Coaches and general managers lined the suites at the StubHub Center for the first games of the 2017 MLS College Combine on Sunday and Real Salt Lake’s contingent was well-represented as the club did its final preparations for the SuperDraft.
RSL’s staff at the combine includes General Manager Craig Waibel, Head Coach Jeff Cassar, Assistant Coaches Tyrone Marshall, Freddy Juarez and Daryl Shore, Head Scout Andy Williams, Monarchs Head Coach Mike Petke, Video Analyst Ted Eck, Assistant General Manager Elliot Fall and Director of Physical Performance Henry Ruggiero.
As the teams made up of college seniors, Generation adidas underclassmen and select youth internationals, the banter flowed among the staff as they weighed in with their opinions in advance of a meeting later in the evening.
“It’s much like every draft where team needs come in and then there is a balance of the needs vs. the best available player when it comes right down to it,” Waibel said. “Today was mostly just about evaluating the first couple of games. There were only a small handful of players that we hadn’t laid eyes on. So there weren’t many surprises to us.”
It was the first of three games in difficult circumstances for the players, as they came in during their off-season and are asked to join with players they’ve only just met and expected to stand out. It doesn’t always make for the best soccer, but it is a useful exercise nonetheless as it gives coaches a chance to see how players respond to the situation.
Both games on Sunday were lopsided results that left little to conclude, though. After a 3-1 result in the first match and a 4-0 trouncing in the second, RSL’s staff reconvened in the sweet to offer assessments and set the tone for the rest of the week in terms of which players they would focus their attention on.
Part of the challenge is that RSL has signed so many young players who have developed through the Academy. That includes Jose Hernandez this year, the 2016 Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year who undoubtedly would be a first-round talent in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft if he had gone that route. But because of players like Hernandez, Danilo Acosta and others who have already established themselves in Real Salt Lake’s roster the bar is set pretty high for incoming talent, particularly when it comes to young players who may take time to develop into regular contributors.
“We’re getting better at seeing most of these guys before we get here. We do a lot of homework on these guys and we want to get the draft right,” Waibel said. “We have a ton of talented kids that we produce on our own. In order to get the draft right we have to draft someone that’s better than the kids that we produced on our own. That’s where the challenge lies.”
After the matches, the staff discussed player grades. Each player was rated on a 1-3 scale, with players given grades of one being considered in the first two rounds, a grade of two being considered in the third and fourth rounds and threes being put on the backburner.
There, the staff tries to strike the balance between combine performances and the observations on players that have been made throughout a college career.
“During the games it’s just observation. We’re trying to influence everyone else into believing what we say and what we like about each player,” Waibel said. “Everybody is instructed in those meetings to trust their eyes. The only trick that we have is that if you’ve only seen the player once, you have to admit that because a one-off great performance doesn’t equal a consistent performance.”
On Monday, Cassar and Waibel had various meetings scheduled as a chaotic week continues in Manhattan Beach before concluding with the MLS SuperDraft on Friday in Los Angeles.
