MLS Combine 2017: Day 1 Recap & Analysis
By Daniel Garza
The 2017 MLS Combine continued on Sunday with two matches between four teams made up of the 70 prospects invited to the combine.
The MLS Combine is a five day event that leads up to the Superdraft on Jan. 13th. It is the final chance for players to improve their draft stock after being evaluated for months by professional scouts.
The combine includes a series of physical evaluations, which include a agility, speed and physical test. In addition, the prospect are broken up into four teams, with each team playing three matches over the course of the combine. Here’s what happened on Sunday.
Prospect Matches
Team Tango and Team Team Control were both victorious in their respective matches. Both contests had some nervy play at times, but there were plenty of bright spots as well. One of which was Daniel Johnson–a midfielder from the University of Louisville. He proved two assists and earned a penalty kick in the first half. At the end of the day, he looked to be the MVP of both matches, which will certainly move him up the draft board.
Strikers Guillermo Delgado and David Goldsmith looked fantastic up top for their teams and both netted goals. Delgado was constantly applying pressure to the backline and it’s easy to see with his speed and hunger for goals why he should be a first round pick.
Jonathan Lewis of the University Akron netted two goals and was one of the stars of the day as well. He will be a player to keep an eye on in the coming days, if he can continue to produce then he might move up the draft board significantly.
A player that didn’t impress was Brandon Aubry who struggled defensively. The Team Chaos defense was awful at times and Aubry failed to impress on a few occasions.
Here are highlights from both MLS Combine matches:
Final Thoughts
In hindsight, most of these players have already been scouted and teams have a good idea of what they can do. However, a couple of mistakes here and there can definitely change a scouts perspective. Players like Johnson who excelled in the opening day offer the MLS team representatives a glimpse at some things they may have overlooked. The top picks might already be set in stone, but outside the top five or ten it’s still up in the air who will be picked next.
The next set of matches will take place on Tuesday with Team Chaos taking on Team Copa at 4:15 p.m. (EST), and Team Control faces Team Tango at 6:00 p.m (EST).