Update from SuperDraft Central
By Martin Rogers
Friday, Jan 18, 2008 3:53 am EST
BALTIMORE – For a few hours on Thursday night, the epicenter of North American soccer was the bar at the Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel.
In that unlikely setting, with patrons, journalists, PR staff and coaches all milling around, potential trades ahead of Friday afternoon's MLS SuperDraft were discussed between the powerbrokers of various clubs.
A few noteworthy items:
• Real Salt Lake is looking to deal and may try to end up with both Julius James of University of Connecticut and Sean Franklin of Cal-State Northridge. RSL might be in the market for the top pick, currently held by the Kansas City Wizards, to make sure it gets James.
• The Los Angeles Galaxy are keen to get defensive help and have been repeatedly linked with UC Santa Barbara's Andy Iro with the fourth overall selection. However, another serious option could be Chance Myers, a 20-year-old UCLA product. The advantage of choosing Myers, a Generation adidas player, would be that his wages would not count towards the Galaxy's salary cap.
• The Houston Dynamo and New York Red Bulls are two teams likely to be quiet in the draft. The Dynamo are short on picks, while Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has made no secret that he does not regard this year's draft to be packed with talent.
• Patrick Nyarko of Virginia Tech remains in strong position to be taken in the top three, quite possibly first by Kansas City as a replacement for the departing Eddie Johnson. If he's not No. 1, Nyarko would surely be taken by FC Dallas with the second choice.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
"Liverpool will win the league again, I am sure of it. But I don't think they will do it this season" – Former Liverpool player, and now Derby County manager, Paul Jewell.
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