As the combine drew to a close today, the play was pretty tight, with a lot of adequate performances and not a tonne of standouts. This was definitely reflected in the lack of goal scoring chances in both games. Nonetheless, here are my 5 Up, 5 Down for today.

5 Up

1.    Brian Perk – The combine has been pretty low key for the keepers, save for Sean Johnson having difficulties. That changed today, though, as Perk was challenged a few times and he came up big. Perk made a few acrobatic saves and was strong in challenging loose balls.  His ability to communicate and organize his defenders has been another plus.  Perk should be the first keeper taken on draft day. He may lack size, but makes up for it with every other aspect of his game.

2.    Michael Stephens – Stephens has had an incredible camp and really forced himself to be a first round pick come Thursday.  Stephens played primarily on the right wing and dominated his wing.  He has speed, skill and heart.  The UCLA product rarely loses the ball and the rare time he does, he tends to win it back.  Hands down, Michael Stephens is my favorite player of this years draft class. 

3.    Seth Sinovic – Most of the time, when a defender is quiet, it is a good thing. When your name isn’t among the top defenders in the draft, though, you have to make some noise.  Today Sinovic went to battle on the left flank, a sturdy defender with ability to go forward.  He was not afraid to overlap, and with his pace he can caused a lot of problems for the opposing team.

4.    Ike Opara – As I said above, when a defender is quiet it’s a good thing. Opara has been flawless for his team at the combine.  He continually wins balls in the air and fearlessly throws himself at anything.  Today, he was matched up with Teal Bunbury and he won the battle in the first half.  He will be a force in the league for years to come (if he stays in MLS).

5.    Jack McInerney – McInerney’s really frustrating combine ended on a strong note. After a severe lack of service, McInerney took the game into his own hands, coming back to the midfield to get involved with the play.  In the later moments of the game, he showed great vision by sending a cross to a wide open Bone who couldn’t finish off with a volley.  McInerney may be young, and not ready to start, but with Wiedeman and Akpan having terrible combines he could find himself moving up the draft board.

5 Down

1.    Andrew Wiedeman – Maybe he took the Danny Mwenga class on how to perform at a combine and chose not to show up? Wiedeman was invisible on all three days.  Wiedeman was not blessed with the best team at the combine but he still has to take the fall for one of the most brutal combine showings of the week amongst the highly rated players. He may be a good player, but no one got to see him play.

2.    Andre Akpan – You could use the same excuse with Akpan that you would for Wiedeman, that he was not getting enough service, before today that is. After day three, Akpan can only blame himself.  Akpan had two open shots on goal, one being a breakaway he skied over the net. The other, a bouncing ball from 15 yards out at a near open net. Instead of finishing, he took an additional touch which led to nothing. You would think that because of this performance, Akpan’s stock is dropping. 

3.    Mauro Fuzetti – His agent must have told him to show his stuff on the final day and be a bit selfish.  Mauro took this to another level. Fuzetti was a black hole on the field today, and once the ball touched his foot he would not let it go, unless of course, it was to a defender.  I had him on the bubble all weekend, but after today’s performance I can’t see him getting an MLS contract.

4.    Justin Davis – A slow minded left back who was getting torched all day by Mikey Stephens and Sammy Appiah.  If the two wide men were a bit more ruthless, they would have scored a bag full of goals on his team.

5.    Tim Ream – I expected a bit more from him this combine, and today he showed he just was not up to the caliber of the best NCAA players.  Ream just could not deal with the pace of the game.  He was a bubble pick before the combine, now I figure he would be lucky to be taken in the fourth round.