What a way to start the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
Thursday’s festivities in Philadelphia began with a bang before commissioner Don Garber even stepped up to the podium as D.C. United traded the first overall pick to the Philadelphia Union, who had the No. 2 selection.
More on the MLS SuperDraft: Sportsnet’s 2014 MLS mock draft | Montreal looks to make impact at MLS draft | Whitecaps adopt flexible draft game-plan | TFC turns attention to draft after busy week
The Union sent D.C. an undisclosed amount of allocation money to get the top pick. The deal was a sign of things to come—six trades occurred on the day (five in the first round) as teams jockeyed for better drafting positions.
After trading up, the Union selected goalkeeper Andre Blake from the University of Connecticut, who becomes the first goalkeeper in the history of the draft to be selected with the top pick—current Aston Villa star went No. 2 in the 2005 draft.
The fact the Union traded up suggests that Blake, a back-to-back Big East Goalkeeper of the Year recipient, will likely start for Philadelphia in his rookie season. He also has the added bonus of being a Generation adidas player, which means he won’t count against the league’s salary cap. Blake earned 37 shutouts in 68 starts during his three seasons at Connecticut.
With the second pick, D.C. United selected defender Steve Birnbaum from the University of California. Big, strong, and with a decent amount of pace, Birnbaum is considered by a lot of pundits as the most complete player and best centre-back in this draft
At number three, the Vancouver Whitecaps went with Christian Dean, another defender from the University of California. Dean is also a Generation adidas player. At 20 years of age, he is still a little raw and needs more time to develop, but he has the potential to become a future MLS All-Star, given his size (6’3″) and skill-set (a natural lefty with great vision distributing the ball).
“Christian was one of the most highly-rated players in this draft,” said Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson. “He’s a great athlete with a fantastic left foot and we believe he has massive upside. We are confident that Christian’s game will translate very well to MLS and we look forward to seeing him at camp.”
The Whitecaps also had the seventh overall pick and selected Jamaican midfield prospect Andre Lewis.
“Andre is a highly-skilled attacking midfielder with massive upside,” said Robinson. “He’s a got fantastic ball control, he’s a strong passer, and he plays much bigger than his size. We’re very excited about what the future holds with Andre.”
With the fourth pick, the New England Revolution drafted forward Steve Neumann from Georgetown University. FC Dallas originally had the fifth pick, but they swapped with the Montreal Impact, who held the 10th selection. Montreal gave up allocation money and an international spot to move up five spots.
The Impact then selected Eric Miller, a defender with Creighton University who is also a Generation adidas player. Miller can play as a full-back—preferably on the right side—or in a more advanced role in the midfield. It’s an interesting selection considering the Impact already have veteran Hassoun Camara at right back.
“(Miller) fits the profile of the type of player we were looking for,” said Impact sporting director Nick De Santis. “He’s a versatile defender, who can play at either fullback position. He’s played at centre back as well. He’s big, strong, he’s get very good feet and a great sense of the game and we are very excited.”
The Union originally had the sixth pick but traded it to FC Dallas, who used it on Calgary-born winger-forward Tesho Akindele (Colorado School of Mines).
TFC traded up from No. 15 to No. 10 with Philadelphia to select Nick Hagglund, a central defender from Xavier University. TFC sent allocation money to Philadelphia in the deal. It was a pick that was a bit “off the board” as several defenders were rated higher than Hagglund going into this draft.
More on Hagglund: Only minutes after being drafted by Toronto FC, Nick Hagglund spoke one-on-one with Sportsnet 590 The FAN. To listen the interview, CLICK HERE.
Prior to the draft, TFC general manager Tim Bezbetchenko told Sportsnet that he thought his team needed to add some more depth to the back line, so the selection of a defender shouldn’t come as a major surprise.
Hagglund joins a Toronto defence that features captain Steven Caldwell, Canadian international Doneil Henry, Gale Agbossoumonde, and American left fullback Justin Morrow, who can also play in the middle. Hagglund won Defensive Player of the Year honours in the Big East in 2013, and made 80 starts in four seasons with Xavier.
“Nick has a great physical presence and he was rated highly by a number of teams, so we felt we needed to make a deal to move up to ensure he’d still be on the board,” Bezbatchenko said in a news release on Thursday.
New England went with Patrick Mullins, a star forward from the University of Maryland, at No. 11. Mullins is a two-time winner of Hermann Trophy as top collegiate soccer player, and scored 36 goals in two seasons at Maryland.
TFC used its second-round pick (24th overall) on midfielder Daniel Lovitz from Elon University where he scored nine goals in 80 appearances. Lovitz was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year this past season after leading his school to a third straight conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth.
“Daniel is a player that has a tremendous amount of speed with the ability to get behind defenders and serve the ball,” Bezbatchenko said.
Montreal traded the 29th overall pick to D.C. United for an international roster spot in 2014. The Impact selected midfielder George Malki from California Polytechnic State University at No. 37.
The Whitecaps picked up forward Mamadou Diof from the University of Connecticut at No. 30.
MLS SuperDraft first round
(** = Generation adidas)
1) Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake – goalkeeper – University of Connecticut **
2) D.C. United: Steve Birnbaum – defender – University of California
3) Vancouver Whitecaps: Christian Dean – defender – University of California **
4) New England Revolution: Steve Neumann – midfielder/forward – Georgetown University
5) Montreal Impact: Eric Miller – defender – Creighton University **
6) FC Dallas: Tesho Akindele – forward – Colorado School of Mines
7) Vancouver Whitecaps: Andrew Lewis – midfielder – Jamaican youth international
8) Seattle Sounders: Damion Lowe – defender – Hartford **
9) San Jose Earthquakes: JJ Koval – midfielder – Stanford University
10) Toronto FC: Nick Hagglund – defender – Xavier University
11) New England Revolution: Patrick Mullins – forward – University of Maryland
12) Colorado Rapids: Marlon Hairston – midfielder – University of Louisville **
13) Chicago Fire: Marco Franco – defender – University of California at Irvine
14) Columbus Crew: Ben Sweat – defender – University of South Florida
15) Philadelphia Union: Pedro Ribeiro – midfielder – Coastal Carolina
16) Houston Dynamo: A.J. Cochrane – defender – University of Wisconsin **
17) Portland Timbers: Schillo Tshuma – forward – University of Maryland **
18) Real Salt Lake: Ryan Neil – defender/midfielder – University of California
19) Colorado Rapids: Grant Van De Casteele – defender – University of Notre Dame
