Union Off-Season Player Rumors & Movement 2013/14

Sounds like we got 4 pieces out of the promised "3 or 4 pieces." All

From what I see and hear, the prevailing thought out there is that KC and NY are the superior teams in the East this season and how the rest of the teams finish will be based upon how well the teams gel, who suffers injuries and the other usual things that can help or sink a team. In theory, TFC, DCU and the Union have improved significantly over last season. NER seems to have a great young attacking core. HOU, CLB, CHI and MON may not have done as much but there are a lot of veterans on those teams and HOU particularly always seems to do the right things to finish strong.

When the preseason projections come out over the next 10 days, I suspect that SKC and NY will be at the top of most prognosticators' lists, then followed by TFC. I think that 4-10 will be a jumbled mess without any real consensus.

 

Um...that was me being positive...

"Nexus Cardholder:Member Since 2012"

 

I don't think the Union will seriously contend for the title this year. Too many new pieces, I'm still not convinced that their back 5 will stand up against the best attackers in the league (Berry is very good, but he's not an immediate upgrade over Parke...left back is still a weakness, MacMath is still a young keeper). But I do think the Union will be in the running for the 3rd spot, and could conceivably make the final. It'll depend on how things work out in Toronto and New England. Not making the playoffs would be an abject failure.

 

Isn't it silly to say they are simply contenders for a playoff spot? They were contenders last year until the final weekend, and are considerably improved this season.

Not saying they are title contenders but playoffs easily

 

And I don't think there's much difference between "making the playoffs" and "MLS contenders" -- the playoffs certainly favor the higher seeds (who are more likely to win based on talent anyway) but are still basically a crapshoot. And the difference between the #3 seed and #1 seed in the playoffs setup isn't much.

Furthermore, this is MLS, the "strength" of teams can often fluctuate wildly from year to year based on injuries and how players gel -- the talent level between teams in the league just isn't that great, even looking at the top teams. I mean, year, RBNY and KC on paper should be better teams than Union, but they aren't so much better than some lucky (or unlucky) bounces here and there couldn't make the difference in the standings.

I feel like Union should be somewhere in the #4-6 range in the East, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they are far better or far worse than that. It's MLS. At the minimum, the team has addressed all their obvious holes and has pushed some weaker starters into supporting roles where they are better suited. That should be worth a couple of games in the standings, which would have been all they needed last season to get into the playoffs.

 

I do think they've improved, certainly on paper. Will that translate tangibly into on-field results? Maybe. I think a good portion of the fanbase has been laboring under the impression (and maybe our CEO too), that we were just a few pieces away from winning it all. My baseline was "please for the love of God do SOMETHING/ANYTHING", and they met that. I just don't think as a team they're better than SKC /RBNY /TFC. What we will find out is if they have moved into that next tier and can challenge HOU (who let's face it has us outcoached by a landslide), and NER. I think they can hang with the new look DCU / CMB / MTL. But that's where we are, depending on a bounce or two not going our way (or the team packing it in in the last few weeks again) we could be 4th-8th.

 

They did do something. The roster certainly looks better on paper. There are still questions at LB, CB (although to a lesser extent after the Berry acquisition), and the ability of the forwards to finish chances. If Casey is injured and/or Jack fails to perform, this team is going to struggle mightily. I have doubts about the ever-shrinking "core" group of young players. While it is true the team narrowly missed a playoff berth last year, it also overperformed in the first half of the season, coasting on McInerney's excellent form to the top of the conference standings. The second half was a regression to the mean. Moreover, the players will always be constrained by the coaching, and Hack has shown himself to be quite limited in tactical acumen. Anyone who expects anything more than a fight for a low playoff berth followed by a quick exit will be quite disappointed.

 



 

I think we can finish anywhere from 1-6 in the East. I'd expect 3-5. How successful we are depends on how well we gel, coaching, and the quality of the new signings. I expect Maidana and Nogueira to be big pieces for us and successul, but it wouldn't be the first time in MLS (or this team) history that sure-fire moves don't work out.

When it comes down to it, this is Hack's team. Now is the time for him to prove us wrong.

Also, I think Toronto will make the playoffs, but I don't think they will be contending for the top spot this year. I think they are good but over-hyped.

 

I think this teams sets it's sites on the playoffs and playing well as they start. Do that and then ask why not us.

 

I'd love to recycle this bad boy

 

@Tyr Spot on, agree on all points.

 

If they can pass the ball down field to feet instead of to the chest or the knees, or worse, huff it up the field, and get a flow going while creating scoring chances out of the midfield, they can be interesting to watch.

I agree with you re: Toronto. I think Bradley is a terrific player for this level, but I'm not sure how much difference he alone would make to that team. Defoe, however can be TFC's Robbie Keane, but potentially better. Maybe they'll play a bunch of 3-2 games since their defense is still shaky.

 

I guess it's still hard to believe they might be a whole lot better. Young players have to keep getting better and Jack has to learn how to score the back breaking goal. I think they got a chance at third. They have to take advantage of teams missing players during the World Cup.

 

Eric Wynalda wants to sign Freddy!!!!!

AWESOME

http://soccer.si.com/2014/02/26/wynalda-nasls-atlanta-silverbacks-interested-in-signing-freddy-adu/

 

All 5 east playoff teams from last year (NYRB, SKC, NER, MON, HOU) had relatively quiet offseasons compared to those who didnt:

DCU - Rebuilt backline and forward corps
Chicago - Rebuilt backline
Philly - Rebuilt midfield
Columbus - Brand new central defense
TFC - high profile acquisitions across the field

This is what you would expect, I suppose, teams that missed the playoffs investing and retooling.

I'll project this:

SKC and NYRB
-----------------
PHI, NER, MON, HOU, TFC, CHI
-----------------
Columbus and DCU

Nothing surprising really. Just going to be a really competitive eastern conference this year.

 

They're like a fifteen minute drive (if Atlanta traffic is nice... [LOL yeah right]) away from where I currently live.

Don't think I'll catch many Freddy games though.

 

like father like son

 

Look at it this way..............the main reasons to sub out a CB are: due to injury, or the need to get another attacking player on the field.

This is perfect for Wheeler, as it gives Hackworth more options for gamedays for the substitutes. Wheeler can fill in at CB in emergency cases but he's also a forward. This allows Hack to have an additional offensive player on the bench. Would you rather have White/Marquez on the bench and then have to choose between Wheeler/Pfeffer/Bone/Ribiero? Or would you rather have Wheeler AND Bone/Ribiero/Pfeffer on the bench?

 

This. From what I can tell, the point of playing Wheeler at CB during preseason was not necessarily to turn him into a starter but to see what he has in the event of an emergency. There are only 6 field bench positions and if one can be filled by a guy who can sub into many different positions (like Lahoud for example), all the better. Also, the fact that Marquez was unavailable yesterday didn't hurt. (I'm not sure why White didn't play.)

 

Total football.