Photo: Earl Gardner
A flurry of activity for the Philadelphia Union at the MLS Super Draft, and the latest edition of the KYW Philly Soccer Show has it all for you!
KYW’s Greg Orlandini and PSP’s Eli Pearlman-Storch were in attendance at Thursday’s SuperDraft, where the Union made some history, trading their second overall pick for the top pick and top goalkeeper Andre Blake, from University of Connecticut. Blake is the first goalkeeper ever to be taken first overall in the MLS draft.
They then traded their sixth pick down to the 15th pick and acquired midfielder/forward Pedro Ribeiro from Coastal Carolina. In the second round, the Union selected central defender Kevin Cope at No. 25 and Akron left back Robbie Derschang at No. 27.
Here are John Hackworth’s thoughts on the Draft:
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And also Nick Sakiewicz’s thoughts on the Draft and the Edu situation:
[haiku url=”http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d4/dG/dZ/dY/14GZY_3.MP3″ title=”Nick Sakiewicz at the 2014 SuperDraft”]
Finally, Greg and Eli talk about the draft and the signing of Argentine midfielder Cristian Maidana:
[haiku url=”http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d4/dG/dZ/dV/14GZV_3.MP3″ title=”SuperDraft review and Maidana signing”]
To listen to the pod, click on the link above or visit the Philly Soccer Show iTunes page.
Two things that I thought were interesting from Sakiewicz’s press conference:
1) He really needs to have some talking points prepared in these types of situations. He made so many statements that could come back to bite him later.
For example:
Regarding where the drafting of Blake leaves MacMath: “He’s our starter” and then “Blake isn’t ready to start yet”. How will this statement look when either MacMath gets traded or Blake is named starter?
On the draft, “There really is little difference between the first 20 players in the draft”. That’s not really the thing to say when you trade up to get Blake.
If the Union were smart, they should keep him away from any microphones and limit his interaction with the press.
2) I used to think that Tannenwald was overstating his importance when he said that the Union FO didn’t like him too much, but I stand corrected. The disdain and exasperation in Sakiewicz’s voice whenever JT asked him a question was hilarious to listen to.
Good pods and nice work on covering the draft. Thanks.