The Philadelphia Union will have the 5th pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
The two expansion teams will have the first picks of the draft, with Vancouver selecting first and Portland second. The Union also have the 23rd, 28th, 41st, and 59th picks.
The Union struggled to find a consistent partner for Danny Califf in the back and lacked any real width last season. What kind of player should they be targeting with their first pick?
I say we trade them all for Edson Buddle. This team needs an MVP-caliber striker…
The Califf/Orozco Fiscal tandem seemed to be working very well once the latter was moved back into the middle after bringing Williams into the fold. I read somewhere that MLS teams don’t necessarily draft to fill a specific role, rather they pick the best overall player. I’m willing to bet whoever they bring in will be highly skilled at keeping the bench warm, at least in the immediate future.
I would also bet on them taking the most talented player, regardless of position. The college soccer draft can be a bit of a crap shoot in some ways. American pro soccer teams don’t have the same scouting networks that pro football and basketball teams have, and the lack of media coverage only adds to that. It means it’s tougher to ID top players. (Even the scouting combine happens very shortly before the draft.) That’s why many had never heard of Danny Mwanga before he was drafted, even if you were a hardcore soccer fan. Imagine that happening in college basketball or football.