SAN JOSE, Calif. – As head coach of the Houston Dynamo, Dominic Kinnear didn’t spend much time worrying about the MLS Re-Entry Draft.
The reasoning was pretty simple.
“The thing was, we were usually at the back of the list,” Kinnear said. “So I don’t think we ever did it.”
Indeed, in four years of Re-Entry Drafts with Kinnear at the helm, the Dynamo never once picked up a player via that route.
After joining the San Jose Earthquakes this winter, Kinnear was happy to utilize that roster-building tool as he and general manager John Doyle tried to lift the franchise up from a last-place Western Conference finish. And while goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, selected by San Jose in stage one of the process, chose to retire rather than come west, stage two brought to Avaya Stadium winger Sanna Nyassi and defender Marvell Wynne – each of whom have made a large impact on the Quakes’ 3-3-0 start.
Nyassi, one of just four Quakes to start the first six matches, tallied the only goal in San Jose’s 1-0 victory Saturday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps, using a left-footed half-volley to beat David Ousted after a pair of shots had been blocked in Vancouver’s area. And Wynne – arguably San Jose’s best performer so far on the backline – returned from a one-game absence with a hamstring injury to help the Quakes record their first shutout of 2015.
The pair have quickly created a formidable partnership on San Jose’s right side.
“Me and Marvell played together in Colorado in 2011, so that chemistry is still there,” Nyassi said. “It’s all about communicating a lot, both in practice and in games. He talks to me a lot because he sees everything when he’s behind me, defensively. He tells me where to cover, so it makes things easier for me defensively. As soon as we win the ball, he joins me in the attack. He helps a lot. He makes my game easy.”
It’s probably more production than most observers thought the Quakes would get out of two players who have played for a combined total of nine different MLS teams since 2006 (Wynne) and 2009 (Nyassi).
“I actually had the mentality that it’s a good thing that I’m going into it and other teams do want me,” Wynne said of the Re-Entry Draft, referencing advice given by his father, who spent eight Major League Baseball seasons with three different clubs. “This came from my dad. When I was first traded from New York to Toronto, I was pretty bummed out, but my dad said, ‘Trades are never a bad thing. That means somebody wants you more than the team you’re currently on.’ That’s the feeling I got about it.”
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The Quakes selected Wynne with the second-overall pick of stage two, after Montreal snapped up Bakary Soumare from Chicago. Kinnear felt certain he wouldn’t have a chance to make a second selection by the time the draft order got back to San Jose.
“When we picked up Marvell, I thought Sanna would be picked up for sure,” Kinnear said. “But that’s because I liked him. You don’t know what other teams around the league think of him. … Everyone sees the game a tiny bit differently, and sometimes that works out in your favor. I think it has this time, so far, for us.”
That feeling is shared by Nyassi and Wynne, who look to be part of Kinnear’s lineup Friday when San Jose visit the New York Red Bulls (7 pm ET; UniMas).
“I don’t think it’s about performance, it’s just about how the league works,” Nyassi said of his peripatetic MLS career. “So you’ve got to live with it. … I kind of have a feeling that I’ve finally found my home in San Jose. The weather is great. I love it here. The coaches are great. On the field, off the pitch, it’s a nice group of players. I’m really comfortable. I’m looking forward to staying here as long as possible.”
