LAUDERHILL, Fla. – The 2015 adidas MLS Player Combine will come to a close on Tuesday, with two final games taking place before clubs and players make their way to Philadelphia for Thursday’s MLS SuperDraft.
Here are some of the comings and goings from South Florida:
NYCFC's Kreis Reacts to Diskerud Signing, Hints at Another Big Move
New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis is over the moon about
adding Mix Diskerud to his growing roster,
telling MLSsoccer.com in an abbreviated interview at halftime of Tuesday’s first Combine game that he’s “absolutely thrilled” to have signed the US national team midfielder.
Kreis also indicated that Diskerud might not be the final big signing NYCFC make this offseason. New York have two Designated Players on the books for 2015 in Frank Lampard and David Villa.
“I wouldn’t say anticipate is the right word, but I would say that I’m hopeful that we’ll make another big signing,” he said.
Kreis didn’t provide any hints as to where Diskerud will lineup for NYCFC, saying he’s unsure at the moment whether or not the expansion team will play in the diamond midfielder formation Kreis used so effectively during his tenure at Real Salt Lake.
Fire’s Frank Yallop Provides Update on Chicago’s Pursuit of Wigan’s Shaun Maloney
Fire head coach Frank Yallop provided an update on his club’s pursuit of Wigan midfielder Shaun Maloney on Tuesday, telling MLSsoccer.com that Chicago have shown interest in the player and are waiting on Wigan to decide what they want to do with the Scottish international.
“We’ve shown interest in Shaun,” Yallop said. “He’s one of the players we targeted for this season, it’s just sitting as is right now. We can’t really do much because obviously he’s still contracted to Wigan. There’s no denying we have interest in him, just waiting to see where it goes.”
Yallop said that the Fire have not yet put in a bid for Maloney. Sporting Kansas City recently acquired Maloney’s ex-Wigan teammate Roger Espinoza on a free transfer after the Championship club agreed to release the Honduran international early from his contract.
Yallop said he doesn’t know whether Wigan would agree to a similar arrangement for Maloney as they did for Espinoza.
“All we can do at this point is show interest and that’s what we’ve done,” he said. “It’s basically up to Wigan. They’ve got to decide if they want to sell him and if we can continue talking to him. It’s really in their hands, just waiting to see what they want to do.”
Soggy Final Day at MLS Combine
The final day of the Combine is being played in less than ideal conditions.
Rain fell steadily at Broward Central Regional Park all Tuesday morning, creating pockets of standing water in parts of the field. While the conditions aren’t exactly conducive to beautiful soccer, they do offer MLS clubs a different look at the prospects heading into Thursday’s draft.
“I think it shows the kids in adverse conditions and how they handle it and how they want to go about playing,” Yallop said. “I’ve been very impressed with the commitment from all the players. Whether this is one of the top quality drafts or not, I’m not sure, we won’t know until they get with MLS teams. But there’s been some good games and some good individual performances so I think it’s been pretty good.”
