Ten Worst: Draft picks (Part 2)
September 29, 2005
5) Matt Knowles: 9th (Inaugural), 1996
The self-proclaimed "Pele of indoor soccer", Knowles was the first ever draft pick in Metro history. The man picked after Knowles, Raul Diaz Arce, tore up the league for a few years, while Matt failed to adjust to the outdoor game and was shipped to Miami after two and a half forgettable seasons.
4) Troy Dayak: 19th (Inaugural), 1996
Ten picks after Knowles, the Metros picked another defender, Dayak. Unfortunately, they failed to do their homework, as Dayak made it known that he would not play for any team that is not San Jose. Metro promptly dealt him to the Clash for Rhett Harty, and although we all loved "Mr. Clean", Dayak lasted in MLS until 2005, while Rhett only played three seasons.
3) Mansour Ndiaye: 7th, 2002
When talking about players who did not show up, Ndiaye joins Dayak at the top of the list. The Metros drafted the UConn product even after a terrible combine, and he decided to go to law school as opposed to playing soccer. Nick Sakiewicz played down his departure, telling MetroFanatic, "I don't see very many draft picks making MLS rosters this year, the talent pool is just not so good". The next pick was Kyle Martino, and Shalrie Joseph was taken 14th.
2) Edmundo Rodriguez: 2nd (Supplemental), 1996
"Edsucko", as he is forever known as, is considered the worst player in Metro history. The Metros made a number of moves to get the top two positions of the supplemental draft, taking Nicola Caricola with the first, and Rodriguez with the second. While Caricola had his ups and downs in his lone season with Metro, "Hairball", Edsucko's other nickname, stunk up the field like no other, and was sent packing after eleven forgettable games.
1) Steve Shak: 1st, 2000
However, nothing can match the ineptitude of Zambrano in drafting Shak, the stick figure out of UCLA who was taken first overall in the league's first SuperDraft. Octavio knew Shak from youth teams, but the Metros could have easily taken him much later in the draft as he was not on anyone's top list; in fact, they spurred trade offers that would have yielded multiple picks (while Bob Bradley traded two Fire first-rounders to LA for DaMarcus Beasley). Perhaps the deepest draft in league history saw Nick Garcia (2nd), Carlos Bocanegra (4th), Danny Califf (6th), Sasha Victorine (11th), and Bobby Convey (12th) headline a long list of players to make an impact in MLS and beyond. Shak played a season and a half with Metro, was mostly useless, was dealt to Colorado, played in the A-League, and became a scab during 2005's US national team labor dispute.
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