DCU needs speed and size up front. We only have 2 true strikers on the roster. I’m much more comfortable with the defense than the offense… go for the striker United!

I like my defenders boring and solid and agree that such a move would be a safer bet… (and when you get a good one, keep him! Still miss Boz… understand it was his decision to move but still… )
But I think we can find defenders elsewhere, its more of a system position whereas strikers involve more of a knack for the goal which is valuable and hard to find. At any rate, at this point I’m thinking we take Bruin.

Sarkodie is probably the most interesting of this group to me. Olsen wants to play a positive, aggressive game. That requires overlapping runs from our outside backs, and with Wallace gone, Burch too slow, and Zayner more of a stay-at-home type, I imagine there’s at least a passing thought being given to a guy like Sarkodie, who will improve as a defender while still causing match up problems for opposing teams.

I also found it interesting that he played left back in the Combine (with Maryland’s Billy Cortes at right back for whatever silly name their team was stuck with). Sarkodie knows he’s going to be picked, and almost certainly in the 1st round. Perhaps this was something he requested, to show his ability to play both flanks. If I could sit here and be totally sure that Sarkodie could be a proper MLS left back by 2012, I’d say take him, start him over Burch, and deal with the moments where things don’t go so well. Consider it an investment.

However, I can’t say that with enough certainty to start favoring taking him at #3. If only we had a late 1st round pick. Of course, Sarkodie will probably be gone by then (Chivas would be stupid not to take him, as Trujillo is not much more useful than sticking a folding chair at right back and hoping people run into it).

Valentin and Anibaba are good players, and it wouldn’t be like ending up with them on your team is some kind of curse. However, with the attackers available, the needs of our team, and the fact that our defense is already quite inexperienced. A back four of Zayner, Jakovic, James, and Burch, with Hamid in goal, means our back five would average 24.6 years old, and that group averages just 46.4 MLS games in their career (and that’s with Burch’s 88 games throwing off that figure as the outlier). Let’s also not forget that by signing Ethan White, we’ve already got a 1st round-quality defender (who would be a GA player if he wasn’t a Homegrown signing).

I think our focus defensively should be bolstering our promising young defenders with some experience. We have young defenders with lots of potential; they need a mentor, not a peer.