Sporting Kansas City
EXOTIC MAKEOVER. A lot of domestic experience has left -- Brad Davis, Justin
Mapp, Chance Myers, Jacob Peterson -- along with veteran midfielder Paulo Nagamura. Stepping into the breach are a Ghanaian winger (Latif Blessing), a
Guinea-Bissau forward (Gerso Fernandes), and a Brazilian loanee (Igor Juliao) who returns to MLS three years after playing 23 games for SKC on loan from Fluminense.
Fernandes can
also play midfield, but he’s not renowned for wide play, and the return of right back Juliao indicates the grand experiment of Graham Zusi in that slot may be favored more by Bruce
Arena than Peter Vermes. SKC struggled last year when opponents squeezed the middle to starve Benny Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer of space, so offensive production may depend on
Blessing’s forays from the flank and Fernandes’ success in drawing defenders away from Dwyer, who has fought through barren spells and brutal marking to score 50 goals the past three
seasons.
The shuttling of Matt Besler in and out of the lineup last season caused some instability yet may also have infused the savvy and confidence Ike Opara needs to meld with
his athletic prowess. Opara can be a beast in the back, if he’s consistently paired with a smart, cool veteran. That’s the theory, anyway.
Real Salt Lake
CROSSROADS. RSL comes off a season slightly improved from the previous one – eighth place in 2015, sixth last year – and not
terribly impressive nor dramatic.
Moving on from Morales will reshape the team and there’s good reason to believe that a full season of good health for Yura Movsisyan and Joao
Plata can help RSL stay in the playoff tier. Most No. 10s in MLS come from the Americas, and signing Slovakian international Albert Rusnak is a bit out-of-the-box, but if head coach Jeff
Cassar and technical director Craig Waibel are to tangle successfully with big-bucks rivals, these are the moves that move the needle -- hopefully in the right direction.
A
curious move it was for Jeff Attinella, who played impressively if rarely behind Nick Rimando, to leave. Rimando is 38 and must be closely monitored but seldom shows his age. The
centerback slots are well-manned but young -- Aaron Maund, Chris Schuler, Justen Glad –- so acquiring an experienced centerback would make
sense. So would packaging one of the incumbents in a trade.
By re-signing veteran Chris Wingert, RSL has retained a connection to past glories. He and Rimando will be vital factors in
grooming the next generation.
Portland Timbers
A YEAR LATER. Seattle fans reveled in how fast and how far the Timbers toppled from the summit of winning it all in 2015, but it was a valuable lesson for all. There’s a reason eight
different teams have played in the last four MLS Cup finals: staying near the top is tough.
Another big wave of departures has swept through Porterland, shorn of former captain Jack
Jewsbury (retired) and Lucas Melano (DP disaster banished on loan) and about a dozen others. On the eve of the SuperDraft only a few additions had been secured.
Newcomer Daniel
Guzman assumes the Ron Burgundy role -- “Anchorman”, get it? -- as midfield screen, which either shunts Diego Chara to the bench or redefines his role and that of Darlington
Nagbe. Regardless, Caleb Porter’s lads must do a better job of transforming goals into points. Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi scored a combined 30 goals last year, and
still the Timbers went winless (0-11-6) on the road while finishing seventh, which is what happens when you concede 53 goals in a defensively oriented conference.
Former Red Bulls scapegoat
Roy Miller returns to fill a slot, left back, which has been a concern since Jorge Villafana left for Mexico 13 months ago. The midseason signing of Vytas offered promise but not
much else. The saga of Nat Borchers’ ruptured Achilles’ tendon continues.
San Jose Earthquakes
WHO’S WITH WONDO? The acquisition of Garcia from RSL didn’t occur on the watch of new GM Jesse Fioranelli, but he’s on the hot seat anyway as a disgruntled
fan base waits for signs of a reborn attack.
Eleven goals by Garcia in 104 games isn’t much to brighten the hopes of Quakes’ fans, who suffered through an anemic season -- 32 goals
in 34 games -- overly dependent on Chris Wondolowski. He tallied a team-high 12 goals to extend his run of double-digit seasons to seven, a league record, but the next name on the list,
Simon Dawkins, bagged just five.
So far, signing Cal-Berkeley star Nick Lima to a Homegrown contract and adding another defender, Harold Cummings, to an already solid
defense (39 goals conceded) is not regarded as progress in the right direction. President Dave Kaval has promised the team, notorious for ballyhooed DPs who’ve fallen on their faces, will
spend wisely.
Vancouver Whitecaps
NORTHWEST ANGST. Consider the conflict; as their teams tumbled down the
mountain, Portland and Vancouver supporters watched Seattle pitch camp on the peak.
“Too many bad goals, too many red cards, not enough good games,” were cited by head coach Paul
Robinson, who rated his own performance subpar as the ‘Caps slid to their poorest finish since joining MLS in 2011.
The ‘Caps, of course, didn’t slip from the pedestal, and
there hasn’t been much upheaval. Six players, including playmaker Pedro Morales, departed and the only notable addition is ex-Union defender Sheanon Williams. Several scouting
trips abroad may yet bear fruit but Robinson also said he wanted to keep together a “strong core” of players rather than tear down and rebuild. That’s a clear message he expects
keeper David Ousted, defender Kendall Waston, midfielder Cristian Bolanos, and winger Kekuta Manneh to get it done.
Houston
Dynamo
WHO-STON? There’s not only a new sheriff in town but a whole herd of debuting deputies.
Just for starters, new head
coach Wilmer Cabrera will be joined by Honduran winger Romell Quioto and international teammate Alberth Elis, Colombian holding mid Juan David
Cabezas and a pair of center backs: Adolfo Machado of Panama, and Leonardo of Brazil (and formerly the Galaxy).
Elis joins forward mates of contrasting
fortunes; Mauro Manotas, who scored six goals in 22 MLS games after being blanked in nine 2015 appearances, and Erick "Cubo' Torres, back after a bleak loan to Cruz Azul. Cabezas joins
veteran Ricardo Clark in a reshuffled midfield and the back line figures to look a lot different as well.
So if Cabrera and technical director Matt Jordan have scouted and spent
shrewdly, Houston can edge its way back into the playoff conversation. This process will not unfold quickly.
Minnesota United
LOONS LOOKING UP. Finally, a United in the Western Conference! It’s been a long time coming.
But seriously folks, MNUFC already looks potent up front. Well, maybe.
That’s assuming Johan Venegas tacks some consistency onto his array of attacking skills, and fan favorites Miguel Ibarra and Christian Ramirez clear the
hurdles to MLS success. The team is negotiating with former SKC forward Soony Saad, who has played the last two years in Thailand, and thanks to the top SuperDraft pick has first dibs on former
Duke forward Jeremy Ebobisse.
To the back line has been added Norwegian defender Vadim Demidov using Targeted Allocation Money as the probable partner for Costa Rican Francisco
Calvo. NASL holdovers Justin Davis and Kevin Venegas are among the contenders at outside back.
In front of them journeyman Collen Warner and ex-Crew SC midfielder
Mohammed Saied look to have first call on starting spots, though the extensive domestic and international contacts of sporting director Manny Lagos and head coach Adrian Heath
suggest this area of the lineup is far from settled.
Oh and there’s no goalie currently on the roster. Last year, Sammy Ndjock threw the ball into his own goal during a friendly with Bournemouth. (Yes, that was a loony thing to do.)