Day 2 of the 2017 MLS Player Combine brought both the Pineapple Express and some quality play out of central midfield. Here's what I saw at the StubHub Center in Carson, California...
Stock Up: Joe Holland
Holland, an England-born midfielder who played collegiately at Hofstra, was a late invite to the Combine. If he has one more performance on Thursday like he did on Tuesday, he will be an early draft pick.
The 23-year-old -- he turns 24 in April, and so is a couple of years older than most of the other guys at the Combine -- was simply exquisite in running central midfield for team Tango. He's a very two-footed, classic English central midfielder in that he's neither a pure creator nor a pure No. 6, and he's able to help out on both sides of the ball. But what really impressed was his comfort receive possession under pressure and finding a way to turn out of traffic and put his wide midfielders into good positions without breaking stride.
Holland was under-the-radar good in the first game on Sunday. There was nothing under the radar about what he did on Tuesday, however.
He's an international, which will make it difficult for some teams to spend a pick on him. But for those with slots to burn, Holland's ready-made skillset and on-field maturity are worth the pick.
Stock Up: Zeiko Lewis
The frontrunner for Combine MVP at this point given his goalscoring exploits and ability to change the game on and off the ball. The big question was whether he'd be able to both keep his team's shape and push the defense deeper with his off-the-ball work, and he's answered both in the affirmative. Lewis has been, from the first moment he's on the pitch to the moment he's subbed off, a handful.
That, of course, is what people need to see from the Bermudan speedster. Everybody knows he has individual, 1-v-1 and athletic gifts, but nobody was quite sure that he'd be able to bring that all to bear in such a haphazard setting.
He was probably going to be picked in the late teens heading into the Combine, but he's climbed up draft boards to the point where he may end up flirting with the top 10. As with Holland his international status works against him, but for the right team he's pretty clearly the right pick.
Stock Up: Colton Storm
Right back is one of the more stacked positions at this event and given that Chris Odoi-Atsem and Jakob Nerwinski have both been solid with excellent measurables, Storm had to stand out. He managed to do so for Team Chaos despite their continued struggles.
In the first 45 minutes on Tuesday Storm was flawless defensively against a series of clever, elusive attackers while adding value both in possession and in attack on the overlap. Whether it was switching fields or sending runners through, Storm looked the part of a solid, mistake-free, no-frills right back.
In the second 45 he looked like a guy who should never, under any circumstances, play left back. And that's fine -- he's not going to be drafted as a left back, so it's probably a good thing for coaches to get a re-confirmation that he can't really play there. But that doesn't take any shine off of what he accomplished in the first half at his preferred position.
Stock Down: Eric Klenofsky
The No. 1-rated goalkeeper coming into the Combine had a shocker for Team Control. He had two shots -- one in each half -- slip through his hands, and was lucky he wasn't punished on either. And on the first goal he conceded it has to be asked..
Klenofsky didn't help himself at all on Tuesday.
Stock Down: Jacori Hayes
On Day 1 he was played as a d-mid, was mostly anonymous, and folks said "well that's not his position." On Day 2 he was played further up in central midfield, was once again mostly anonymous, and now the whispers have gotten louder: "What is his position, anyway?"
This Combine is filled with tiny, elusive attackers, and many of them are putting on a show. Zeiko Lewis has been excellent, but might not even be the best "Lewis" here (that'd be Jonathan Lewis, the Generation adidas winger from Akron); Daniel Johnson stole the show on Day 1 and was once again effective on Day 2; Niko Hansen was the dude who put Klenofsky into that blender; and young Adonijah Reid has looked full of potential when on the field.
Hayes is probably competing with those guys on draft boards and he hasn't looked up to it. He'll need a better showing on Day 3 to make a good last impression.
