Atlanta United has the fifth pick in Thursday’s MLS draft and no possibilities are being ruled out, vice president Carlos Bocanegra said.
The club could keep the pick and go for a position of need or take the best available player. It could trade down and try to do the same things. It must also take into account which players are Generation Adidas and which are seniors because they will impact the roster differently. In addition to the fifth pick, the club will have the 32nd pick in the second round and the 59th pick in the third round.
“Trying to take all those factors into account for building roster now and for the future,” Bocanegra said.
The team is in an odd position. It hasn’t had a selection this high since its first draft in 2017 when it selected second. That pick was Miles Robinson. Secondly, like most teams in MLS, Atlanta United doesn’t have the best success rate with its picks. Robinson and Julian Gressel, who was selected eighth by the club that year, and Jon Gallagher, selected in the first round in 2018, are the only selections of 12 from the past four drafts who are still in the league. Robinson and Philip Goodrum, selected 75th in last year’s draft, are the only two picks still with the club.
The remaining picks, a group that includes Anderson Asiedu, Gordon Wild, Oliver Shannon and Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu are either in the USL or scattered.
Adding to the challenge, the ACC was the only major college conference to play soccer last fall because of COVID-19. MLS teams are left to rely on last year’s scouting reports, combined with projections, on most of the eligible draft picks.
In another COVID-19 effect, the league didn’t hold a full combine for possible draft picks, which is something it has done in the past either in Florida or California so that teams could come and scout the players in controlled scrimmages. The league did hold a much smaller combine in Kansas City just after the regular season that allowed teams to meet players.
Lastly, some players are being tagged as Homegrowns by clubs, which takes them out of the draft and reduces the talent pool for selection. Atlanta United, for example, on Tuesday signed Machop Chol as a Homegrown. Chol was a member of Atlanta United’s academy before matriculating at Wake Forest. Had he not signed with Atlanta United, he likely would have been selected in the first round. Signing him, in effect, gave the team two first-round draft picks, Bocanegra said.
“It definitely was more challenging,” Bocanegra said of preparing for the draft.
Atlanta United’s selections in MLS SuperDraft
Here are Atlanta United’s selections from the past four drafts:
2017
2. Miles Robinson, with Atlanta United
8. Julian Gressel, traded to D.C. United before 2020 season
46. Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, now with Sacramento in USL
68. Alex Kapp, unknown
2018
14. Jon Gallagher, traded to Austin following the 2020 season
36. Oliver Shannon, plays in Cymru (Wales) Premier League
37. Gordon Wild, unsigned — having also been with D.C. United and L.A. Galaxy
70, Paul Christensen, with Greensville in USL League One
2019
24. Anderson Asiedu, now with Birmingham in USL
48. Amir Bashti, unsigned after being released by Atlanta United 2 following 2020 season
2020
23. Patrick Nielsen, released by Atlanta United 2 following season
75. Phillip Goodrum, with Atlanta United 2
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