What Is With The Combine...

It sounds like the combine needs to change. Allen Hopkins recently reported on espn.com that MLS coaches were unanimous that the level of play is slipping and the event doesn't provide coaches with what they want to see.

Combine needs boost

A survey of all the MLS coaches regarding the scouting combine produced the same overall analysis: The level of play at the combine has declined the past three years and has to improve. As one Western Conference coach told me, "The first 15 minutes was all I needed to see and I didn't see much." Another coach, this from the Eastern Conference, echoed the same sentiments, "It's getting harder and harder every year to find quality during the chaos of the combine." The combine isn't going anywhere anytime soon but it's clear it needs some tweaking moving forward.

In my opinion, the event is set up to fail. How are that many college kids expected to come in and play as a team when they have just met their new team mates and haven't played a competitive match in over a month? Other sports use this combine idea for coaches to see players technical abilities. As an example, the NFL combine puts players through the 40 yard dash and other feats of agility and football skills. Why doesn't MLS come up with some metrics and events that coaches want to see, as opposed to a few games that are terrible?

Some events off the top of my head? The 40 yards dash. Or 60 if that is more applicable to soccer. Toss in one of those beep tests we see on ussoccer.com a few times a year and you've got some real metrics coaches can use to evaluate soccer fitness levels and speed. There you go, day one of the combine is dedicated to putting players through their athletic paces.

Then move the event indoors. Come up with some kind of soccer IQ test. Let the coaches learn how players understand the game. Michael Parkhurst has shown us that a high soccer IQ can make up for some other areas. We all know that smart players succeed in certain situations, so help MLS coaches figure out where the players stand.

Combine the IQ test day with a chance for coaches to sit down with 10 or more players one on one. Give the coaches some time to get to know the person. Garth Lagerway, RSL GM, was recently quoted saying that Nyarko slipped past their draft pick because of his personality. RSL did their homework, did Chicago? Was that an unfair knock on the player? Let coaches figure that out during the combine for all players. It is obviously important to them.

On the third day take the combine back outside, but let the coaches work directly with the players as opposed to just watching from the stands. Come up with some sort of rotation where all the players go through a training session with each coaching staff. 30 minutes of soccer tennis will tell some coaches a lot about a player's ability.

Day four, take it back to the basics and have some scrimmages. Give coaches a chance to see the players on the field. This will be different in that they've already gotten a sense of who they want on their team. Now they can really look how the whole player plays.

Naturally this all needs to be in addition to scouting during the regular season. I believe the league should hire some full time scouts to travel the country taking in games and writing scouting reports on the different players. Make the reports available to all clubs. That way, there is a base amount of knowledge teams have on each player. Allow teams to do more on their own, but help them get the ball rolling. MLS, as an aside, I will apply for one of those national scouting positions when created. I've already got the player database.

There you have it, my ideas on how to improve the combine. MLS, take them or leave them...however, you can see that the current set up isn't working. Figure out something better.