Aside for Philly and perhaps Montral I feel a lot of the Eastern Conference has improved significantly.
I don't think we're favorites, but we have the roster to make a run at the shield. One more starting caliber player at pretty much any position on the backline and Ill think we're the favorites.
If we do get aj back will that be good enough or should we be bringing in someone else to improve the df
I hope the club's front office thinks the answer is a clear "No." There are still areas for improvement. They can make the playoffs and can be a contender as they are, but the defence is a problem, it would be great to have another left sided midfielder, wide play in general is lacking, and more depth would be nice. The fact that everyone will be at their best when playing the Revs will make it more difficult.
Opinions on this board vary, but for me, AJ is not good enough. He's gotten smarter both positionally, and with the ball, but does not have great feet or speed, and is a below average 1v1 defender by MLS standards. Farrell isn't as experienced as AJ in the center, but for me has a much higher upside. For us to win a championship, we need to pick up a really strong defender either in the center or on the right side.
This may usually be true, but since the OP asked about the Shield, note that Seattle won the 2014 Supporters Shield having allowed 50 goals, tied with NY for the most by any playoff team. Having said that, I agree our defense could use some work. Our roster is not good enough: 1. As long as Bengtson is still drawing a paycheck/taking up a DP slot 2. We still have 6 unused international slots 3. We've got about 8 empty roster slots
I'm not holding my breath about signing an international, so Im hoping that someday in the next month we hear about some absurd trade where we've traded 3 or 4 international spots for a starting fullback and a 1st rounder.
is the Alston, Hall, Farrell, JoGo, Tierney rotation better than the Alston, Farrell, Soares, JoGo Tierney rotation? is moving JJ back to the back line the right move? Will Rowe bounce back? Can Diego pull the splinters out of his ass and get some PT?s? Can davies and JA get on the field at the same time? We saw that best that this team can do and it failed. Have they made enough upgrades to win it all? I say no. I think this team is basically the same as last year New faces in new positions but I don't think they climbed up the ladder another rung
They were good enough to win MLS Cup. Another impact summertime addition and they should be in that hunt (perhaps even without that). They were a goal away. Yet it's hard to see this team rolling for eight months and taking the Shield.
adding Agudelo is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade. Davies is a very good striker but a) not as creative and b) of unknown durability. I think Seattle is the team to beat for the shield, we'll probably finish 5 points off them or so, assuming JJ, Agudelo, Lee and Goncalves are healthy.
The defense still needs sorting out if we are to find our way back to the cup game. This is very apparent to me.
I agree, but now he has to prove he still has the goods. If he really has higher aspirations, the Revs should see someone playing lights out. That is good for us!
I heard Iker Casillas was looking to move to MLS a couple weeks ago. I think that obvious of an upgrade over BS would be enough.... food for thought. Our spine is incredible... JA, LN, JJ... Caldwell improves every game.. Farrell has a long career ahead of him. Maybe Tierney will learn how to run faster. Seems like Heaps is getting excited for Hall at RB. Would love to have Soares back, but I dont think re-aquiring him is where we should focus. Theres gotta be a reason Donnie Smith keeps getting resigned... I hope and pray for a big year from him.
I'm starting to believe that last year's MLS is not this year's, meaning, the league has gotten better on paper and we must improve our roster more to keep pace and have a chance to make it back to the dance.
I remember reading sometime in the last month that the new CBA was expected to cut rosters back to 24 so that average salary could increase. We're currently at 22, so depending on the CBA we could very well be near the roster limit. A trialist better than a supplemental draft pick would be a good start though. I think we're favorites to get back to the Cup (not win it). IMO we have the best team in the East hands down and I'll be disappointed if we don't have the 1 seed going into the playoffs. As far as the Shield, we have as good a shot as anyone. The Sounders haven't made any big additions, LA lost Donovan and are only getting Gerrard for half this season. I like our chances better than RSL or FCD, though I do expect KC to bounce back strong this year. Maybe this will be the year TFC actually stops sucking? I don't know, IMO we have as good a shot as anyone, and playing in the East is only going to help us.
I think I will go ahead and say on paper TFC is the best in the east with what they've done this offseason. But to get back to your point, the Revs should be one of the favorites to get out of the East, whether they do or not is anyone's guess. My early guess is they won't.
We will lose some players to USMNT games during the middle of the regular season. This could impact our point total. There are two new teams in the East, in theory this should help us get more points. We play NYCFC really early in the season (easy points), then twice later (including the last week if the season). There is no real relation in player production from one season to another for any player on the Revs roster at this point. We are either too young or do not have enough year to year data. Jones has been here a half season, how will he survive real travel, real temps, call ups , and contract uncertainty? Nguyen is trending up, but can it continue? Fagundez was up in 2013, down in 2014, what does 2015 bring? Any changes since he aligned with Uruguay? Is JoGo happy and ready/capable of playing at 2013 level or better? Davies has had one good season. Can he build on this? Can he stay healthy? Rowe is very inconsistent, can he find consistently good form? Will Caldwell continue to improve? If yes, will he become a leader/difference maker this season? Will Juan Agudelo pick up where he left off in MLS 2013 or will he fall short of expectations? How will Farrell do in a new position? How will Hall do at RB? Will Teal, Andy, Kobayashi, and BS be able to repeat or exceed last season's contributions? Will Alston stay healthy? Will Neumann get as many appearances? How will he look? Will he improve? How much can Okoli contribute? I have faith in him. Will Barnes still be able to fill some holes? Should he be upgraded? How about Donnie Smith? Will he get on the field after week one? Is he developing? Will Chris Tierney remain a metronome of predictability? Will his form slip as he ages? Will we ever hear anything about Shalrie? Sure, he is probably retired, but their has been radio silence. This team has a lot of players who can play a role on a very competitive MLS team. Will these players meet their potential? Will they deliver? Will they stay healthy? Will they stay focused? What is this team without Jones? Nguyen? Agudelo? Goncalves? What is the depth like for the spine of this team? Suppose the Revs do find a way to win MLS Cup or Supporter's Shield. Will the shortened off season prevent them from putting together a team that can go deep in the Champions League? Would they care? Are they thinking, at all, about 2016 now? They should be. If the roster size comes down, how many players on the cut list for other teams would be an upgrade to existing players in NE? How many are better than Donnie Smith, Barnes, Bengston, Hall, Okoli? How many could contribute at the same level (or close) to Dorman and Kobayashi for a longer period?
I don't see how it could. That would leave 20 players from which to choose your game-day 18. Only 3 injuries and you don't have enough.