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MLS 2013

Too bad their play doesn't match. Embarrassing miss-communication on that goal.
 
I'd just like to add that I love that MLS season is back. There's live soccer on basically all day now if you want to watch it all.
 
gsterp said:
I'd just like to add that I love that MLS season is back. There's live soccer on basically all day now if you want to watch it all.
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Agreed. I spent over 6 hours at a bar yesterday watching First Kick. Must have been 80% MLS fans as well. Such a good time. Today's hangover at work, not so much fun.
 
That is so awesome. I wish there was a good soccer bar around me in Chicago. There's a great one up on the north side, but it's about a 40 minute train ride for me. Great for special games, but not great all the time.
 
Husky what are your thoughts on NE this year? Where improved? Where shaky? Any young guys (like Fagundez) to keep an eye on?
 
TexasDeac10 said:
Husky what are your thoughts on NE this year? Where improved? Where shaky? Any young guys (like Fagundez) to keep an eye on?
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I think we've greatly improved our depth. Tough to tell what some of our new signings are like based on crappy preseason feeds though.

Our #1 pick Farrell looks to be a beast. Not sure where he's going to be this season, but likely RB. I think he projects more to CB based on his size though. If he can put in a good cross, he'll be a much needed attacking fullback for a team that greatly lacked it last season.

Kalifa Cisse was our big offseason signing. He's a physical DM who has played a bunch in England. We were especially soft last season and pushed around constantly in the midfield. Cisse will at least give us some bite. He's very much a ball winner and won't be expected to get forward much.

Jose Goncalves is maybe our most important signing. He's a big strong CB who can play the ball out of the back. I haven't been impressed by him in preseason, but he's being counted on to solidify a fairly young backline.

Caldwell is going to be a solid rookie CM depending on how much time he sees. He's a homegrown, so he's practiced a bunch with the team before this year. He looks to be really good on the ball. Receives and distributes really quickly. He's a few years from being a starter I think and I wouldn't be shocked if he was sent to Rochester to get more playing time.

Bengtson is basically the key to our season. If we can feed him, I think he'll score 15-20 goals. He's got an unreal nose for the goal, but he's very much a poacher. Nguyen, Toja, Rowe and Dorman will have to find ways to get him the ball in the box.

Saer Sene is just getting back into training after blowing out his knee last season. He was easily our best goal scorer, but I don't really rate him. He doesn't seem to have a real position.

We're sitting on one open roster space and one international spot while having something like $500-700K available in cap space. So we're either going to sign a big DP or our front office is going to be lynched for fucking up another season. My guess is we improve slightly despite Heaps' complete lack of tactical strategy. Somewhere around 42 points and missing the playoffs. We still have no real attacking width. Too many outside midfielders who prefer to drift central. Our outside backs can't cross to save their life. We have no one dangerous to take set pieces, which led teams to foul us constantly last season because they knew we wouldn't punish them.
 
Great synopsis, thanks. I like hearing about the different teams from supporters' perspectives. Who else do we have here? gsterp (DCU), and justicebork (SEA)?

I'll give my HOU thoughts, but what is there to say? I think we're going to be awesome. Expectations are a bit high right now, given that we always seem to start slow and then rip our way through the playoffs. I rate SKC ahead of us right now, but we always seem to knock them off their game when they play us (usually by pressing high up the field and controlling possession - I think it's a myth that we're more physical given their foul rate last year).

It's a big year in Houston as Brad Davis is clearly on the back side of his career. His left foot is still a weapon on set pieces, but he looks a step slower every time I watch him. Brian Ching has already been relegated to a late-sub role in games we are leading, and his contract designates him as a player-coach. This is the year that the franchise has to transition to the future. Oscar Boniek Garcia is easily the team's premier player right now, and he's special. He's 28 though, and he's clear about his ambitions to play abroad at some point in his career (he grew up a Juventus fan from Honduras, lol).

Giles Barnes was an under-the-radar signing for us last season, and he now seems poised to have a really big season. In our opening day formation, Kinnear placed him in an attacking mid role, but he seemed to drift out wide and pair with Bruin up top quite often. He was a top prospect for Derby County and helped them gain promotion to the EPL back in 200(7?), but injuries greatly derailed his career and he's now 24. Based on his pedigree and his preseason (and subsequent starting role), everyone's expecting great things from him this year.

The back line for us saw Andre Hainault move abroad, and Kofi Sarkodie is now expected to fill his shoes. I'm skeptical that this will work out. Kofi's been around for 2 seasons, and he was a high draft pick out of Akron, but he seems to have pace and little else. He likes to go forward, although I don't rate him particularly well at it.

For my money, Warren Creavalle is the future at the RB position. And, don't say I'm crazy, but Warren Creavalle seems to have the same upside that Geoff Cameron had when he first started playing under Dom Kinnear. Both were super-athletic, raw draft picks in late rounds by Dom, and it's clear that Creavalle has a lot of the natural talent and work rate that Geoff had. Like Geoff, however, it's starting to seem like Dom may move Warren Creavalle off the back line and into a RM role at times. I doubt this will stall his development (it didn't for Geoff), but Creavalle seemingly has the goods to be a special player if he can put it all together. The only thing I haven't seen from his game is the ability to swing in a good cross.

Weaknesses for this team? Shit, I don't know. Back line has questions at the RB spot, but I expect Kofi and Creavalle to compete and fill that role. Scoring up top currently only has Will Bruin (who continues to impress), and the team needs Omar Cummings to come back strong from injury. That's really all I can think of. We just signed Andrew Driver from the SPL (Hearts), and he'll see time for Brad Davis if/when Brad falters. At almost every position on this team, there's seemingly a capable back-up.

The biggest questions for the club come on the financial/fan side. Previous shirt sponsor Greenstar Recycling backed out of its deal this year, and the team is currently sponsorless. Announced attendance for the home opener was 20k, but reports from the game said it was more like 14k butts in the seats. The organization has to look in the mirror and ask what it can do better to attract (and not alienate) new fans. Ever since the new stadium opened, hispanic support has actually waned a little bit (stadium's in a nicer part of town, and that community has felt slighted by treatment from the stadium's security guards).
 
Is it too late for me to add a team? I was pretty busy on Friday/Saturday this weekend.
 
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