Quick Preseason Update - Bradenton, FL

Were just three days into the preseason and things are already picking up. The team spent the first couple of days doing drills and playing small sided games(6 vs. 6), but today they stepped it up a notch in preparation for their first preseason game against UCF this Sunday. The team is still missing Chris Rolfe, John Thorrington and Jon Busch, all of whom are still training with the U.S. Men's National Team. They will be absent at least until the USA vs. Mexico World Cup qualifier on February 11th. Then we'll find out if they are going to stay with the national team for a longer period of time. Two highly regarded players that have made their way to training camp are McBride and Blanco. With their presence they bring experience, great competition and leadership to what some may consider a young team.

Today the team played 11 vs. 11, but instead of playing a full 90 minutes, they cut the two halves down to 25 minutes each. I'm assuming the coaches are still taking things somewhat lightly(if you can believe that), however, I did hear that they have already let a couple of players go.

As far as Jata is concerned, I've gotten word that he's playing like a man on a mission. Today's game ended in a 0-0 tie, but Jata played attacking mid and got off a few good shots in the first full field game he's played since the MLS combine. In just three days the team will take on the University of Central Florida and I'm hoping to make it there to see Jata show the coaches what they never expected to see out of a 4th round draft pick. Check back in on Monday for more updates....

Chicago Fire Preseason Schedule

This weekend Jata will travel to Chicago for team physicals and then it's off to Bradenton, Florida for the next couple of weeks. There they will train and play against a number of teams at IMG Academy before heading back to Chicago. The team's Preseason Schedule is as follows:

• Saturday - Jan. 24: Preseason physicals (Toyota Park)
• Sunday - Jan. 25: Preseason physicals (Toyota Park)
• Sunday - Feb. 1: vs. University of Central Florida
• Wednesday - Feb. 4: vs. Kansas City Wizards
• Saturday - Feb. 7: vs. Puerto Rico Islanders
• Tuesday - Feb. 10: vs. Toronto FC

Hopefully Jata will play his best, which should give him a great shot at making the team this coming season. He should feel right at home playing down at IMG because he's played there many times since high school. Jata played for the IMG PDL team when he was just 16 years old and he tallied 35 goals and 19 assists in two years for the IMG club team. I suspect I'll be making it to one or two of the games, so I'll be updating Jata's progress as soon as I know more.

Here It Is! Richard Jata Draft Speech

Well, I finally found it! The 2009 MLS SuperDraft speech by Richard Jata. An unbelievable moment for any player, but for Jata it was something more than that. You can see the pure joy and humility on display as he took the podium late in the draft. This is probably one of the most true and unrehearsed speeches I have ever seen, which makes it even that much more enjoyable to watch. It gives hope to the kids out there, all over the world, who have the dream of playing professional soccer. As Kevin Garnett once said, "Anything is possible."

2009 MLS Superdraft speech by Richard Jata starts at the 3:54 mark

JATA DRAFTED BY THE CHICAGO FIRE

With the 13th pick of the 4th round in the 2009 MLS Superdraft, the Chicago Fire select, from Campbell University, Midfielder, Richard Jata. Moments later Jata walks up and receives his scarf. He then proceeds to the podium to make a speech. After about five minutes, Jata makes reference to the fact that he had been talking for a long time. "I hope it's okay though, because I've been sitting there for an awfully long time waiting."

I heard that Jata's speech actually brought some observers to tears. After he left the podium he was immediately interviewed by the media. Then he was escorted to the hospitality room where he was interviewed once again.

Campbell Head Coach Doug Hess(left), Richard Jata, Ed Jata(right)
This is what Ives Galarcep and others had to say about Jata's moment at the draft:

Live Chat with Ives from the Draft:

Ives Galarcep: (5:52 PM ET) Richard Jata just went to Chicago at 58

Ives Galarcep: (5:52 PM ET) Richard Jata may be giving the first speech every delivered by a fourth-rounder at a professional draft. Touching moment.

Phil (Mass): Did the Jata speech take the crowd by surprise? How was it received?

Ives Galarcep: (5:58 PM ET) It was great. He was funny and sincere and is the type of kid who is easy to root for. Now he just has to make the team.

"Seems like Jata is a hit!!"

Another observer had this to say about Jata:

"I was at the draft. I had initially planned to leave after the 3rd round but decided to stick it out one more round and Jata's speech absolutely made it worth it. His speech brought the house down as officials from every team applauded him. A few gave standing ovations. "

"Got a chance to talk with Jata after he got fed through media row, and the kid was just on Cloud 9. I really hope he can make this team, and make it better, because from what I gathered from him, he's a great kid and would be valued on any team. A really good story so far."

Jata will be one of four other draftees set to attend training camp in Chicago starting January 24th. He will then have the chance to make the final squad and sign a contract with the team.

There will be more to come about the day of the Superdraft, training camp in Chicago and Jata's future, so check back soon.

2009 MLS Combine - Final Day/Last Chance

Today was the final chance for the players at the combine to make a lasting impression. For some players it was really hard to get comfortable with their teammates and at times it seemed like nothing was working for them. I didn't get a chance to see the first game today, but I watched the second game and once again was impressed by a number of players on the Adidas Tunit squad. These are my observations from the 2009 MLS combine.

Players that DID impress on Adidas Tunit were:

Stefan Frei - GK
Chris Pontius - F
AJ Delegarza - D
Peri Marosevic - F
Babajide Ogunbiyi - D

Players that played well on Adidas Tunit, but didn't stand out were:

Richard Jata - M
Josh Boateng - M
Rodney Wallace - D
Andrei Gostmanov - M
Kyle Patterson - M
Brandon Barklage - M
Trevor Banks - D/M
Pav Castenada - D/M
Kyle Russell - D

Players that DIDN'T impress on Adidas Tunit were:

Matt Poole - M
Daniel Revivo - F
Paul Gerstenberger - D

Overall, the combine was a great opportunity for some players to really increase their stock, but at the same time it hurt some players too. Only 60 of them will be selected come Thursday, which will make tomorrow one of the longest days' ever for many of them. Who will go first? Who will go in the first round? Who won't get picked at all?

Hopefully the coaches got to see what they wanted from all of the players, even though many of them never had the opportunity to showcase their full potential. I'm interested to see how things turn out.

I know Richard Jata has the ability to play at the next level, I just don't know where he's going to be heading. He'll definitely be one of the sixty players selected, but I can't pinpoint what round he'll go in. He definitely wont go in the first round because the Generation Adidas players don't affect a teams' salary cap, making them highly coveted and most likely first round selections. However, from the second round to the fourth round it's game on. Where will have the chance to play next year? Check out ESPN 2 on Thursday at 2pm to watch the first round of the 2009 MLS Superdraft. After the first hour of coverage ends, tune in to mlsnet.com to see who gets drafted in the remaining rounds.

Here are some pictures from the final day at the 2009 MLS Combine

Day 3 of the Combine - How We Doin?

The second day of games is usually a little more promising than the first and it gives players the opportunity to rise or fall depending on how they did day one. The Adidas Tunit Squad took on Adidas Tiro in the first game of the day, in what seemed to be a somewhat slow, but interesting game. Jata started the game as an attacking center mid, but the midfield lacked cohesiveness making it harder on Jata to shine. A couple players were playing out of position leaving too much room for the opposing team to take the ball down the line and start and attack.Day two was rough on some of the players because they haven't been playing as much and its easy to get sore from going all out on day one. Gostmanov didn't play at all because of an injury so the midfield lineup changed a little bit from yesterday. Poole started at the D-Mid position, with Boateng playing at left mid and Barklage was on the right. Marosevic and Revivo started up front and at the back(from left to right) was Wallace, Castenada, Ogunbiyi and Russell. Frei played keeper once again because he's the only one they have.

Boateng played a nice through ball to Marosevic on a diagonal run at the top of the box who finished it past Kocic midway through the first half. Adidas Tiro tied it up about ten minutes after some nice ball movement by Maxwell. The score was 1-1 at half.

The second half lineup changed a lot, but I think they played a little better as a team than they did in the first half. Jata started the second half on the bench, but made an appearance with about 20 minutes left in the game. Boateng was subbed in with him as well. They both went back to where they were playing the first half. This time Jata played much better. He played some good balls and looked quick on his feet. The game ended with the score tied at one a piece, but I feel that both teams still weren't playing up to their full potential.
Adidas Tiro looked strong in the back and I was really impressed with George John. He looked strong, agile and seemed to have everything under control. He was also very into the game and spoke to his teammates the entire time he was on the field. Kevin Alston also impressed me from right back as he did the day before. Adidas Tunit did much better with AJ Delegarza starting the second half. but he was subbed in place of Ogunbiyi which didn't help their lack of size at defense. Delagarza looked good as he did in the first game. Talkative, calm, fit and very good with the ball. These four defenders did nothing to hurt their stock on day two. If anything, they increased it.

In the second game of the day, Adidas Predator PowerSwerve beat Adidas AdiPure 2-0, but I didn't stay for this game so I don't have much to say about it. I heard that Quicny Amarikwa scored both goals, but that the first one might have actually been an own goal off a Sam Cronin corner kick.

Hopefully the off day will give all of the players time to rest up for the final showdown on Tuesday morning. I'm looking for Jata to take over the game on day three because he has the ability to play much better, even though he's already doing more than most of the competition anyways.

Tuesday, January 13 - Matchups

9:15 AM - Adidas Predator PowerSwerve vs Adidas Tiro
11:15 AM - Adidas AdiPure vs Adidas Tunit

Day 2 of the Combine - Who Impressed?

Well, the first day of games are over and we know a little bit more about each player now. The first game between Adidas Tunit and Adidas Predator PowerSwerve ended 2-0 with Pontius scoring the first goal and Marosevic grabbing the second. The first goal was a right footed blast from approximately 20 yards out into the upper left side 24 minutes into the game. Senior or not, this kid is a first round pick no questions asked. Marosevic scored the second goal, but there really wasn't much to it. The 1st half ended with the Tunit squad up 2-0.

Jata came in for Gostmanov to start the second half, but Pontius played the entire 90 minutes. Richard played well, rarely loosing the ball. He displayed good ball skills and was quick on his feet. Jata had a chance to take a free kick from 20 yards out, but Joshua Boateng took it instead because he drew the foul. Jata then served a cross into the box from the left side to Pontius, but he didn't get enough of a head on it to get it past the opposing keeper. The game ended 2-0 with the Tunit squad dominating on both the offensive and defensive side.

Tomorrow I expect Jata to start because in my opinion he was definitely one of the best 11 players on his team. He has the skills and the pace to keep up with the rest of the players, but he brings much more to the table than the average midfielder. I am looking forward to watching him play at the combine tomorrow.

Players on the Adidas Tunit squad that DID impress were:

Chris Pontius - F
AJ Delegarza - D
Richard Jata - M
Babajide Ogunbiyi - D

Players on the Adidas Tunit squad that DIDN'T impress were:

Matt Poole - M
Daniel Revivo - F
Andrei Gostmanov - M

The second game ended 1-0 with Adidas AdiPure knocking off Adidas Tiro. The lone goal was scored by Jordan Seabrook after Jokull Elisabetarson played a brilliant thru ball over the top of the defense. Both teams had their chances to score in what seemed to be a pretty evenly matched game. For the most part the defenses on each team faired well, making it hard for both teams to score.

Tomorrow's matchups are as follows:

Sunday, January 11
3:00 PM - Adidas Tunit vs. Adidas Tiro
5:00 PM - Predator PowerSwerve vs AdiPure

2009 MLS Combine - Day 1 (Training Session)

The first day of the MLS Combine was highly beneficial to all of the players with the training session at Holiday Park lasting about two hours. The four teams went through a 10-15 min warmup followed by various drills and eventually a light scrimmage. Some of the teams played goal to goal on a small field including keepers and the other teams played without keepers.

I had the opportunity to watch all of the teams, but I focused most of my time watching Adidas Tunit. I didn't know every player on the field, but some of the players that stood out to me were Chris Pontius, Peri Marosevic and AJ Delegarza. Pontius looked strong and quick, Marosevic the same(even though he lacks the size) and Delegarza looked sharp and quick. Pav Castaneda also played well. He showed good ball control, endurance and movement on the field.

Richard Jata had good skill and control in the small sided drills and his passing was extremely accurate in the final scrimmage. Even though Jata started out slow, in my opinion he finished the day well and was one of the top performers on the field for the Tunit squad.

I was impressed by a few other players and dissapointed with some as well, but I'm hoping it was due to a lack of competition in the last two months.

Saturday will be interesting to see how the teams work together on the field because after watching them scrimmage, some of the teams were getting pretty physical with one another. Alex Gonzalez was absent for the entire training session, but I heard he was supposed to arrive in time to play on Saturday.

Overall, it was great to see all of these players training together at the same time and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, in what will be a highly anticipated first matchup between Adidas Tunit and Adidas Predator PowerSwerve at 2:30pm.

Check back in tomorrow for updates on both games!

MLS Combine Teams and Schedule Announced

Today the rosters were announced for the 4 teams set to participate at the combine this years MLS combine. Both Mike Grella and Marcus Tracy have decided not to attend, which will give others the opportunity to move their name further up the draft board. All of the teams have 18 players and 2 Generation Adidas players except for Jata's team, Adidas Tunit. They only have 17 players on the roster and 3 of them are Genration Adidas. Personally, I think they are the strongest team at the midfield an attacking positions, but their defense isn't to shabby either.

I'm interested to see how this weekend pans out, with the first game between Adidas Tunit and Adidas Preadator PowerSwerve being possibly the best game all week. Most of these players have had limited playing time in the last month or two so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it takes them a couple of days to get their game back. This would mean that the best games might come on the last day, but I don't see all of the players going hard all weekend, especially those who are highly coveted already.

I'm leaving for Ft. Lauderdale on Friday so check back in for updates on the games!

The players listed in yellow have all signed a contract with Generation Adidas.

2009 MLS Combine Teams

Adidas Tunit

Trevor Banks (Old Dominion University)

Brandon Barklage (Saint Louis University)

Josh Boateng (Liberty University)

Pav Castenada (Duke University)

AJ DeLaGarza (University of Mayland)

Stefan Frei (University of California)

Paul Gerstenberger (Boston College)

Andrei Gotsmanov (Creighton University)

Richard Jata (Campbell Univeristy)

Peri Marosevic (University of Michigan)

Babajide Ogunbiyi (Santa Clara University)

Kyle Patterson (Saint Louis University)

Chris Pontius (University of California - Santa Barbara)

Matt Poole (University of Virginia)

Daniel Revivo (Winthrop University)

Kyle Russell (Coastal Carolina University)

Rodney Wallace (University of Maryland)

Coaches - Cam Rast (University of Santa Clara) and Marc Nicholls (Greensboro Youth Soccer)

Adidas adiPure

Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason University)

Jean Alexandre (Lynn University)

Darrius Barnes (Duke University)

Matt Besler (University of Notre Dame)

Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac University)

Aaron Clapham (University of Louisville)

Raphael Cox (University of Washington)

Danny Cruz (University of Nevada Las Vegas)

Alec Dufty (University of Evansville)

Jokull Elisabetarson (University of North Carolina – Greensboro)

Juan Guerra (Florida International University)

Jeremy Hall (University of Maryland)

Neal Kitson (St. John's University)

Wes Knight (College of Charleston)

Otto Loewy (Winthrop University)

Paul Nicholson (Rio Grande University)

Jordan Seabrook (University of South Florida)

Jack Traynor (University of Notre Dame)

Coaches - Bobby Clark (University of Notre Dame) and Jeremy Alumbaugh (Springfield Soccer Club)

Adidas Predator PowerSwerve

Lyle Adams (Wake Forest University)

Quincy Amarikwa (University of California - Davis)

Rhett Bernstein (Brown University)

Evan Bush (University of Akron)

Oscar Castillo (University of Connecticut)

Sam Cronin (Wake Forest University)

Doug DeMartin (Michigan State University)

Omar Gonzalez (University of Maryland)

Jeffery Harwell (Southern Methodist University)

Bryan Irwin (University of Portland)

Keum Sung Kim (Loyola University)

Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida)

Sean Milligan (Dartmouth University)

Ryan Mirsky (Southern Methodist University)

Patrick Murray (Furman University)

Akeem Priestly (University of Connecticut)

Steve Zakuani (University of Akron)

Nick Zimmerman (James Madison University)

Coaches - Caleb Porter (University of Akron) and Bobby Muuss (University of Denver)

Adidas Tiro

Kevin Alston (Indiana University)

Calum Angus (Saint Louis University)

Evan Brown (Wake Forest University)

Steward Ceus (University of Albany)

Chris Clements (University of Tulsa)

Dylan Curtis (University of California – Davis)

Alex Grendi (University of Pennsylvania)

David Hertel (Michigan State University)

Baggio Husidic (University of Illinois - Chicago)

George John (University of Washington)

Milos Kocic (Loyola College (Md)

Michael Lahoud (Wake Forest University)

Ryan Maduro (Providence College)

Ryan Maxwell (University of Tampa)

Nick Perera (University of California - Santa Barbara)

Chris Salvaggione (UNC – Charlotte)

Ross Schunk (Redlands University)

Graham Zusi (University of Maryland)

Coaches - Chaka Daley (Providence College) and Janusz Michallik (National Director of SoccerPlus Camps)

MLS Combine Game Schedule

Saturday, January 10

2:30 PM - Predator PowerSwerve vs. Adidas Tunit (Lockhart Stadium)

4:30 PM - AdiPure vs. Adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

Sunday, January 11

3:00 PM - Adidas Tunit vs. Adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

5:00 PM - Predator PowerSwerve vs AdiPure (Lockhart Stadium)

Tuesday, January 13

9:15 AM - Predator PowerSwerve vs Adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

11:15 AM - AdiPure vs Adidas Tunit (Lockhart Stadium)

2009 MLS SuperDraft Order

Here's the official listing of all 60 draft picks. Trades are likely to happen, so expect this to change before and during the draft.

1st Round
1. Seattle Sounders FC
2. Toronto FC (from San Jose)
3. Los Angeles Galaxy
4. Toronto FC
5. FC Dallas
6. D.C. United
7. D.C. United (from Colorado)
8. Kansas City Wizards
9. Chivas USA
10. New England Revolution
11. FC Dallas (from San Jose, Houston)
12. Real Salt Lake
13. Toronto FC (from Chicago)
14. New York Red Bulls
15. New England Revolution (from Columbus)

2nd Round
16. Seattle Sounders FC
17. San Jose Earthquakes
18. FC Dallas (from Los Angeles)
19. Chivas USA (from Toronto)
20. Colorado Rapids (from FC Dallas)
21. D.C. United
22. Kansas City Wizards (from Colorado)
23. Kansas City Wizards
24. New England Revolution (from Los Angeles, Chivas USA)
25. New England Revolution
26. D.C. United (from Houston)
27. FC Dallas (from Salt Lake)
28. Chicago Fire
29. New York Red Bulls
30. Columbus Crew

3rd Round
31. Seattle Sounders FC
32. San Jose Earthquakes
33. Los Angeles Galaxy
34. Toronto FC
35. Colorado Rapids (from Dallas)
36. D.C. United
37. Colorado Rapids
38. New England Revolution (from Kansas City)
39. Toronto FC (from Dallas, Chivas USA)
40. New England Revolution
41. Houston Dynamo
42. Kansas City Wizards (from Salt Lake)
43. Chicago Fire
44. New York Red Bulls
45. Columbus Crew

4th Round
46. Seattle Sounders FC
47. Colorado Rapids (from San Jose)
48. Los Angeles Galaxy
49. Los Angeles Galaxy (from Toronto)
50. Kansas City Wizards (from Dallas)
51. Colorado Rapids (from D.C. United)
52. Chicago Fire (from Colorado)
53. Kansas City Wizards
54. Real Salt Lake (from Chivas USA)
55. New England Revolution
56. Houston Dynamo
57. Real Salt Lake
58. Chicago Fire
59. Colorado Rapids (from New York Red Bull)
60. Columbus Crew

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (Highlight Video)

Well, January is finally here and the combine is only a week away. Even though Jata hasn't been recognized as a top prospect, I still think he has a chance to be first round selection. Jata has pace, he reads the game incredibly well, he creates opportunities for others and he knows how to score. What some people may not know is that Jata has some of the best ball skills I've seen at the college level. In the past few weeks I have had the chance to witness this first hand. I'm eager to watch him play at the combine because I really want to see him take on some of the best college players in the country. I'm also interested in seeing the look on people's faces when he proves to all the doubters that he can ball with the best of them.

Check back next Saturday for an update on his progress at the combine. I will posting something new after each game.

For a list of the Top 50 Midfielders by Buzz Carrick from 3rddegree.net click here!

Oh, and here's the final Highlight Video I just finished. Enjoy!