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Our coverage of the 2011 MLS Draft is winding down as we prepare for the start of training camp later this month. But now having had the chance to sleep on our selections yesterday, here's a few more thoughts on Perry Kitchen and what the pick means for D.C. United.
1. Ben Olsen and Dave Kasper deserve credit for holding steady at No. 3. Olsen said that he would have selected Perry Kitchen first overall, but guess what, he didn’t have to. Rumors had the Vancouver Whitecaps shopping their top pick, and I’m sure D.C. United may have considered making a move to grab it to ensure that they could get Kitchen. That pick had to have been burning a hole in Kasper's pocket. But instead the team just let the draft play out, and it played out exactly as they hoped it would.
2. I don’t put any significant faith in Kasper saying that Kitchen will compete for a job at center back. He’s going to play wherever Olsen thinks he should play after two months of preseason evaluation. Kitchen played as a center back as a youth and for the U-20s, but Caleb Porter moved him to defensive midfield. He could play either spot. And it’s way too soon to tell which spot that will be.
3. With Kitchen, Branko Boskovic, Dax McCarty, Clyde Simms, Andy Najar, Santino Quaranta, and Chris Pontius, United might have the best midfield in all of MLS. If you add Kurt Morsink, Stephen King, and Junior Carreiro to the mix, we’ve certainly got the deepest. And the youngest. I don’t think I would trade our midfield for any other team’s.