I have high expectations for the Revs this year. My biggest concern is defense, particularly central defense. With 5 off-season additions (1 senior, 4 developmental): Baker, Dempsey, Dorman, Brilliant, Vercollone; none are defenders. With Marshall Leonard listed as a midfielder, there are currently 9 midfielders on the 24-man roster and only 5 defenders. Rusty Pierce is clearly our best defender, but he can't be counted on to stay healthy for 30 games. Llamosa is older and getting more prone to injury, and Kante has yet to show he can be counted on (2002 aside). There are 2 spots left on the roster, 1 senior & 1 developmental. I know the Revs won't sign someone just to fill a spot, and would rather wait until mid-season to find the right person than jump the gun, but these 2 slots have to go to defenders. BTW, I heard Milton Reyes is on trial with Dallas.
I wasn't to worried about us in the back until after the santa clara match...btw, how injured is pierce?i heard he was taken out of the match...holding his groin and shaking his head...what's the latest?As for defenders available, march 31st is our transfer deadline as per fifa new rule...this doesn't give us much time...both reyes and ezra are available still...i would have to say ezra would be a better fit for us...reyes is younger but is coming off a season ending injury....however, ezra would cost less and he could also play central defender(probably the most critical position to fill right now)...i don't see reyes playing centrally(language,size,etc...)...and i don't think nichols would bring in a pure right back with his "love" for heaps...
I wonder if Francis Okaroh would be willing to come out of retirement. There's no way that he's older than Llamosa
We've seen it many times since this basic core defense (Heaps, Franchino, Llamosa, Pierce) has been together: without major midfield support, they'll be exposed as naive, slow, clumsy, small, rash, nervous, etc. Whenever significant elements of the midfield are missing, the defense looks bad, real bad. The fact is, they aren't above average defenders individually. The heart of the Revolution is it's midfield - which is the class of the league. Through the whole preseason, 3/4 of the regular starting midfield was missing, and the 1/4 that was present is the part that provides the least support for the defense. A Reyes or Hendrickson would likely help, but w/o improving the whole back line, they're still be weak links - and a weak chain.
SN has stated that he doesn't want to break up the Cancela/Joseph tandem, the best central midfield in MLS. But if Clint Dempsey can develop into a solid D-Mid, and Pierce continues to struggle with injuries, he may have no other choice.