FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With the nerves and uncertainty of Day 1 out of the way, Day 2 of the MLS Combine yielded crisper play, more goals, and two entertaining matches. Players had a new level of familiarity with each other, and could make the proper adjustments to improve on Monday.
Having Sunday off to rest and recover from the first day of games on Saturday also added a sense of freshness as the hopefuls set out to make another impression while on the field.
For AdiZero forward Will Bruin, the day off was welcome.
“Yesterday I got to relax and lay around and get my legs back, but they’re going to be sore tonight,” Bruin said.
One of the Generation adidas signings out of Indiana, Bruin had an extremely quick turnaround Friday night. He was in St. Louis as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy announcement, and flew early Saturday morning to be in Ft. Lauderdale in time for the combine.
Most of these players – if not all – are playing full-sided matches for the first time since their respective college seasons came to an end, and it’s working against them.
“I’m definitely not there 100 percent, because this is my first time playing full side 11-v-11 since the end of the season ... so I’m going to have some soreness here or there,” Bruin said. “I still got a lot of things that I could do that I haven’t really shown yet.”
For some players, like Steven Beattie of Northern Kentucky, getting to play alongside AdiPower teammate Corey Hertzog was a great one, while the play on the field struck a chord with the Division II Player of the Year.
“The standard is what I expected – unbelievable,” Beattie said. “There’s not a bad player out there, there’s no easy games.”
The second day of games were a bit kinder to the Irish striker, who had a hand in Hertzog’s two goals. It was a nice contrast from Saturday.
“Two days ago no one could really find their feet, couldn’t really find each other, most of us had flown in the day before,” Beattie said. “I knew today was going to be a lot better.”
The coaches of each combine team used different looks and different formation. Some players spent the full 90 minutes on the field, while others only a half. This made it an even greater challenge to create some kind of understanding between the new players.
Bruin, who spent 45 minutes on the field for AdiZero Monday, lamented the need to press and adapt knowing his time on the field could be short.
“It’s good to get these games going, it’s a great atmosphere, but only playing a half it’s a little hard to get into the flow of the game, because once you start reading people, and start combining with people and knowing where their going to be, the half’s over,” he said.
