D.C. United Adds Blake Brettschneider In 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft
Folks who had been complaining about D.C. United failing to select a forward in the 2011 MLS Draft finally had their voices heard. You just had to wait an extra week. In today's Supplemental Draft, United selected forward Blake Brettschneider out of the University of South Carolina.
Brettschneider, who will also occasionally be known as Brett Blakeschneider on this blog whenever I'm writing too fast, was a four-year starter at USC and was named the 2010 Conference USA Co-MVP for his 7 goals and 10 assists last season. He'll get the chance to compete for a roster spot as training camp kicks off this month.
United selected Brettschneider with their second round Supplemental Draft pick, and chose to pass on selecting a player with their third round pick.
Some very knowledgeable and well-respected fans/writers don't like the Brettschneider pick, and especially don't like the PASS, but have wrongfully concluded that today's events mean that the United organization has no direction.
Not true. Shambles? I don't think so.
As we've been saying here all along, United is building a young hard-working team in Ben Olsen's image that will compete for multiple Cups in a few years. They've started the process by building quite the kick-ass midfield. The forwards added so far have just been... well... supplementary. I don't claim to know nearly as much about Brettschneider as Joe Mauceri does, but I'd also reckon that there's a possibility that different scouts can have different opinions on players. Pretty sure Kasper didn't just pick a name out of a hat containing the remaining Combine forwards.
I also don't get too worked up about the team passing with the third round pick of the Supplemental draft. I guess if any of the 13 players taken after United (and two other clubs) passed turns into the next Chris Wondolowski, we could be kind of upset. But we should also keep in mind that United has the opportunity to invite any players not drafted to their training camp. Just like they did last year with Barry Rice. Personally, I don't think its a big deal. I don't think we're really missing out on much. Agree or disagree?
I'm actually much more interested in seeing the future of Daniel Keat, the player selected by the LA Galaxy with the first round Supplementary pick that they acquired from United as we moved up to take goalkeeper Joe Willis last week. Keat also happens to be the player that I recommended taking in the second round of the SuperDraft during SB Nation's MLS mock draft.
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If he does well, awesome its a steal. If not, we move on. Just like every offseason. This was essentially a 6th round pick and I don’t think that we are gonna find our striker of the future with it.
by Zach J on Jan 18, 2025 9:10 PM EST reply actions
PASS
I didn’t mind seeing us pass on that last pick. It actually told me that we DO have a direction. It means the kind of player we want was not there, so why waste your time. There are other good ways to get players outside a draft.
I like what I’ve seen out of DCU in this offseason. There is no doubt that our roster is improved over last year’s, and assuming we get a decent forward on the transfer market, we could be a respectable team again. I’m also a “build from the back” kind of guy, so I thought our SuperDraft was very well played. We are a young team, but in a 2-3 years we could have an RSL kind of turn-around with a solid team built to compete year to year.
by madavis on Jan 19, 2025 7:55 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Not sure what the uproar about the decision to pass was
To me, if we were doing well, the pass would be seen as a smart decision. People are mad right now, so they will find something to get angry about until the team does well on the field. If it weren’t this, it would be something else.
I would not be surprised at all if we invite some undrafted kids to our preseason and that at least one does as well or better than the 13 players taken after we passed. Hell, just by making the team, he’ll have probably made me right.
by ChestRockwell on Jan 19, 2025 9:39 PM EST reply actions
still don't like it
lets remember that a year ago we thought it was cute that DC was letting a 17 year old kid have a runout in pre-season with the senior squad…
My problem with passing is that the supp. draft costs nothing and lets you get a look at a kid who might turn out to be pretty good. Yes you can bring in undrafted rookies but why not just make the pick?
Not that its the end of the world or will likely make much difference but would have preferred to see DC take someone…
by Irrlicht on Jan 20, 2025 8:59 AM EST up reply actions
If you have some kid you're going to invite to camp...
You might as well use the supplemental pick to draft him since it ties his rights to DCU. A pass is a great indication that they’re done with the invites to training camp.
by Dizzo on Jan 20, 2025 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
Let's yell at Seattle fans when they've actually done something wrong
As for Dizzo’s point, DC has a long-standing history of inviting non-drafted players to preseason camp. It’s not a historical requirement or anything, but it is something we’ve tended to do with Dave Kasper as GM. Sometimes it gets us Bobby Boswell or Troy Perkins; other years, it gets us Two-Boys Gumede.
I see the reasoning for taking someone with the pick rather than passing. My main issue was that people were getting way too upset about it, and most likely they were really just mad about how we sucked last year.
by ChestRockwell on Jan 20, 2025 8:42 PM EST up reply actions
There was a not so small part of me that wanted Gumede to make the roster
And we would have had Boyzzz and Two-Boys.
by Brendanukkah on Jan 20, 2025 10:18 PM EST up reply actions
Or...
it’s a great indication that there is no one left on the board that DCU wants to invite to camp.
by madavis on Jan 20, 2025 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
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