Revs 2014 Roster Thread

Donnie Smith?

 

I knew I was forgetting someone. So Smith at LW and I'll move Davies to the RW, since I have no real idea where he'll end up.

So this is the depth chart as I see it.

25 players

GK - Knighton, Shuttleworth, Soffner
RB - Farrell, Alston
CB(2) - Goncalves, McCarthy, Soares, Barnes
LB - Tierney, Woodbine
DM - Dorman, Del Piccolo, Sundly
CM(2) - Nguyen, Rowe, Caldwell, Neumann
RM/RW - Sene, Davies
LM/LW - Fagundez, Smith
FWD - Imbongo, Bengtson, Mullins

Honestly, I'm not sure where Mullins ends up. He was a forward at Maryland, but I heard a couple different people say that midfield is his most likely spot going forward. We still need a starting FWD, RW, and DM. The rest looks pretty solid with depth.

 

Roster wise, they're actually in a bit better shape than I thought.

Including Sundly and the the other players they've already got under contract, that's 25 players. They'll probably only go to 28 players, so that they can pocket an extra $75,000 in allocation money. I have to figure that Soffner, Smith, Sundly, and whoever they take in the 3rd round are Rochester-bound.

If you estimate new deals for Goncalves, Davies, Alston, and Barnes, and give the rest of the roster a 5% increase, that should mean they're roughly $450,000 under the cap.

They SHOULD be able to spend around $550,000 on two players, though. Each player they sign would bump another player down to the off-budget roster. For example, if they sign a forward for $300,000, then O'Brian Woodbine's ~$50,000 would be shifted to the off-budget roster for a total cap difference of $250,000.

And if everything works out this summer, they can dump Bengtson and spend what ever they get for a transfer fee on a DP for whatever position becomes a problem.

 

They made a point of needing to use all 30 roster spots last year because of the affiliate agreement with Rochester and needing to loan 4 players there. I suspect they will do the same thing this year as well.

 

The only change I would make is Alston to LB and Woodbine to RB. I think Heaps is committed to Alston's switch to the left and Woodbine plays primarily on the right, especially for the national team.

This isn't too shabby of depth chart and it's really just 2 proven international players (CDM and CF) away from looking pretty damn competitive for 2014.

 

Well, as fans we could be charitable and say the Revs haven't gone a whole offseason without making *some* new signings in recent years:

2010: Niouky (ugh), Perovic [trialist]
2011: Domi, Dabo, Coria, Augustine (can't believe that was their first attempt at a rebuild, in hindsight)
2012: Lozano, Cardenas, Sene [trialist], Moreno (double ugh)
2013: Cisse, Dorman, Goncalves

 

Looking at that it appears that the past couple years they have tried to address the right spots, but with varied success on getting the right player. So I'm tempted to start trusting that between Heaps and Burns they have a clear vision of what they want the team to be and what type of players they need to get to complete that vision. They are still in the "proving it" stage for the task of executing that vision through player aquisition. Goncalves, Sene, and to a lesser extent, Dorman buys the FO some additional time to show me. But if the organization doesn't find a way to step up and adequately address the opportunity to push this team into real contention, I'll be disappointed.

Lozano was supposed to be the Goncalves, experienced centerback to lead the young guys. Didn't work out.
Cardenas seemed to have been looked at as the type of player that Fagundez became in 2013. But he didn't have the field vision to be as effective as hoped.
Sene seems to be a happy accident in that he doesn't fit perfectly into the team design being neither a true back-to-goal forward nor a real winger, but he has some quality that can make a difference so he found a spot.
Moreno was supposed to be the target forward that Agudelo was. Strong enough and skilled enough to be a single pivot for both the long and short game. Showed signs at times (limited) of this ability to be this player, but just was a headcase mentally from before he arrived and was never going to work out here. We are again looking for this kind of player (I hope).

Cisse was supposed to be the hard tackling, tempo-setting DM that was Shalrie at his best and he had/has the credentials to think he would be successful. It didn't work and I'm not sure what the cause was as we didn't see enough of him in that position. We are still looking for this type of player (I hope).
Dorman gives some experience and depth at the CM spots. His biggest contributions may be in setting the tone of professionalism in practice and the locker room along with the handful of other veterans (Goncalves, Tierney).
Goncalves is the experienced CB with leadership skills that Lozano should have been to mentor and lead a young defensive side. He's worked out great and stepped nicely into this role.

 

Added Lechner and Runstrom as they were signed as trialist in preseason. I suspect they will sign one international player this preseason

 

That rule went away last year:
http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations

 

With the departure of Toja, and Fagundez getting his green card, I count 5 internationals on the roster, leaving us 3 open slots.

International slots:
Bengtson
Goncalves
Imbongo
Sene
Woodbine
6
7
8

Five open roster spots, one as-yet-to-be-made draft pick, leaves 4 spots up for grabs in camp.

 

There was similar talk about 2fast2farrell last year - he was best at centerback, yet he played well and helped the team most at fullback.

But, if he, like Caldwell as well, provide any kind of example, I think Heaps will be looking to fit Mullins and Neumann in where the team has needs - not necessarily in what may be perceived as their best positions.

I think Mullins will battle with Imbongo, Davies and Bengtson for time up top and Neumann will be trying to insert himself into a pretty fluid/flexible combination of attacking midfielders (Fagundez, Nguyen, Rowe, Sene).

Caldwell, Dorman, Sundry (if he's not in Rochester) and Del Piccolo will battle for minutes at dmid (although Caldwell and Del Piccolo might figure in the attacking mid group if there's any room).

Woodbine, Alston, McCarthy and Barnes will be trying to crack into last year's defense.

- there should be some mighty intense battles for p.t.
- I don't think this is going to be a team that fields a lineup that fits neatly into "positions". They'll have somewhat-defined roles, for sure, but I think Heaps will be rolling out groups of attackers, attacker/defenders and defenders.

 

"Charlie Davies will not be wearing No. 99 this season. Instead, he’s cutting his number in half – he’ll go with just No. 9 in 2014.

As for two MLS veterans who have joined the team, Paolo DelPiccolo will wear No. 3, while Brad Knighton – who wore No. 24 in his first go-round with the Revs – will don #18 this time.

The team’s top two draft picks have also selected their numbers. Steve Neumann will be No. 4, while Patrick Mullins will wear No. 7."​

http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/blog/post/2014/01/22/numbers-game

 

Get me to Friday... I can't wait to see that list of random players trialing!

 

Maybe arithmetically. Geomterically, if you cut 99 in half, you're left with 9

 

Not sure if the Revs actually put thought into the numbers, but given the numbers given to Neumann, Mullins and Davies would lead you to believe they expect them to play a decent role this season.

 

Last season these numbers were given to Kalifa Cisse, Juan Toja, and Chad Barrett. I don't think we can say they had anywhere near significant roles last season.

EDIT: That said, I do think that all three are at least envisioned to have bigger roles than their "predecessors" for the upcoming season.

 

I also think that the Revs had high expectations for Cisse and Toja going into the season. Both started and played significant minutes early in the season before falling out of favor.

 

And Assengue had #9

 

Good point, you're right. Both were starters in the first month or so.

 

FYI preseason roster incl. trialists will be available "tomorrow evening" (1/24) on the roster tab on revolutionsoccer.net

 

Thanks for your two recent posts. Anything you can do to regularly post factual data to leaven the fanciful gruel that we call a "discussion" would be greatly appreciated.

 

Perovic in Foxborough? Marko don't tease us! #NErevs http://t.co/a5AEFVCSiw

— The Rebellion (@NERebellion) January 24, 2014

Hmm...