MLS Draft 2012 Profile: Enzo Martinez
by Martin Shatzer on Jan 11, 2012 10:30 PM EST
in MLS Draft 2012
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D.C. United owns the No. 7 overall pick in the 2012 MLS Draft. We're reviewing some of the top college soccer players who might be worth Ben Olsen's consideration in the first round.
By consensus, D.C. United has four areas of need that they could potentially look to address during tomorrow's 2012 MLS SuperDraft. In a rough and debatable order of priority, they are:
1. Striker
2. Left back
3. Attacking midfield depth
4. Center back depth
University of North Carolina midfielder Enzo Martinez would address the third priority in a big way.
But we have another requirement: that the player to be drafted seventh overall should be able to start right away. Martinez might not fit that requirement. The verdict is out.
What's for sure is that he's productive, scoring nine goals and 10 assists as a junior in 2011, good enough to earn him a Generation Adidas contract. Three visits to the College Cup ain't bad either.
Martinez was born in Uruguay and has the creative attacking flare to prove it. He came to the United States at age 10, so may or may not be able to assume that he wouldn't require an international roster spot. Or we might not care afterall since United only has two international players on the roster right now anyway.
Martinez was responsible for some fantastically attractive goals for the National Champions last year. But how will he do when things speed up at the next level. He won't have the same amount of space or time. Martinez is listed as 5'-7" and 145 lbs, so everything will look bigger at the next level too.
For United, Martinez would fill a need in that he'd be a great attacking player option off the bench. If Chris Pontius is hurt again, or Andy Najar is with his national team, or Branko Boskovic is sent back to Montenegro, or Dwayne De Rosario is whining about his contract, attacking midfielder would suddenly become our biggest priority. Adding a player at least one more player that fits that role is vital for D.C. this offseason.
But Martinez might not be that guy, as No. 7 might be too high for a guy that is less of a sure-thing than other players expected to be available at that spot.
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We can't afford the luxury of taking Martinez
I know there’s talk about him being able to play on the left, but I don’t really buy it based on what I’ve seen from him. We haven’t made the playoffs in 4 years, and Martinez would be the 3rd best player at attacking midfield (behind De Ro and Boskovic). If he proved me wrong and became an acceptable left midfielder, he’d be 3rd best there too (behind Pontius and Boskovic).
The draft field has a lot of players that address a need for us that are as good at what they do as Martinez is at what he does.
Let me put it this way: There are no fewer than 12 players I’d rather take at #7 before Martinez, and even after those 12, I’d think long and hard about taking Luis Silva instead. If we were to take one of those two tomorrow and not also make a trade to grab someone else’s late 1st round/early 2nd round pick, we will have made a big mistake and done nothing to address the realities of our roster.
Writer on SBN's DC United blog Black and Red United | @ChestRockwell14 | KEEP UNITED IN DC
Interestingly enough
Martinez is who Ives Galarcep had us taking in his mock draft last night. Though, I generally agree with the notion that attacking mid isn’t where we need to go in this draft. I’d rather see a forward or a defender. Coach Ashton said United is looking for the best talent available at the #7 pick (that’s pretty much what everyone says), but it sounds like there is enough talent in this draft that we can get good talent and fill a need at the same time. I’d hate to see us roll the dice ala Vancouver with this pick.
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