Major League Soccer’s two incoming franchises Orlando City SC and New York City FC will take part in an expansion draft to take place on December 10th which will be one of a few methods the teams will utilize to populate their respective rosters for 2015. Both sides will get the opportunity to pick ten players from existing MLS clubs in an attempt to establish a solid foundation going forward.
On Wednesday, the league officially released a comprehensive listing of rules for the upcoming draft. It was already known that the 18 existing teams will have the opportunity to protect 11 players from both their Senior and Supplemental rosters from being drafted. There were a few added stipulations that I wasn’t aware of until the full rules were made available, and if you’re interested you can read the full MLS expansion draft guidelines here.
It’s beyond the scope of this article for me to elaborate upon every fine detail of the rules, so instead I want to focus on how the Columbus Crew will be affected, if at all. After submitting their 11 protected players, they can rest assured that at the maximum only two unprotected players can be selected from each team. The most pertinent issue affecting the Crew is how they’re going to treat the international players on their roster.
The MLS expansion draft rules stipulate that up to three foreign players must be among the 11 that are on the no-draft list of each team. The maximum number of non-US players that can be included on a given side’s protected list is essentially the total number on the roster minus three. In the Crew’s case, they currently have nine internationals on the roster, so as such they can protect six of them at the most.
Who do I think are those crucial 11 players that Columbus needs to put a proverbial “DO NOT DRAFT’ tag on? I do think they need to utilize the international players rule to its full capacity and protect six (possibly seven depending on how Justin Meram gets classified) players from abroad. The other five are pretty self-explanatory if you follow the Crew at all but nevertheless, follow along and I’ll introduce you to “John Bava’s Columbus Crew Protected XI.”
Federico Higuaín, midfielder – Argentina
Speaking of self-explanatory, it doesn’t get much more “think for yourself and realize the truth of my argument” than this. Higuaín was a major stalwart in the central attacking midfield for the Crew all year. He tied Ethan Finlay for the regular season team lead in goals with 11, but that was after Finlay got red hot late in the year. He’s a proven finisher, especially on set pieces and penalty kicks. Higuaín is probably the first person who comes to mind when contemplating this list.
Wil Trapp, midfielder – Gahanna, OH
The league’s Homegrown Player program was intended to identify players such as Trapp and enable them to realize their full potential with the local club. The 21-year-old has already worn the captain’s armband for the Crew a few times, and it’s possible that in a few years he could become the face of this franchise if he hasn’t done so already. He’s one of those players who you don’t expect to see on the score sheet but you are well aware that his play is crucial to Columbus chance creation, especially in terms of initiating those chances in the middle third of the field. It’s pretty much a given he’ll be protected.
Ethan Finlay, midfielder – Marshfield, WI
Finlay just signed a contract extension with the Crew after a breakout season which saw him score 11 goals and add seven assists, the exact same total Higuaín contributed to the team’s offensive output. Though his first playoff series was to put it honestly one to forget, he’s a young player with a great deal of promise that should be a formidable weapon down the wing for the Crew in 2015 and beyond.
Justin Meram, midfielder – Shelby Township, MI
Much like Finlay, Meram had his most successful season with the Crew in 2014, netting eight goals and adding four assists. While Finlay has shown the ability to take advantage of through balls into the box, Meram likes to put chances on goal from beyond the 18 and has been quite adept at doing so. He recently earned his first three caps for the Iraqi national team in the 2014 Gulf Nations Cup, starting all three group matches. Meram is currently out of contract with the Crew but can still be protected. Since he has dual US/Iraqi citizenship he might fall into the “non-domestic U.S. player” clause which might count him as an international in the expansion draft.
Tony Tchani, midfielder – Cameroon
Tchani and Trapp have the potential to form into one of the league’s top defensive midfield tandems anchoring that area in between the back line and the middle third of the field. You will find few players in MLS that can get attacking opportunities started on the opposite side of the midfield stripe the way these two talented teammates do.
Mohammed Saeid, midfielder – Sweden
Signed from Swedish first division side Örebro on October 29th, the 23-year-old Saeid will look to contribute to an already solid midfield for the Crew. As one of three late season acquisitions, I find it hard to believe Columbus would leave him unprotected.
Kei Kamara, forward – Sierra Leone
Kamara was brought in via the Crew’s top spot in the MLS allocation order. Say what you want about whatever transpired as regards the team’s efforts to sign Mix Diskerud via this avenue, it could be argued Kamara fulfills a much more vital team need. Columbus struggled all year trying to find someone to provide that spark up front in Berhalter’s 4-2-3-1 and it is hoped Kamara is the guy in that respect.
Michael Parkhurst, defender – Providence, RI
A regular with the U.S. men’s national team having appeared in 25 matches for the Yanks, Parkhurst’s first season with the Crew was highly productive. He played in all but one game, made 32 starts and as such was a mainstay in the Columbus central defense that was one of the league’s stingiest. Parkhurst is one of those leaders on the back line that I don’t think the Black and Gold will want to part ways with.
Waylon Francis, defender – Costa Rica
Another success story on the Crew back line, Francis was a part of Costa Rica’s World Cup squad that took the Netherlands all the way to penalty kicks before bowing out in the quarterfinals. He’s one of the most aggressive defenders in the league, never hesitating to push forward and contribute to Columbus attacking forays and led all MLS defenders with six assists. The Crew are going to want to keep their starting defense fairly intact given its already realized success and continued potential, so Francis definitely gets protected.
Romain Gall, midfielder – France
I was a tad on the conflicted side in terms of either suggesting the Crew protect Gall or newly acquired defender Emanuel Pogatetz. I chose Gall due to the future potential factor. Pogatetz is in his early 30s whereas Gall hasn’t even turned 20 yet. Though Pogatetz was brought in to provide leadership and help younger players adjust, I don’t want to risk losing Gall and watch him light up the league in a few years with either Orlando or NYCFC if he turns out to be a star in the making.
Steve Clark, goalkeeper – Mason, MI
Much like Parkhurst, Clark joined the Crew in 2014 after playing a few seasons in Europe, in his case with the Norwegian club Honefoss BK. His play in net was good enough to earn the team’s Defender of the Year honor in addition to the Kirk Urso Heart Award. He was one of only five players in the league to play every minute of every game and has become a fan favorite in the short time he’s played for the Black and Gold.
As mentioned earlier, only two players at most can be drafted from each existing team. If the protected list pans out this way, the following players might pique the interest of the two incoming franchises:
Bernardo Anor, midfielder – Venezuela
Eric Gehrig, defender – Harvey, IL
Kevan George, midfielder – Trinidad & Tobago
Emanuel Pogatetz, midfielder – Austria
Aaron Schoenfeld, forward – Knoxville, TN
With the MLS Expansion Draft less than a month away, we’ll soon know the actual composition of the Crew protected list, and later on whether or not they will be parting ways with a player or two from a 2014 side that exceeded the expectations of many throughout the league.
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