Patrick Mullins makes big impact at MLS Player Combine

Day 2 of the 2014 MLS Player Combine has concluded, and one player that upped his stock dramatically has been Patrick Mullins. A winner of the last two MAC Hermann Trophies, Mullins hails from the University of Maryland, known for being a pipeline for MLS talent.

The big question that has to be asked is where he will be placed in the eleven when he is drafted this week.

“Where do you play him?” said one MLS scout to MLSSoccer.com’s Matthew Doyle. “Can he fight inside the 18? Is he fast enough to play outside? If you play him in a 4-4-2, does he give you enough in possession?”

Perhaps the answer to those questions lie in Mullins himself. He scored in the 1-1 draw between adiZero and NitroCharge.

“I can be a target forward sometimes, I can battle in the air, I can drift out wide and send in crosses,” Mullins said of his abilities. “But I think the most important thing to me is to make sure I’m setting up and knowing where the goal is at all times so that the ball ends up in the back of the net.

“I think any player here would tell you we want to go as high as you can. You want to show your best, show the coaches of every team what you can do out here.”

“Playing out there with him today was fun. He’s a great forward, and just a great player,” said Georgetown’s Steve Neumann, who was on the adiZero team with Mullins. “With a forward like that, he gives you lots of options, because he can run the channels, but then he can make a play with his back to the goal. And he scores.”

In a straw poll of players at the combine, Graham Zusi was considered the best player in the league, while Lionel Messi was named the best in the world.

3 votes: Graham Zusi (Sporting KC)
2 votes: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
1 vote: Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Dom Dwyer (Sporting KC), Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC?), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)