News: 2025 MLS Preseason Thread - Stuff that may or may not matter

From Goff:

 

Just saying hi to everybody, hoping that you are all well.

Found this interesting article here (https://the18.com/soccer-news/mls-c...1AXwshdROo454RKMRg_aem_RWgkFfBjHQ1eBV0V6n9-lw), I hope it happens.

 

As long as that kind of thinking is at the top of the org, we'll never be worth the bullet to put each of us out of our misery. Its like the hole that kids dig at the beach, it just keeps getting bigger.

I hope everyone is looking forward to those mid-December and early February games.

 

Hope you are well also. I see Pisa is doing well in Serie B. My wife and I are returning to Lucca in August and hope to catch some matches in Lucca at Stadio Porta Elisa in September. Serie C is interesting, small crowds but very strong supporters groups -- at least in Lucca. Still living in Venice?

 

Yes, still in Venice (Lido of Venice to be exact). Yes, Pisa is finally doing very well this year (53 points in 24 games) and for sure they are racing towards serie A (but only the first 2 teams go direct and we are 2nd place 5 games above Spezia, but we still have to play there - and in Sassuolo, which is in 1st place). Pippo Inzaghi is our coach, and he has completely flipped around the team - a good 80% of the players are the same ones who were playing like ectoplasm last season, I am quite confident in him and in the team. Hopefully DCU will do a better season this year too... I still follow via Apple TV.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember reading something that says teams can change their roster construction model(so MLS) mid season if they want to. Mackay went with the two DP, four u-22 slots and 2 million in GAM route for this offseason and to begin the year. I believe only three of those slots are being used so he could, in theory, switch to a 3 DP model mid season and sign a DP at a discounted cap hit. But then what happens to that GAM when you switch models? Can you keep it? If MLS is going to come out with more Calvinball rules they should be a little more transparent on how the mechanisms work. Of course I might be missing something too.

 

It’s pretty straightforward:

 

Good stuff! That clarifies a lot. Makes me think we might be looking at a summer DP since we never filled that last u-22 slot. But I honestly don’t have a clue.

 

Well for those of here who wallow in the misery of this franchise, Doyle's substack puts DCU at #14 in the East, ahead of only the dumpster fire that is Toronto -- and that's if Benteke remains healthy and productive. Otherwise, Spoon City. I tend to agree. Unless a substantial majority of the young, unproven players hit, this will be a mess, not exactly like 2013 or 2022, but just as bad results wise. At least the 2013 team had fight, just no talent.

 

I wouldn't read into season predictions from MLS pundits. They also put D.C. United at 14th place in the Eastern Conference last season too. Doyle is somewhat right that they're an injury away from being almost dead last.

In short, it's anyone's guess how good, bad or average they will be this season. This off-season roster turnover with a bunch of new guys coming in is intriguing to say the least.

 

With the caveat that this team is a major Benteke injury away from serious trouble, I just don’t see any way that the roster is not demonstrably better than last year’s.

Moreover, this iteration of the team figures to be a much better fit for the system in which TL wants to play. For goodness sake how many goals did the team ship last year having to force Santos and Dajome to play completely out of position at outside back?

I’m not suggesting that DCU will contend for the Supporters Shield - they won’t. But anything less than making the playoffs would be a severe disappointment.

 

Attack is neutral at best with one more year of wear and tear on Benteke. No real improvements on paper that I can see. I guess Pirani (he had a good 2nd half of the season) or Leal are the best hope for an improvement.

We have probably upgraded LB/CB. Who knows on the GK definitely not a proven upgrade in my mind.

My biggest concern remains CM/DM, I still think this board under rated Klich (he was overpaid but still a good MLS player). We are looking at a double pivot of Peltola/Enow (probably Hopkins when he gets healthy). Enow looked very raw to me last year and Hopkins was just ok. Peltola brings a calmness on the ball that I like, but lacks the physicality we want in our high press system.

I suspect we will just get overrun in midfield a lot this year and struggle with any sort of possession.

 

We are 99% the spoon winners if Benteke goes down long term any time in the first half of the season.

There will also be a TON riding on this team being more disciplined than we were last season as the worst team from a discipline standpoint. Tied for most reds and 2nd in yellows.

This roster is better than last years, although not markedly. We'll be somewhere between 8-11 in the east, probably owning back to how we do in keeping our first 11 on the field, because roster spots 12-23 are not all that much better, if at all, than we were last season.

 

Benteke should age fairly well. His position doesn't call for a lot of hard sprinting or clever dribbling to get off good shots. Both of these would make him vulnerable to injuries. He trots around, looking for position and then jumps really high. He might be vulnerable to injuries against big defenders who try to throw him around when his back is to the goal and distributing passes.

It wasn't poor central defense that was the worst part of our Goals Against. It was pushing up too aggressively and leaving huge gaps, and then not fouling an opposing defender who's about to kick a ball to open space up field.

 

Damn right.

People looked at DC's defenders and rightly pointed fingers. But DC's rest defense was basically fine all season long. The problem was that Lesesne's system creates immense gaps in transition. This is why DC led the league in cards and GA. Losing Klich will probably help a bit in this regard but I am very, very dubious that Enow or Peltola are the answer.

 

People want to be entertained. Is it better to lose 4-2 or was it better to lose 1-0 as we did during the majority of Bennyball?

 

When you look at every roster, this is clearly a safe bet. But, if we do end up sucking, let’s really go for it! Forget that 14th out of 15th nonsense.

 

And win the Open Cup!

 

If Benteke gets hurt, DC is going to be just ridiculously bad.

 

Wow.

 

I have to wonder what the follow-up move to this is going to be, now that the team has two open U-22 spots and a need for a replacement to Ku-DiPietro.

 

I don't disagree at all. But Ku was still the second best attacker on the team last year. If Benteke gets hurt, this team is going to rely on Gabriel Pirani.

Gabriel Pirani.

I think we already know the answer to that. They've said that they're done adding players.