Day: Nov 18, 2019

MIAMI, Fla. (November 17, 2019) —

This year’s MLS Expansion Draft kicks off at 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 19, 2019.

A key point is that once a player has been claimed from a club’s list of eligible players, Nashville SC and Inter Miami may no longer select players from that club’s list. So if Inter Miami’s Sporting Director Paul McDonough is going to pick anyone from his former club, he will only be able to tap into his knowledge of Atlanta United once in the expansion draft.

While there aren’t really many big-time goal-scorers to be found in the pool of available players, there is a wealth of pricey veteran defenders. And both expansion teams are already building up strength in midfield/ defensive midfield, they appear to not have much need at those positions in Tuesday’s draft.

For those who want to watch live, MLSsoccer.com’s 2019 MLS Expansion Draft live studio show will bring fans all of the selections in real-time, providing expert analysis on each team’s picks.

With a pool of 220 players, no clear cut favourites and only ten being selected, any attempt to create a “mock draft” is highly speculative at best. Only 4.5 % of the pool is being chosen by Miami or Nashville. That, my friends, makes predictions a guessing game. Disclaimers provided (what else would you expect?), let’s dive into the player pool and highlight a few players to watch.

PLAYERS AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION IN 2019 MLS EXPANSION DRAFT

Available Player List – Sorted By Team

MLS Club	Player Name	Pos.	Pts.*
Atlanta United	Justin Meram	M	96
Atlanta United	Michael Parkhurst	D	77
Atlanta United	Jeff Larentowicz	M	66
Atlanta United	Brek Shea	D	52
Atlanta United	Florentin Pogba	D	50
Atlanta United	Brandon Vazquez	F	39
Atlanta United	Dion Pereira	M	33
Atlanta United	Mikey Ambrose	D	3
Atlanta United	Kevin Kratz	M	1
Atlanta United	Jon Gallagher	D	0
Atlanta United	Jose Hernandez	D	0
Atlanta United	Alec Kann	GK	0
Atlanta United	Brendan Moore	GK	0
Atlanta United	Luiz Fernando	M	0
Chicago Fire	Bastian Schweinsteiger	D	161
Chicago Fire	Nicolas Gaitan	M	145
Chicago Fire	Nemanja Nikolic	F	120
Chicago Fire	David Ousted	GK	64
Chicago Fire	Marcelo	D	42
Chicago Fire	Diego Campos	D	14
Chicago Fire	Amando Moreno	M	8
Chicago Fire	Cristian Martinez	M	5
Chicago Fire	Stefan Cleveland	GK	0
Chicago Fire	Elliot Collier	M	0
Chicago Fire	Richard Sanchez	GK	0
Colorado Rapids	Tim Howard	GK	99
Colorado Rapids	Danny Wilson	M	61
Colorado Rapids	Axel Sjoberg	D	8
Colorado Rapids	Niki Jackson	F	4
Colorado Rapids	Kofi Opare	D	3
Colorado Rapids	Abdul Rwatubyaye	D	2
Columbus Crew SC	Hector Jimenez	D	71
Columbus Crew SC	Federico Higuain	M	65
Columbus Crew SC	Waylon Francis	D	63
Columbus Crew SC	Luis Argudo	M	57
Columbus Crew SC	David Guzman	M	55
Columbus Crew SC	Connor Maloney	D	36
Columbus Crew SC	Youness Mokhtar	M	28
Columbus Crew SC	Ricardo Clark	M	19
Columbus Crew SC	Romario Williams	F	16
Columbus Crew SC	Eduardo Sosa	M	14
Columbus Crew SC	Josh Williams	F	10
Columbus Crew SC	Jon Kempin	GK	8
Columbus Crew SC	Ben Lundgaard	GK	0
Columbus Crew SC	Edward Opoku	M	0
FC Cincinnati	Emmanuel Ledesma	M	117
FC Cincinnati	Roland Lamah	M	81
FC Cincinnati	Kekuta Manneh	F	77
FC Cincinnati	Darren Mattocks	F	72
FC Cincinnati	Przemyslaw Tyton	GK	57
FC Cincinnati	Caleb Stanko	M	51
FC Cincinnati	Justin Hoyte	D	35
FC Cincinnati	Alvas Powell	D	34
FC Cincinnati	Fanendo Adi	F	24
FC Cincinnati	Forrest Lasso	D	19
FC Cincinnati	Corben Bone	M	8
FC Cincinnati	Nazmi Albadawi	M	1
FC Cincinnati	Hassan Ndam	D	0
FC Cincinnati	Logan Gdula	D	0
FC Cincinnati	Jimmy Hague	GK	0
FC Cincinnati	Ben Lundt	GK	0
FC Cincinnati	Jimmy McLaughlin	M	0
Los Angeles Football Club	Jordan Harvey	D	148
Los Angeles Football Club	Tyler Miller	GK	139
Los Angeles Football Club	Steven Beitashour	D	114
Los Angeles Football Club	Lee Nguyen	M	70
Los Angeles Football Club	Mohamed El-Munir	D	38
Los Angeles Football Club	Josh Perez	M	28
Los Angeles Football Club	Adrien Perez	M	17
Los Angeles Football Club	Peter-Lee Vassell	M	10
Los Angeles Football Club	Danilo da Silva	D	9
Los Angeles Football Club	Rodolfo Zelaya	F	9
Los Angeles Football Club	Dejan Jakovic	D	6
Los Angeles Football Club	Javier Perez	M	1
Los Angeles Football Club	Lamar Batista	D	0
Los Angeles Football Club	Phillip Ejimadu	GK	0
Los Angeles Football Club	Alejandro Guido	M	0
LA Galaxy	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	F	272
LA Galaxy	Uriel Antuna	M	129
LA Galaxy	Favio Alvarez	M	87
LA Galaxy	Jorgen Skjelvik	D	85
LA Galaxy	Chris Pontius	M	51
LA Galaxy	Perry Kitchen	M	32
LA Galaxy	Servando Carrasco	M	21
LA Galaxy	Emil Cuello	M	14
LA Galaxy	Diedie Traore	D	13
LA Galaxy	Matt Lampson	GK	2
LA Galaxy	Juninho Vitor Junior	M	2
LA Galaxy	Tomas Hilliard-Arce	D	0
LA Galaxy	João Pedro	M	0
League Pool GK	Charlie Lyon	GK	0
Minnesota United FC	Ethan Finlay	M	111
Minnesota United FC	Angelo Rodriguez	F	93
Minnesota United FC	Brent Kallman	D	75
Minnesota United FC	Miguel Ibarra	M	60
Minnesota United FC	Abu Danladi	F	45
Minnesota United FC	Rasmus Schuller	M	45
Minnesota United FC	Lawrence Olum	M	26
Minnesota United FC	Wilfried Moimbe-Tahrat	D	22
Minnesota United FC	Marlon Hairston	M	18
Minnesota United FC	Carter Manley	D	0
Minnesota United FC	Ally Ng’anzi	M	0
Minnesota United FC	Wyatt Omsberg	D	0
Minnesota United FC	Bobby Shuttleworth	GK	0
Montreal Impact	Evan Bush	GK	128
Montreal Impact	Maximiliano Urruti	F	114
Montreal Impact	Bacary Sagna	D	87
Montreal Impact	Rudy Camacho	D	70
Montreal Impact	Jorge Corrales	D	56
Montreal Impact	Zachary Brault-Guillard	D	47
Montreal Impact	Anthony Jackson-Hamel	F	43
Montreal Impact	Omar Browne	M	38
Montreal Impact	Ken Krolicki	M	19
Montreal Impact	Rod Fanni	D	17
Montreal Impact	Amar Sejdic	M	2
Montreal Impact	Jeisson Vargas	F	0
New England Revolution	Juan Agudelo	M	95
New England Revolution	Edgar Castillo	D	83
New England Revolution	Juan Caicedo	F	75
New England Revolution	Michael Mancienne	D	52
New England Revolution	Jalil Anibaba	D	28
New England Revolution	Cody Cropper	GK	24
New England Revolution	Brad Knighton	GK	21
New England Revolution	Brian Wright	F	2
New York City FC	Ebenezer Ofori	M	71
New York City FC	Sebastien Ibeagha	D	65
New York City FC	Jesus Medina	M	53
New York City FC	Ben Sweat	D	50
New York City FC	Tony Rocha	D	41
New York City FC	Gary Mackay-Steven	M	34
New York City FC	Eric Miller	D	28
New York City FC	Brad Stuver	GK	20
New York City FC	Daniel Bedoya	M	1
New York City FC	Juan Pablo Torres	M	1
New York City FC	Luis Barraza	GK	0
New York City FC	Jeff Caldwell	GK	0
New York City FC	Abdi Mohamed	D	0
Orlando City SC	Brian Rowe	GK	143
Orlando City SC	Lamine Sane	D	118
Orlando City SC	Will Johnson	M	87
Orlando City SC	Robinho	M	72
Orlando City SC	Sacha Kljestan	M	66
Orlando City SC	Carlos Ascues	D	63
Orlando City SC	Kyle Smith	D	48
Orlando City SC	Shane O’Neill	D	36
Orlando City SC	Cristian Higuita	M	33
Orlando City SC	Dillon Powers	M	27
Orlando City SC	Alex De John	D	18
Orlando City SC	Greg Ranjitsingh	GK	7
Orlando City SC	Adam Grinwis	GK	0
Philadelphia Union	Haris Medunjanin	M	196
Philadelphia Union	Marco Fabian	M	91
Philadelphia Union	Aurelien Collin	D	21
Philadelphia Union	Warren Creavalle	M	20
Philadelphia Union	Olivier Mbaizo	D	16
Philadelphia Union	Joe Bendik	GK	13
Philadelphia Union	Fabinho	D	1
Philadelphia Union	Michee Ngalina	F	1
Philadelphia Union	RJ Allen	D	0
Portland Timbers	Zarek Valentin	D	63
Portland Timbers	Claude Dielna	D	58
Portland Timbers	Andy Polo	M	49
Portland Timbers	Andres Flores	M	39
Portland Timbers	Jeff Attinella	GK	37
Portland Timbers	Tomas Conechny	M	34
Portland Timbers	Renzo Zambrano	M	34
Portland Timbers	Dairon Asprilla	M	31
Portland Timbers	Modou Jadama	D	2
Portland Timbers	Aljaz Ivacic	GK	0
Portland Timbers	Kendall McIntosh	GK	0
Real Salt Lake	Nick Rimando	GK	138
Real Salt Lake	Kelyn Rowe	M	38
Real Salt Lake	João Plata	M	25
Real Salt Lake	Justin Portillo	M	5
Real Salt Lake	Luke Mulholland	M	1
Real Salt Lake	Tony Beltran	D	0
Real Salt Lake	Alex Horwath	GK	0
Real Salt Lake	Pablo Ruiz	M	0
San Jose Earthquakes	Harold Cummings	D	71
San Jose Earthquakes	Marcos Lopez	D	61
San Jose Earthquakes	Paul Marie	D	15
San Jose Earthquakes	Carlos Fierro	M	11
San Jose Earthquakes	Francois Affolter	D	3
San Jose Earthquakes	Eric Calvillo	M	2
San Jose Earthquakes	Luis Felipe	M	2
San Jose Earthquakes	Kevin Partida	D	1
San Jose Earthquakes	Matt Bersano	GK	0
San Jose Earthquakes	Jimmy Ockford	D	0
San Jose Earthquakes	Andrew Tarbell	GK	0
Seattle Sounders FC	Harry Shipp	M	93
Seattle Sounders FC	Victor Rodriguez	M	73
Seattle Sounders FC	Roman Torres	D	63
Seattle Sounders FC	Saad Abdul-Salaam	D	50
Seattle Sounders FC	Chad Marshall	D	41
Seattle Sounders FC	Will Bruin	F	27
Seattle Sounders FC	Alex Roldan	M	23
Seattle Sounders FC	Jonathan Campbell	D	17
Seattle Sounders FC	Justin Dhillon	F	9
Seattle Sounders FC	Luis Silva	F	8
Seattle Sounders FC	Emanuel Cecchini	M	6
Seattle Sounders FC	Bryan Meredith	GK	0
Sporting Kansas City	Benny Feilhaber	M	102
Sporting Kansas City	Krisztian Nemeth	F	89
Sporting Kansas City	Botond Barath	D	85
Sporting Kansas City	Seth Sinovic	D	80
Sporting Kansas City	Andreu Fontas	D	38
Sporting Kansas City	Nicolas Hasler	D	28
Sporting Kansas City	Gedion Zelalem	M	16
Sporting Kansas City	Jimmy Medranda	D	13
Sporting Kansas City	Eric Dick	GK	1
Sporting Kansas City	Rodney Wallace	D	1
Toronto FC	Justin Morrow	D	100
Toronto FC	Laurent Ciman	D	57
Toronto FC	Tsubasa Endoh	M	50
Toronto FC	Drew Moor	D	47
Toronto FC	Eriq Zavaleta	D	41
Toronto FC	Patrick Mullins	F	31
Toronto FC	Nicolas Benezet	M	28
Toronto FC	Ashtone Morgan	D	14
Toronto FC	Ryan Telfer	D	5
Toronto FC	Jon Bakero	M	0
Toronto FC	Caleb Patterson-Sewell	GK	0

A note about the points used to rank the player pool: The points gathered come from this years’s MLS Fantasy Game. While that is obviously a less-than-ideal way to rank a player’s potential, it is an attempt to provide some guidance based on a player’s performance over the 2019 season. A player who has a ‘0’ for his score doesn’t mean that he is not worth a look. It simply reflects that he lacked playing time during the past season.

The Russo Soccer Top 50 Players in 2019 Expansion Draft

Overview

With teams only being able to protect twelve senior roster slot players, most teams left second and/or third string goalkeepers unprotected. Also, players who have announced their retirement but who are under contract until the end of the year were also naturally left unprotected. Zlatan Ibrahimovitch of the LA Galaxy has announced his departure from MLS, and thus was a natural choice to make the Galaxy’s unprotected player list. The list also features more than a few high-priced older players.

Players To Watch

Forwards

Atlanta United’s Brandon Vasquez is a strong choice to be selected by Inter Miami CF. Vazquez signed with Atlanta United as a Discovery Signing via transfer from Club Tijuana on Dec. 2, 2016. He made eight appearances as a substitute as a forward/winger in MLS and two starts in US Open Cup in 2018. Vazquez scored just a minute into his MLS debut at Real Salt Lake on April 22, 2017 and added two goals and an assist in two US Open Cup starts in 2017. This past season saw him have limited time, appearing in 11 matches, scoring 2 goals and adding 1 assist across 637 minutes played. He was recently added to the US Under 23 Men’s National Team, coached by Inter Miami’s Jason Kreis, ahead of their 2-0 win in a friendly against Japan. Vasquez was in that squad and earned an appearance, coming on in the 72nd minute.

New England Revolution forward Juan Caicedo is also a player to watch. The Colombian joined the Revs from Independiente Medellin and has experience playing in the Colombian first division. He has tallied 89 goals in nearly 300 appearances across all competitions through nine professional seasons in the top divisions of Colombia and Argentina and has experience in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. He appeared in 27 games for New England, starting 13 and scoring five goals.

Montréal Impact forward Maximiliano Urruti would offer a combination of skill and MLS experience. The 28-year old Argentine originally came to MLS in 2013 as a high-profile signing by Toronto FC from Newell’s Old Boys of Argentina. The Impact acquired him via a trade with FC Dallas in December 2018. He made 31 appearances for the Les Montréalais during the 2019 season, starting 27 of those matches and netting 4 goals on a team that failed to create enough scoring chances and often struggled to find a rhythm under former coach Remi Garde.

Midfielders

LA Galaxy’s Uriel Antuna, already a Mexican international, is one of the top players in the expansion draft. The 22 year-old speedy winger who is on loan from Manchester City has drawn interest from both Chivas de Guadalajara and Portuguese giants Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Antuna is believed to have signed a contract extension with City through 2022. He remains on loan with the Galaxy through the end of the season but his future beyond that point has not been determined. He scored 6 goals and contributed 5 assists for the Galaxy during the 2019 season.

Seattle Sounders midfielder Victor Rodriguez is an experienced, versatile, attacking threat who can play on either wing or as an attacking midfielder. The veteran has over 127 appearances in LaLiga dating back to the 2012-13 season he spent with Real Zaragoza. Rumours in a Seattle say that Rodriguez wants to return to Spain for personal reasons. However he might be a gamble someone’s willing to take, because he might well be the best available player and has a low cost-to-skill ratio. He helped to seal the victory over Toronto in MLs Cup with a wonderful shot from the edge of the penalty box that eluded goalkeeper Quentin Westberg in the 76th minute. After winning the MLS Cup MVP, he’s no longer flying under the radar, either. I could see Miami selecting him and using TAM money to give him a raise, also making his trips home to Barcelona much easier.

Haris Medunjanin isn’t typically mentioned in discussions about marquee players brought into MLS from overseas in recent years. But given the season he had in 2019 for the Philadelphia Union, perhaps he should be. A former Bosnia and Herzegovina national team player, at 34 years of age, is among a bunch of veterans left unprotected by their teams. Medunjanin has played a key role in the Union’s offense since arriving from Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2017. Positionally, he has played as a deep-lying No. 10 given his wide range of passing. But when Philly adopted a new system in 2019, he took on more defensive responsibilities as a No. 6. He’s also very durable, starting all 34 of the Union’s games this past season. Off the pitch, he has embraced the role of being a veteran leader and role-model for younger players, providing advice and constructive criticism on their play. On this point, he told mlssoccer.com: “I know myself when I was younger, it was harder and you played with a lot of more-experienced players and they would be like cursing you out when you did something wrong,” Medunjanin said. “Like that you learn, and sometimes as a player we should be hard on the younger players to get better.” Medunjanin is out of contract, so the choosing team would have to strike a new deal with him.

Atlanta United FC’s Justin Meram, a veteran MLS winger who spent five seasons with the Columbus Crew, was traded to Atlanta and was a contributor to both the regular season and the U.S. Open Cup during the 2019 campaign. He also plays on the Iraq National Team. He quickly became a fan favourite in Atlanta. “I’m very thankful for the fans bringing me in as one of their own from the get go,” he said. “They didn’t really look back on the past year I had, a little bit of the struggles. They looked at me as, ‘This guy could help.’ That gave me a little bit of confidence coming in.”

Orlando City midfielder Robinho (Francisco Wellington Barbosa de Lisboa) at age 24, is still a player with potential. The native of Recife, PE, Brazil was acquired by Orlando from Columbus Crew during the summer transfer window. The Brazilian midfielder last played for Ceará Sporting Club in Brazil’s First Division during the second half of the 2018 season, where he made two appearances in the Brazilian First Division – Serie A – following a loan stint at Santa Cruz Futebol Clube of Brazil’s Third Division during the first half of the 2018 season. While at Santa Cruz, Robinho made 37 appearances across all competitions for Santa Cruz, scoring eight goals. Robinho shows signs of being a creative player who can help unlock defenses with his movement and pace. He can provide some speed and quality out on the edge of the pitch and is an affordable player.

It’s worth noting that an Atlanta United veteran who has had an exemplary career in MLS is also on the list of available players. I would of course be referring to none other than midfielder Jeff Laurentowicz, 36, who studied and played at Brown University.

Defenders

Orlando City SC Lamine Sané is one of the top ranked defenders among available players. The 32-year-old French born Senegalese international just completed his second season with the Lions, after spending the previous two seasons with Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. Sané is the vocal leader of the back line, shouting out instructions from the first to the last whistle. He featured in 26 games this season at Orlando, starting all but one of those matches. Orlando City coach James O’Connor brought Sané to the forefront this past season, moving to a four-back defensive platform and placing him alongside the Swede Robin Jansson. Sané’s height, at 6 feet, 4 inches (1.72 m) is an asset, allowing him to cut down corners and crosses.

Olivier Mbaizo of the Philadelphia Union could be a good choice for either Miami or Nashville. The 22-year-old right back from Douala, Cameroon hasn’t seen much playing time with the Union, losing some time to injuries, and thus didn’t make the top 50 list above. However, he has much potential, is not overpriced, and already is a regular on the national teams of his native Cameroon. It came as a surprise to many followers of the Union to see him among the unprotected players. Mbaizo is also likely to have some significant sale value in the future. This month, he has played for Cameroon’s national team at the under-23 men’s Africa Cup of Nations. He was on the field for every minute of the group stage, and helped set up the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Mali. The team, however, ended up finishing third in the group stage and fell short of the semifinals.

Los Angeles Football Club defender Mohamed El-Munir is fast and displays excellent control on the ball. The Libyan international has 19 caps for his country and made 15 appearances for LAFC this past season.

San Jose Earthquakes defender Marcos Lopez, who is only 20 years old, would be a choice based on potential future dividends. The native of Callao, Peru transferred to San Jose from Sporting Cristal Lima and signed a multi-year contract ahead of the 2019 season. Lopez is a young left back that has already made an international appearance with Peru in August 2018 at the age of 18 when he appeared in a game against Germany. He can also play further up the pitch as a left winger. Lopez has a very successful first season with Sporting Cristal Lima, helping the club have a +62 goal differential, the best in the Peruvian league, and helped them earn qualification to the Copa Libertadores group stage. He played in 18 games for the Quakes in 2019, starting 15. This month he was called to the Peru National Team for a pair of international friendlies against Colombia (played last Friday at Hard Rock Stadium) and Chile.

Goalkeepers

Among the numerous goalkeepers on the unprotected list, several have accumulated significant experience in MLS. Most teams. Among them are Orlando City’s Brian Rowe, who is 31, and longtime Impact de Montréal keeper Evan Bush, who is 33.

Evan Bush of the Impact de Montréal has been consistently good for several seasons. An MLS original with the Impact, Bush completed his eighth season with Montréal. In 2018, he had a career-high 10 clean sheets and was the MLS’ top goalkeeper according to the Audi Player Index. He had a breakout season in 2015, starting 31 games, after only starting 15 games across his first three MLS seasons. He was a finalist for the 2015 Concacaf Goalkeeper of the Year award, following an outstanding Concacaf Champions League campaign in 2015 that saw him win the CCL Golden Glove award.

Brian Rowe of Orlando City SC is another available keeper. The 31-year-old goalkeeper completed his eighth season in MLS in 2019, after beginning his career in Los Angeles with the Galaxy in 2012. He earned 7 clean sheets in 2019, playing in 32 games for Orlando City. Rowe was exceptional in 2016 with the Galaxy, where he recorded 31 appearances, earning nine clean sheets and earning a 1.07 goals-against average en route to the playoffs. During that 2016 season, Rowe allowed the fewest goals (33) in MLS by any goalkeeper that appeared in a minimum of 30 matches. Rowe also finished third in MLS with 113 saves.

A younger choice at goalkeeper would be Los Angeles Football Club’s Tyler Miller. The 26-year old keeper started 28 games for LAFC this past season. He posted nine clean sheets in the process. Miller was the number one choice at goalkeeper up until last summer’s Gold Cup.Thereafter, he split time with Pablo Sisniega, whom LAFC chose to protect in the expansion draft. A player of Miller’s calibre is a tempting choice for either Inter Miami or Nashville. By leaving him unprotected, LAFC might be hoping he is selected, thus ensuring that none of their other unprotected players can be taken. It would be one way of solving the debate at goal keeper, and not having to renegotiate a contract for Miller, who is out of contract in Los Angeles.

Danish goalkeeper David Ousted of the Chicago Fire, 34, is also available. Ousted has been a starter for most of his six seasons in MLS, including five with the Vancouver Whitecaps. He is considered one of the more consistent keepers in the league, and holds numerous club records for Vancouver including wins, clean sheets and starts. He was finalist for goalkeeper of the year honours in 2015 with the Caps, who also won the Voyageur Cup (Canadian Championship) that year.

Two 40 year-old goalkeepers were left unprotected, but both have already announced their retirements. Nick Raimondo of Real Salt Lake was one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history. The legendary Tim Howard has also announced his retirement from the game.

Conclusion

Whatever the results of this expansion draft, there are certainly some quality players that Inter Miami and Nashville can acquire to assist them in building their initial rosters. The players they select can of course also be used in trades for other players, draft choices, allocation money or international player slots, so it’s not necessarily the player you obtain, but what you could acquire in exchange for that player.

It’s an interesting time of the year in MLS.