Ahead of the 2015 SuperDraft, MLSsoccer.com is breaking down each team's needs and potential draft targets.
Dom Kinnear will have his first chance at rebuilding his hometown team, the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Goonies once and for all took that ride up Troy's bucket in 2014, crashing all the way down to the bottom of the Western Conference standings and sacrificing a good portion of their identity along the way. The Supporters' Shield-winning season of 2012 feels like a million years ago.
So here's some good news: They brought back Dom Kinnear -- one of the three most successful coaches in league history -- and few do a better job of finding and molding draft gems than Dom. He showed his chops last year by snagging potential Olympian A.J. Cochran at the end of Round 1, and then absolutely stealing Mark Sherrod in Round 2.
It remains to be seen how Sherrod, who accompanied Kinnear in moving from Houston to the Quakes this offseason, recovers from the ACL tear that ended his season last May. It also remains to be seen how many other roster moves are coming. They certainly need to sort out that midfield, which is filled with redundant rather than complementary pieces.
But Quakes fans should feel confident in Kinnear's ability to find value in the draft. Geoff Cameron at No. 42, remember? Corey Ashe at No. 26? Danny Cruz at No. 41?
San Jose need a dose of that.
San Jose SuperDraft selections: #4 (1st Round), #46 (3rd Round), #66 (4th Round)
San Jose Depth Chart: 26 players
Goalkeeper (3): David Bingham, Andy Gruenebaum, Bryan Meredith
Left Back (2): Jordan Stewart, Shaun Francis
Center Back (4): Clarence Goodson, Victor Bernardez, Marvell Wynne, Ty Harden
Right Back (2): Pablo Pintos, Brandon Barklage
Central Midfield (4): Sam Cronin, Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi, J.J. Koval, Khari Stephenson
Left Midfield (2): Shea Salinas, Leandro Barrera
Right Midfield (2): Sanna Nyassi, Cordell Cato
Attacking Midfield (2): Matias Perez Garcia, Tommy Thompson
Forward (5): Chris Wondolowski, Steven Lenhart, Mark Sherrod, Kris Tyrpak, Adam Jahn
Primary Need: Front line speed
Lenhart, Sherrod and Jahn can split the target forward duties, doing the donkey work to get Wondo the looks he thrives upon. Tyrpak is also probably a forward, though he's more suited to playing the "underneath" role where Wondo works, and will play it much differently at that.
Thompson also might be a forward. Same with Barrera, who's probably actually a winger in the 4-3-3. The pieces are all mismatched, really -- I look at this roster and think diamond midfield, and then I think 4-2-3-1, and then flat 4-4-2 and then 4-1-3-2 and maybe even 3-5-2. Kinnear's trotted his teams out in each and every one of those (except the last) at various times over the past decade, though he did have his most success with what was really a lopsided diamond with Houston back in 2006 and '07.
But no matter where I look, I don't see a field-stretching forward. I don't see a guy who can get behind the defense, punishing teams that push numbers up in the gegenpressure that's become so in vogue over the past five or six years.
Targets:Romario Williams (Central Florida / GA), Khiry Shelton (Oregon State)
Secondary Need: Central defense
Goodson and Bernardez both turn 33 in May. Harden turns 31 in March. Wynne is the only one under 30, and he might actually be used at right back for the Quakes.
San Jose need to get some youth back there, someone who can be counted on to deliver more in 2017 than they will in 2015 instead of vice versa.
Target:Ramon Martin del Campo (UC-Davis), Conor Donovan (NC State / GA), Axel Sjoberg (Marquette), Tim Parker (St. John's)
SUPERDRAFT TEAM PREVIEWS
- Columbus Crew:Step by step, second time around for CCSC
- Colorado Rapids:Can Mile High Club find a contributor late?
- DC United: One more piece for one more step
- Houston Dynamo:One decade later, a new era begins
- LA Galaxy:Recalibrating a championship machine
- Montreal Impact:Building out after a promising stretch run
- New England Revolution:Suddenly great, but plenty of need
- New York City FC:Feeling kind of blue east of the Hudson
- New York Red Bulls:Another new era in Jersey
- Real Salt Lake: Not quite a rebuild in the high desert
- San Jose Earthquakes: Recapturing that Goonie magic
- Toronto FC: Trying to solve the eternal problem in Ontario
- Vancouver Whitecaps:A full roster for Cascadia kings
- New England Revolution:Suddenly great but plenty of need
- Phildelphia Union: Building around the core
- Seattle Sounders:Nothing glaring for Shield, USOC winners
- Sporting KC:Filling it all out after a mini-rebuild
- Chicago Fire:Endless questions in the Windy City
- Portland Timbers:Draft & stash with T2 up and running
- Orlando City:Is there a trade for No. 1 in the works?
