Chris Klute is headed to Columbus Crew. That will definitely improve his game. How much is another question.
I think the relevance of the MLS draft in the league hits its swan song this year. I think Shelton is as good a shout as any for potential ROY. Im gonna go with Bono in the nets for TFC though. The real tragedy is this goalkeeping class is pretty much incredible, and there are some guys I wish would be getting a chance that will be fighting for an MLS roster spot. Wolverton, Edwards, and Richey have yet to be drafted and all have the capacity to be starters in this league, and we will see what happens on the 20th who goes where, if at all. Realistically these guys and Miller are going to have to wait for their chance, but it has the capacity.......i emphasize the capacity, to restart the generation of solid MLS goalkeepers that we remember in Reis, Hartman, Busch, Thorton, Cannon and a chance for some real revitalization at the position and a breath of fresh air we have not seen in some time. Also, while not a rookie by any means, this could be Bingham's time to shine.......especially given San Jose has done practically nothing to improve their squad. He could be getting peppered often this year.
The transfer window is far from over. Kinnear's very likely to have plans up his sleeve, though they'll most likely be inexpensive plans, of course.
Powers is Italian but Zusi isn't, ha! Actually, think him leaving MLS wouldn't be bad since he is stuc on that Rapids team at the moment.
Has there been any other year MLS has had so many international and USMNT stars playing in one season? Jones, Bradley, Altidore, Dempsey, Mix, OG, Besler, etc.. Plus Villa, Gerrard, Kaka, Keane, Cubo Torres and Giovinco has reportedly signed. MLS 3.0 will be fun
No Chivas! It's already been improved! Now we'll just have to wait and see if NYCFC turns out to be Chivas 2.0...
Zusi, of course, is Albanian................................. Having an Albanian passport does him no good, however, as Albania isn't a member of the EU.
Another team that quite interestingly has done almost nothing this off-season is FC Dallas. The have a ton of roster slots, cap space, etc. They've purged Hendry Thomas, Raul Fernandez, Andres Escobar, Peter Luccin, Adam Moffatt, George John and a bunch of other high-salary players..............and have replaced them with???? Dan Kennedy is about it. If folks a looking for a team that'll make some big noise in the next few weeks, it'll be FCD. They have a lot of work to do. There are a ton of holes on that roster right now.
Will Johnson and Diego Chara are both more #8 type midfielders rather than #6 type midfielders. They somehow managed to form a good partnership in 2013, but in 2014 there were times when they both ventured too far forward and that contributed to the defensive woes the Timbers suffered early in the season (a severe lack of descent healthy centerbacks also contributed). Will Johnson in particular didn't look as sharp as he had in 2013. When Johnson was injured late in the season, Ben Zemanski took his place. Zemanski is athletic and hard-working but has limited technical skills. He was also more defensive-minded than Johnson, taking on more of a #6 role rather than venturing forward. Him staying back to to defend freed up Chara to roam around(something that Chara does very well) without worrying that he was leaving behind a defensive weakness. Some Timbers fans have commented that the team actually looked better with Zemanski playing than it had with Johnson, even though Johnson is more skilled and a better player overall. Out of the 7 games that Zemanski started last season, the Timbers had 4 wins and 3 draws. The idea of Besler is that he can take on the defensive-minded #6 role that Zemanski played last season. Unlike Zemanski, Besler also seems to have a descent level of technical skill and vision allowing him to be more of a distributor from the back rather than being a purely defensive player. In theory, Besler should be just the sort of player the Timbers need in the midfield. In practice, only time will tell whether the Besler experiment will work out and if Caleb Porter is going to be willing to trust an untested rookie with significant amounts of playing time.
Rapids will battle it out wiht NYCFC for Chivas 2.0 designation. Our FO has much more experience in this so I see an easy win.
Another prominent YA becomes an MLSer: Sacha Kljestan to NYRB. (Via a trade that sent Eric Alexander and Oyongo to Montreal in exchange for Felipe and the top spot in the allocation order to snag Kljestan.)
hopefully theres not too much rust there, gold cup is asking a bit much for agudelo, camp strudel might be more realistic. but who knows what a few goals could bring. Going back to one of the most exciting and dynamic teams in the league will do him a world of good.
We should have an interesting season contest among Agudelo, Jozy, and Dwyer as each will have formidable support. Jozy: Giovinco, Bradley, Moore Dwyer: Feilhaber, Zusi, Espinoza Agudelo: Nguyen, Jones, Bunbury, Rowe
Didn't think Zardes would be playing up top the full season. BTW, who is starting in central midfield to begin the season?
There should be any number of interesting attack/midfield combos in the league this year. All of the aforementioned, of course. BWP, Kljestan, and Lloyd Sam at NYRB. David Villa, Mix, and Lampard, when (/if) he shows up this summer. Kaka, Brek Shea and Martin Paterson for Orlando. Cubo Torres, Brad Davis, Boniek Garcia and Will Bruin for Houston (I imagine that's an early favorite for "most underrated"). Diego Valeri, Fanendo Adi, and Darlington Nagbe at Portland. And of course, the combo that Seattle rode all last year: Dempsey, Martins, Neagle, and/or Pappa, provided they can stay healthy. Any of these have the look of something quite potent, offensively.