After returning from Europe on Thursday, FC Dallas Head Coach Steve Morrow traveled straight to South Florida for the 2007 adidas MLS Player Combine. But despite being out of the country for most of the holiday season, Morrow feels that he and his coaches are more than prepared heading into this weekend's games.
"We're very well prepared as far as our scouting going into the combine and the draft. We definitely have an idea of what we are looking at and what we are looking for. We have our list of top targets and over the next couple of days we're going to be adding to that and also taking some away.
Between myself, Marco and Oscar, we've seen most of the players that are going to be here over the weekend. The ones that we have seen and that we're interested in, it'll be good to see them in this kind of environment and see how they do with the pressure."
Despite having seen many of these players at various stages of their college careers, the Combine is the first time that Morrow will get to see them outside of their comfort zone. Gone are the familiar home fields that they have played on for the last four years and the teammates who they are so accustomed to playing with. These elements have been replaced by new surroundings and new teammates, teammates who are looking to make a name for themselves in front of the collection of MLS coaches.
"We've noticed in the past that the level of play is a little bit higher (than you see in the college season) because this is a collection of the best college players and with that there are certain players that are able to step up and can handle the pressure while other players drop off a level."
While Morrow and his staff, along with FC Dallas President and General Manager Michael Hitchcock have compiled extensive lists of players that have generated their interests, that does not mean that an unknown cannot force their way into the picture with a strong showing this weekend.
"We had one or two players at the Combine last year that we didn't know a lot about, but they had a very good showing and improved our thoughts on them greatly. With that I would say that our list of targets is not set in stone and that there is still time to get on to that list."
But in order to get on to that list and potentially onto the 28-man roster that Morrow will announce at the start of March, he states that a player must fit a specific need for the club or show the promise to be a future star in MLS.
"We look at our roster positionally and if we have one or two holes, or if we need cover in certain areas than we look to fill those spots but I think that early on you try and get the best available talent, the guys that you know have a good chance to develop over the next few seasons. I don't think that you just draft positionally or for the best available talent, it's a combination of the two that is going to pay the most dividends."
