I think I’m posting this a little later than promised. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. (Translation: I fell asleep on the couch before I finished writing.)

The games at two out of three combines I’ve attended have been great on the first day, OK on the second day, and lousy on the last day. This time it was lousy on the first day, great on the second day, and OK on the last day. Well, actually, that second game between the Dark Blues (DBs) and the Light Blues (LBs) was fairly lousy.

The combine felt like it was effectively over before kickoff. And it was obvious from watching the coaches that many of the important decisions had already been made. Team staffs seemed to break with their usual practices of the last two days. If they were all sitting together by the field (like New England) now they were talking with other teams and joking around by the field. If they were all sitting separately in various parts of the stadium (DC United) they were all now assembled together at midfield.

(Speaking of DC United, Nowak and Kasper kept sneaking smokes under the bleachers like a couple of schoolboys hiding from the principal.)

Near my vantage point Preki was holding court over the Chivas camp. I don’t think he shut-up for a single moment the morning, and as far as I could tell he wasn’t talking about soccer the entire time. I think the man could have a second career as a standup comic.

Not every operation was in “get it over and get out of town” mode. The RSL camp was notably insular. While everyone else was chatting and back-slapping and deal-making, Ellinger and company were all alone watching the games in the stands. Tell you the truth, the RSL staff seemed particularly insular throughout the combine.

There’s very little to say from Sunday that hasn’t already been noted in my previous reports. As the song goes: “if you don’t know me by now …”

But Yura Movsisyan finally started to make an impression on me on the last day. He notched one nice goal (though in MLS he wouldn’t have had all the time he took to make the shot) and he almost got another with a long range rocket that banged off the crossbar. I suppose he’s not a well known player, but he’s a guy I’d take a late round chance on. (Contrary to reports elsewhere, my notes say he was assisted by Ianni.)

At central defense Veris continued to play well; he’s gone up in my book everyday. On the other hand, Noreiga seemed to be having an off-day. His passing was pretty miserable at times. Ianni has a quiet quality about his game. I mean that in two ways. First, he’s a very good player, but there’s nothing ostentatious about his game. It’s simple and understated – quiet quality. Second, he’s also very quiet. He does his thing and does it well, but he doesn’t communicate with anyone on his line. That’s a flaw in his game and one he’ll need to fix if he hopes to make a name for himself in MLS.

I’ve seen solid defensive mid performances at past combines. Jeff Carroll blows all those performances out of the water. He’s in a somewhat different class. I’m pretty sure he’s practiced with DC United in the past, and maybe those experiences helped him develop that little something extra. On Sunday he moved around the field quite a bit – right back, central midfield. He’s alright in the back and maybe he’d develop quickly into a formidable right back with a little time. However, if I wanted to draft a defensive midfielder there’s no question in my mind he’s the guy I’d choose. (And then I’d send him to the weight room to bulk up.)

Drew Helm played up top on Sunday. I guess that’s where he played in college, but I prefer him on the wing. I’m guessing that’s where most MLS coaches would put him too. Actually, he could probably be converted into a pretty decent wingback also. He’s certainly got the speed.

Willie Sims has been less and less impressive each day. He’s also really, really slow. Still, for some reason I think Steve Sampson will draft him. He’s his “kind” of pick.

Dax McCarty continues to go up in my eyes. He played right wing for the most part and he’s worked his way into my list of interesting wingers who are worth a high pick.

I’m also pretty confident at this point that Justin Moore will be a very solid MLS player.

Lastly, I looked for it, but I don’t see the “the there, there” in Plotkin. Other than the occasional long range shot I don’t think he’s contributed much.

The first game ended 1-0 for the Greens courtesy of the man from Azerbaijan.

The second game ended 2-1, but with quality of play deteriorating as it was I’m not sure it’s worth reading too much into the player performances there. A few players, it seemed, were getting desperate to make some final impression, other players looked like they’d already spent whatever they had, and still other players were going at half-speed because they knew they’d already done what they needed to do. All in all it was a pretty ugly game.

I believe it was Sturgis who scored the first goal off a free kick. It was weak kick, but somehow it managed to dribble its way through some incompetent defending and into the goalmouth. I believe the term is “campfire defense.”

I’m really not feeling it for Bertz and Wahl. I think this draft is pretty deep at central defense, and I wouldn’t be inclined to take either of them.

Altidore was stuck on the left in midfield on Sunday. And other than “take up space” and “look lost” he did diddly-squat in that position. Altidore is a forward. Play him up top or don’t bother playing him at all.

Wynne came in during the second half and relieved some of the tediousness of this match. Assisting Hashimoto on a quality goal was a nice bonus. It’ll be a genuine shock if he’s not the first pick in the draft.

Calen Carr finished up the day with a goal assisted by Lancos.

I’ll post a final assessment of the combine in the next day or two.