with the Revolution, then something's gotta give. "If I'm that valuable and mean that much to the team, then how do they justify me not being their designated player? It isn't even about that, though. It's about a chance that I may not get again. You only do your career once, and this is an offer I'm not sure they'll ever see again." Ultimately, Twellman doesn't have much recourse, since he signed that contract a year ago for the security it offered and the increased salary he was hoping for. Just because circumstances have since changed, the fact remains that Twellman already committed.

I have to agree with TT on this one.... MLS is holding back players from gaining international experience as well as allowing them to secure their future. Twellman is turning 28 next month and won't have many opportunities left to make this kind of money.

I say let him go. He can come back here when he is done playing over there.

Dorman cashes in on chance as Revolution can't afford him? More like Dorman cashes in as the Revolution didn't want him

Dorman cashes in on chance as Revolution can't afford him - The Boston Globe

I came across this article by Frank Dell'Appa on Boston.com and had to chuckle.

Of course the Revolution could have afforded Andy Dorman. They have a Designated Player roster spot which allows them to sign anyone to an exorbitant amount of money to play for the team, and it doesn't count to the salary cap. The facts are the Revolution didn't want to sign him for that money because they feel he is not worth $400,000.00 per year. You know what? They're right.

Dorman started 27 games this year for the Revs. He showed signs of brilliance in the first half of the year, especially when Twellman was off with the US Team. He came up big in some games, scoring 7 goals over the first 15 games, and two of them coming against Toronto FC. However his production deteriorated severely over the second half of the season.

Since his game winning goal against New York in mid July, Dorman only recorded 11 Shots over the next 12 games, 6 of them on goal. What's even more staggering is that over the course of the season, Dorman only recorded one assist. This from the player who was supposed to be the play maker for the team - a catalyst, a replacement for Clint Dempsey. He did manage to record a shot in the US Open Cup final, but was subbed in favor of Wells Thomson, who produced the game winning goal.

Dorman would never start another game for the Revs. He saw limited time over the last three regular season games and was an unused sub during the playoffs. He came on for the last 12 minutes of the final, and recorded two shots that were well saved, but it was too little too late. Dorman's days were done as a player for New England.

The fact that Kraft Soccer didn't want to match St. Mirren's offer does not surprise me, especially when they are not even coming close to paying that kind of money for Taylor Twellman, their leading goal scorer or Shalrie Joseph, arguably the best defensive midfielder in the game. They also have outstanding rookies like Thomson and Adam Cristman they would like to keep, as well as star players like Michael Parkhurst, who is being heavily pursued by english team Fulham FC. Throw in up and coming Jeff Larentowicz and MLS Iron Man Steve Ralston and you can understand why they don't want to give big money to a player they obviously didn't value very highly. That money is better spent elsewhere - like finding some help on the defense and getting another goal scorer.