FRISCO, Texas -- Earlier in the week, FC Dallas satisfied one area of need when the club acquired left-sided midfielder Dave van den Bergh from New York. In the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, the Hoops looked to address other issues, specifically adding some depth to their front and backlines. With their three picks, FCD accomplished both goals.
With the fifth overall pick, the Hoops chose Michigan striker Peri Marosevic, a Generation adidas player. Nine choices later at No. 14, FCD selected George John, a defender from Washington who spent much of his collegiate career in the midfield before switching to center back at the combine. And with the 27th overall pick, the Hoops made their final pick of the day, taking another striker in North Carolina's Brian Shriver.
"We entered the draft knowing exactly what we wanted," said FCD president/general manager Michael Hitchcock. "The coaches had done a lot of scouting during the year. The combine is the last opportunity to take a look at those players that you identified during the year. We went in knowing that we wanted to add a top-notch striker with a ton of potential, strengthen the back line by bringing in one of the top center backs and then just trying to add some additional depth up top."
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Marosevic is a 19-year-old forward, who in his final season with the Wolverines earned First-Team All-Big 10 Conference honors after leading his team in scoring for the third consecutive year, scoring 13 goals.
"With the first pick, Peri was the guy," Hitchcock said. "We went, analyzed all the strikers coming out, ranked them and he was No. 1 on our list. We're very happy that we got him at the No. 5 pick. Because of the great combine that he had, we weren't sure he was going to be there at five. So we were discussing moving up to ensure that we could get him because he meant that much to us. Fortunately, we read the draft right, we didn't have to give anything up and got our player. So we're very happy with that."
Hitchcock feels that there isn't any reason why Marosevic can't contribute to the FCD attack immediately.
"I think he's a player with the experience of playing for the Under-20 team, which he's been called up to," he said. "He's a player that certainly can come in and contribute right away. He's got two great strikers that he's going to be able to learn from in Kenny Cooper and Jeff Cunningham. We think it's the perfect place to take the next step in his career and to learn and develop. We certainly expect him to contribute and are going to need him to contribute. He's got a ton of upside and will just keep getting better and better."
FCD's second pick, John, is a 6-foot-4 former holding midfielder who earned first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference honors in his last two seasons with the Huskies.
"At the No. 14 pick, George John is one of the players that we identified as a top center back coming out for our team," Hitchcock said. "Once again, we were very excited that he was still there at 14 and we were able to pick him up. We look at the first round and think we got exactly what we were looking for."
One concern with John was a recent knee injury that limited him as a senior at Washington. However, that ailment is of no concern for FCD.
"We had done our homework," Hitchcock said. "He did have an injury and that's something that you have to look into. But at the combine, he probably wasn't 100 percent but was still the best center back there. He's played in the middle of the field, so he's got good feet, good vision and is a good passer. But he's absolutely dominant in the air because of his size, reads the game well and is a good organizer. We feel like he's got all the tools to be a successful center back."
Shriver was a player who helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup. He had the only goal in UNC's upset win against defending national champion and ACC rival Wake Forest in the national semifinal to send Carolina to the championship game, where they lost to Maryland.
"In the second round, we were able to add Brian Shriver, a great striker who just played at Pizza Hut Park with UNC," Hitchcock said. "He can play on the flank and is a player who will add some depth to our team."
Even though Shriver wasn't among those invited to the MLS Player Combine, Hitchcock and the FCD brass still liked what they had seen and drafted him any way.
"In our scouting of Division I college soccer, he was a player that we had identified," he said. "We were surprised that he wasn't invited to the combine and aren't sure of exactly why he wasn't invited in. He had a good year and his team had a lot of success. We got a chance to see him quite a bit. If he was in the combine, we wouldn't have been able to pick him up at No. 27. We think there's a ton of potential there and he would have gone much higher. We're lucky that he didn't come out to the combine. I know he was frustrated with that but he's ecstatic that we used our second-round pick on him."
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