MLS Draft 2012 Profile: Andrew Wenger
by Martin Shatzer on Jan 7, 2012 3:39 PM EST
in MLS Draft 2012
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PrintD.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.
Duke Blue Devils standout Andrew Wenger won the NCAA Defensive Player Of The Year award in 2010. That wasn't enough though. He turned around and won the NCAA Offensive Player Of The Year award in 2011. Huh? Wow. He was a center back then, he's a forward now. To the tune of 17 goals and eight assists for Duke in 2011. He can excel at either position. Any position really.
At the next level, Wenger's projected position is similar to that of Perry Kitchen - he'll play either center back or defensive midfield. Dissimilar to Kitchen though, he can play almost anywhere else too. Rated as the best overall prospect in the 2012 MLS Draft, Wenger would be a steal if he fell to D.C. United at No. 7, like Kitchen did at No. 3 last year. He won't, but we can always hope. In order to get Wenger, United would likely have to trade up, and the price might be too steep.
It would be strange to see United select similar players with their first round picks in consecutive years, but Wenger would be impossible to pass up. He could either spell Dejan Jakovic and Brandon McDonald in central defense, or take over one of the outside back positions like Kitchen did for most of 2011. Or... Imagine this... A bucket four-man midfield with both Kitchen and Wenger starting in the middle? Its enough to make you salivate. Really too bad it won't happen.
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The spread of players in MLS
It’s just amazing, to me, the variability in the type of players fans are expecting to build an MLS team. The immediate previous post wants to add ~2 academy players a year, presumably, those academy kids will be similar to Najar in both and in skipping college for a professional career. Yet, here in the above post, is excited about the possible (distant as it may be) of a player in his early 20’s, finishing(?) college and yet hasn’t really mastered a position, that completely flipped from defender to forward, and is hoping to start him in midfield with another player that’s never really played midfield at the MLS level.
I think MLS is already moving to Academy over NCAA
If you read Ives’ piece from yesterday on foxsoccer.com, he talks about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that delayed signings for everyone in the GenAd class this year. According to Ives’ MLS simply decided to offer the GA players less money overall — even the top couple did not get better offers than the top last year…while the ones at the bottom, including Tyler Polak, were really low-balled.
According to Ives’ it was a two-pronged strategy to bolster the Academy system. By holding down the salaries of top soccer players, MLS is able to put together a larger pool of cash to entice top Academy players to sign with their clubs. Also, by holding the line on salaries for these top college platers, the league hopes to create a disincentive for the best players to go the college route.
I’m not sure I buy MLS’ argument, because there are so few GenAd level talents. How many players are going to sign with MLS instead of college because GenAders aren’t getting big paydays any more? I know the league realizes it’s risking lose college players (and maybe Academy payers, too) to foreign clubs and leagues, but I think it’s probably a bigger risk than the league realizes. While only 2 players are going abroad this time around, numbers will go up — especially for Academy talents. If it comes to choosing between what MLS is offering to play with their reserves versus probably much larger salaries from Euro clubs to play with their reserves, guess what the kids will choose?
Then, there’s the notion that moving from the Academy to the varsity is a better way to develop than going to the NCAA. I think the jury is still out on that. It seems to me that the NCAA is producing even better talents now. That may be because the USSF Development Academy system — and even the MLS academies — are serving up better players for college teams. And, it may also be that coaching and the competition in NCAA are combining to raise the quality of play and players. My suspicion is that even the MCAA’s limited schedule i better than what the MLS reserve League and USOC offer young players.. Look at what DC is now doing with Shanosky — putting him out on loan, after a year of doing almost nothing. Will that be any better for him than 2. 3. or even 4 years in a top NCAA program? I guess we will judge by the results.
The real point, though, is that MLS thinks it needs to take steps to establish the primacy of the Academy system. It isn’t there yet, but MLS intends for that to happen. I think I’m correct in predicting that teams will look to add 2+ players on an annual basis form their academies. Whether that will result in better players is something I am anxious to see.
We would need the Vancouver "Smartest Guys in the Room" Whitecaps to have the first 6 picks for Wenger to fall to us
As you say, I don’t see us getting Wenger, but we can dream. I haven’t watched much college soccer this year, but when I have it’s been Duke. Wenger always stood out as the best player on the field. Dude can play.
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