Anticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 4]

By: Andrew | November 19th, 2009

Lando In the immortal words of Lando Calrissian …

“Here goes nothing!”

The 2009 MLS Cup is almost upon us, and with the conclusion of that comes an event eagerly anticipated by many of the Union faithful. The league has set the 2010 Expansion Draft rules, which are the same as those that the Seattle Sounders followed last year.

Some of the draft highlights are as follows:

- All teams must submit their protected players lists by 3 PM on Monday, Nov. 23.
- The League will distribute a list of the players available in the expansion draft to media that day.
- The 2009 MLS Expansion Draft will take plan on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 25.
- At the conclusion of the Expansion Draft, results will be posted on MLSnet.com.
- The Union may not claim more than one player from any given team in MLS.
- Five teams will not have a player taken in the expansion draft.

So I’ve read the tea leaves, met with the oracle, had my palm read, consulted my crystal ball, shook up the Magic 8 Ball, eaten more than my fair share of fortune cookies, and have given my best wild ass guess as to the 10 players I believe may become the core group of the inaugural Union roster for 2010.

Thanks to all those who have provided feedback on my previous analyses of the Eastern and Western Conferences and helped me come to my final decisions.

So, without further ado …

Goalkeeper:
BOUNA COUNDOUL (New York Red Bulls)

Defenders:
PATRICK IANNI (Seattle Sounders)
TIM WARD (Chicago Fire)
CRAIG WAIBEL (Houston Dynamo)

Midfielders:
CARL ROBINSON (Toronto FC)
SAINEY NYASSI (New England Revolution)
MEHDI BALLOUCHY (Colorado Rapids)
ROBBIE RUSSELL (Real Salt Lake)

Forwards:
STEVEN LENHART (Columbus Crew)
ALAN GORDON (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Starting from the back …

I felt there were a few decent, MLS-veteran goalkeepers that may be left exposed and could start for the Union, namely PRESTON BURPO and DARIO SALA, but COUNDOUL really stood out for me.

There were so many defenders that I considered, too many to list on here, but the likes of BRANDON PRIDEAUX, AMAECHI IGWE, ANTE JAZIC, and TYRONE MARSHALL were top contenders. But for me, WAIBEL gave a veteran presence to the back line, while WARD and IANNI were the young bucks who could learn from him and really excel.

I found there were less midfielders on my wish list than I would’ve predicted, helping to make my choices somewhat easier than the defenders. Even though his contract is ending, I didn’t choose ROBBIE ROGERS because if the Crew don’t resign him he’ll most likely end up overseas, and I felt that FRED’s salary would play against him. ROBINSON, much like Waibel in the back, is a veteran presence at midfield, NYASSI was the better of the brothers, BALLOUCHY is impressive both in the middle or out on the left, and RUSSELL has a good combination of experience and quickness. However, I did have Russell on RSL’s protected list, only because Movsisyan is supposed to be moving to Denmark. Movsisyan may not transfer because FC Randers is struggling to avoid relegation (they have zero wins, with 3 games to go in the season), which means he may be protected, thereby exposing Russell. If Russell is in fact protected, JESSE MARSCH could work in the midfield.

Most of the exposed forwards come with pretty hefty price tags, and aren’t necessarily worth the cost, like ALI GERBA and ANTE RAZOV. Others that aren’t commanding huge salaries have potential, like QUINCY AMARIKWA, but that’s a risk not worth taking for an expansion team. LENHART is a big, strong, young forward that can have an immediate impact scoring goals, and when it comes to GORDON, any guy who can score against AC Milan is good in my book.

So there you have it. T-minus six days to see how it all plays out and find out which, if any, of my predictions come true.