MLS Offseason 2016-17

Titans Bastard

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Lots of news:

  • Atlanta signed 22 year old Argentine attacking midfielder Yamil Asad on loan from Vélez Sarsfield. He doesn't look as high profile as their other South American attackers like Almiron and Villalba, so perhaps a depth guy? It's hard to tell with the expansion teams since they have more roster building to do.
  • Meanwhile, the long-rumored acquisition of Brad Guzan is on hold. Atlanta wanted to use TAM to buy down Guzan's contract to sub-DP levels. (The previous sentence was made possible by MLS...) However, this was contingent on getting him on a free transfer. If they have to pay a fee, it will screw up how they calculate his salary cap hit and make the math impossible.
  • Minnesota signed Vadim Demidov, a Latvian/Norwegian center back. He's 30 and last played at Brann in Norway, but he had a stint at Real Sociedad in La Liga a few years back.
  • NYCFC has loaned center back Jefferson Mena to Barcelona for the season.....that's Barcelona SC, the Ecuadorian one.
  • NYCFC brought in 23 y.o. Panamanian attacking midfielder Miguel Camargo on loan from Chorrillo. He has solid looking numbers from his 2016 season, when he was on loan in Venezuela, but it's tough to gauge how that translates since it's Venezuela. Camargo looks like depth in an interesting-looking NYCFC attack. They badly need to sign a good DM, though.
  • Portland signed a trio of players from their USL affiliate to MLS contracts. Goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, a 22 y.o. who was once on U17 and U20 NTs. He'll be the #3. Also 21 year old Jamaican center back Rennico Clarke and 20 year old Colombian winger Victor Arboleda. They also brought in last year's on-loan winger Jack Barmby on a permanent deal from Leicester.
  • Toronto signed a homegrown player, midfielder Sergio Camargo. A four-year college player from Syracuse (by way of Coastal Carolina).
  • KC has signed journeyman goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, who was edged out of a backup role in DC last season by Travis Worra. Tim Melia has consolidated his grip on the starting job there, so he'll compete for the #2 job with Adrian Zendejas, a younger GK they signed from their USL team earlier in the offseason.
  • KC also signed Cameron Iwasa, a forward/winger type who was near the top of the USL scoring chart for Sacramento last season. He was an unsigned draft pick in 2015 and now that he's paid his dues for two years he's getting a shot in MLS. Christian Volesky, the forward KC signed last week, has a similar profile. It's a crowded situation behind Dom Dwyer right now.
  • The Chargers plan to play at the StubHub Center for the next two years. It's weird to see professional football teams moving in with MLS teams after so many years of the reverse. Toronto and now LA. I'm glad it's a short-term move because football teams don't take long to ruin the playing surface
 

Titans Bastard

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MLS draft is today. Several good players will be chosen, but the reality is that outside the top 10 picks it gets really dicey and a number of top 10 picks turn out to be busts, too.
 

steeplechase3k

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Top few picks...
1: Abu Danladi - Forward - Minnesota United FC
2: Miles Robinson - Defender - Atlanta United FC
3: Jonathan Lewis - Forward - New York City FC (NYCFC acquired the pick from Chicago via a trade on 1/13/17)
4: Jeremy Ebobisse - Forward - Portland Timbers (Portland acquired the pick from Houston via a trade on 1/13/17)
 

Senator Donut

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Biggest news so far is that specific dollar amounts will be disclosed in trades involving allocation money, so fans can better asses Mike Burns's incompetence.
 

Titans Bastard

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Biggest news so far is that specific dollar amounts will be disclosed in trades involving allocation money, so fans can better asses Mike Burns's incompetence.
Yeah, that's a huge win for transparency in MLS. It's now possible to evaluate a much larger percentage of transactions.

NYCFC paid $250k in allocation money for the #3 pick, which commentators have indicated is a lot, so they must really like Lewis. I need to see more trades before I can calibrate my own sense of how much allocation money is a lot.
 

Titans Bastard

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The Revs took Brian Wright with the 20th overall pick. He's a Canadian forward from the University of Vermont who has a very good scoring record in a not very good conference. Because of some recent rule changes, he won't count as a domestic player, though the Revs aren't anywhere near the limit on foreigners. He signed a pre-draft deal as a senior, so he's officially the first acquisition of the offseason for the team.

There was a lot of chatter that the Revs (and others) were trying hard to trade up to take Miles Robinson, but Atlanta ultimately made the pick themselves. The 20th overall pick is well into "hope and pray" territory in the draft. In the second round, most guys are USL-bound to start their careers.

Ebobisse seems like a really interesting person as well as a good prospect.
 

Titans Bastard

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A few other moves in recent days:

  • LA traded A.J. de la Garza to Houston for $125k in GAM and $50k in TAM. It will be weird to see him with a different club, but he'll probably play more in Houston at this point. LA is socking money away to fit some unknown future signing into their salary budget, no doubt.
  • LA signed CB/LB Hugo Arellano to a homegrown contract. He's an 18 year old who signed a USL contract with Los Dos last year and captained the US U17s at the last World Cup.
  • Sporting KC signed Ilie Sanchez, a 26 year old DM, from 1860 Munich. He's the third DM with a history at Barcelona B they've signed in the last five years.
 

Titans Bastard

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That's a big trade (or, really, sale) for both teams. Chicago's CM pairing of Juninho and McCarty will be very solid, if a bit defensive-minded. Miles better than the Polster/Cocis combo of 2016.

It's a major loss in talent and leadership for NYRB, but they are selling high, clearing PT for some of the young midfielders coming through the ranks, and clearing cap space for potential signings. They could use an upgrade at CB and RB.

It could be a tricky transition for NYRB. I think Sean Davis is good, but I also think he's more of a box-to-box player in the mold of current NYRB starter Felipe Martins. Tyler Adams is a better stylistic fit to replace McCarty, but he's so young that it's unrealistic to expect him to the do the job in 2017. They also have more CM signings on the horizon, like Georgetown's Arun Basuljevic.
 
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Titans Bastard

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  • Jermaine Jones officially signed with LA, who used TAM to buy his contract down from DP status. LA has been linked with a variety of DMs, who they'll need to cover for Jones' dynamic but occasionally frustrating version of heroball. Disappointingly, this likely means that Sebastian Lletget will be moved out wide again, where I fear he won't be as effective. He doesn't have the speed/quickness to be a great winger, so I was looking forward to his development as a CM. Perhaps he can at least be used in a pinched-in role.
  • Seattle signed a pair of homegrown players. Forward Seyi Adekoya (UCLA) and midfielder Henry Wingo (Washington), both of whom came through the Sounders academy.
  • Birmingham City's manager has been quoted saying that Jonathan Spector is leaving the club shortly to go to somewhere in MLS, but we don't know where yet.
 

Titans Bastard

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CONCACAF has announced a new format for the CCL starting in the 2017-2018 season. I have mixed feelings about it.

The group stage is dead, which is fine with me. I liked the old 4x4 format because it provided for a lot of MLS vs. Liga MX games and weeded out most of really weak Central American clubs. The more recent 8x3 format totally sucked and was a huge drag. I won't miss it in the slightest. I'd like the 4x4 format back, but I understand the issues with travel and scheduling.

So we're back to a 16 team straight knockout tournament for the first time since 2003. All MLS and Liga MX clubs qualify directly for the final stage, along with the top club from Central America (except weaklings Nicaragua and Belize) and the CFU club champions.

There's also a preliminary phase for lesser CFU and Central American clubs, the champion of which gets a spot with the big boys.

The schedule is not great. The first phase will be played from August-October and the second phase will be played from February-May. Since key knockout games start in February like usual, MLS teams will continue to be in deep preseason form. Beyond that, though, this introduces a problem for Liga MX because its playoffs are played throughout May.



 

Infield Infidel

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I like it. It reduces the minimum number of games from 4 to 2, and the maximum number games from 12 to 8. Makes travel and fixture congestion much better. It also increases the immediacy of the competition and makes it more straightforward. 4x4 would be more fair, but 6 games for first round losers, or 14 games for finalists, is a lot.
 
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Senator Donut

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Costa Rica probably deserves more than one guaranteed spot, but it's a good format overall. My biggest issue is that the MLS teams will have to wait more than a full year from qualification to participation. With the parity in the league, much of the roster could be turned over in that year, and the team may not be that good anymore. To paraphrase the president, we're not sending our best.
 

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The Timbers singed Chance Meyers (Free-agent, most recently with SKC), re-signed Amobi Okugo, and brought Dairon Asprilla back from a loan.
 

Infield Infidel

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A CONCACAF spokesman explained that the stakeholders from all of the leagues were consulted, and that MLS was asked whether it preferred to have the knockout stage run from August to October. MLS selected the option for it to run from February to May.
...
As for why games have to start in February as opposed to March or April, the spokesman explained that when international fixture windows are taken into account, a March start date wouldn't allow for enough time to squeeze in eight matchdays.
http://www.espnfc.us/concacaf-champions-league/story/3044900/concacaf-champions-league-unveils-new-format-without-group-stage

Costa Rica probably deserves more than one guaranteed spot, but it's a good format overall. My biggest issue is that the MLS teams will have to wait more than a full year from qualification to participation. With the parity in the league, much of the roster could be turned over in that year, and the team may not be that good anymore. To paraphrase the president, we're not sending our best.
Here's hoping MLS either scraps CCL qualifying for 2017, or has a playoff between 2016 and 2017 MLS CCL qualifying teams, so that by the next CCL (2018/19), MLS will send the teams that qualify in 2018. Mexico and Canada will also have two sets of qualifiers by the time they enter the next edition (edit-Well, Mexico will have one and a half sets). A Spring-only tournament seems perfectly set up for MLS
 
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Senator Donut

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The schedule is not great. The first phase will be played from August-October and the second phase will be played from February-May. Since key knockout games start in February like usual, MLS teams will continue to be in deep preseason form. Beyond that, though, this introduces a problem for Liga MX because its playoffs are played throughout May.
Now that the knockout round starts with 16 instead of 8, the issue of starting in February is minimized. Although 9 MLS and Liga MX teams will likely make the round 16, necessitating at least one opening round match-up, I assume we'll see MLS teams playing mostly Central Amerian and Caribbean teams, so we won't be seeing as many February beatdowns of MLS clubs.
 

Titans Bastard

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For those that don't speak MLS-ese, a player who is signed using TAM is probably a guy in the $500k-$1m salary range. So in theory, these guys could be quality. But it's the Revs, so I'm not going to get excited until they are revealed.
 

Titans Bastard

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Elsewhere around the league...

  • LA bought João Pedro, a 23 year old Portuguese DM from Vitória Guimarães for a reported €1m. He looks like a starter alongside Jermaine Jones and serves as further confirmation that Lletget will be used out wide in some capacity.
  • Mix Diskerud is a man in limbo. He hasn't played for NYCFC since their USOC loss to the Cosmos last June and now isn't on their preseason camp roster. I'm sure NYCFC would love to unload him, but good luck dumping that big contract.
  • D.C. United signed central midfielder Ian Harkes to a homegrown contract. Yes, he's John Harkes' kid and he just won the Hermann Award (NCAA best player). He was rumored to be looking overseas and also possibly to sign for FC Cincinnati in the USL, where his dad is the manager. Landing him is good for D.C., as he's said to be the equivalent of a very high draft pick.
  • Orlando City signed 18 year old winger Pierre da Silva to a homegrown contract. He's a former US U17 who gained a bit of experience with their USL team last season. He may well play down there in 2017 too, but he's on an MLS deal now.
  • NYRB signed a pair of academy players. Evan Louro was a junior GK at Michigan. Dan Metzger is a DM who spent the last two years with NYRB II. Metzger's route is roundabout, as he decided to go into the draft instead of signing with NYRB out of college, was drafted by DC, but then was cut in preseason. NYRB now has eight academy players on their roster and are rumored to be signing two more this offseason (and trading the rights to a third to Philly). I like the commitment.
 

saintnick912

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For those that don't speak MLS-ese, a player who is signed using TAM is probably a guy in the $500k-$1m salary range. So in theory, these guys could be quality. But it's the Revs, so I'm not going to get excited until they are revealed.
Given last season's results, having any quality back there will be a big step forward for the team. Farrell doesn't seem to be the answer, and they were awfully thin beyond Goncalves.
 

Titans Bastard

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I'm sure this will work out....



- Jonathan Spector has left Birmingham by mutual consent and signed with Orlando City. Local reporting from Orlando suggests that he'll play more CB than RB.

- Columbus signed Mohammed Abu, a 25 year old Ghanaian central midfielder, from Strømsgodset. He was once on the books at Man City and was loaned out a million times. He's competition for Tony Tchani.

- NYRB signed Rafael Diaz, a goalkeeper who had been playing with NYRB II for a couple of years.

- Minnesota signed a bunch of players lately:
  • MLS/NASL midfield vet Bernardo Anor
  • Brent Kallman, a mainstay at CB with NASL Minnesota
  • Jermaine Taylor, a veteran CB with stops at Houston and Portland
  • Ibson, a Brazilian midfielder who spent time with NASL Minnesota recently, but who once played a bit at Porto, Spartak Moscow, and some big Brazilian clubs.
Minnesota is acquiring decent depth everywhere, but where's the beef? They have very little in the way of real difference-makers right now. They also don't have any GKs under contract.
 

Titans Bastard

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  • The Revs FINALLY made a signing today and it's Slovenian center back Antonio Delamea. He's the right age (25) for a potential defensive building block if he's good enough. He comes from Olimpija Ljubljana and has never played at MLS level before, but on the bright side he's just gotten his first caps for Slovenia's NT. So, we'll see. Hopefully he'll at least be a league average starting CB. The team still needs at least two more CB signings, though.
  • Longtime vet Sebastien Le Toux signed with D.C. United
  • Colorado signed Ghanaian midfielder Bismark Adjei-Boateng, who spent the last five seasons on loan from Manchester City at Strømsgodset. That makes him the second Ghanaian CM who was on loan at that club from Man City to sign for an MLS club in two days.
  • Minnesota signed 25 year old Finnish midfielder Rasmus Schüller from BK Häcken of the Allsvenskan.
  • Houston signed ancient Uruguayan attacking midfielder Vicente Sanchez, who played for Colorado from 2013-2015. He's 37 now. Maybe he'll be a de facto player-coach?
  • Vancouver signed Yordy Reyna, a 23 year old Peruvian forward who has spent time at Alianza Lima and Red Bull Salzburg, with various loan stints from RBS mixed in.
  • NYRB continued their low-key player acquisition strategy by signing Arun Basuljevic, another homegrown midfielder who is coming off his junior year at Georgetown. I like the youth movement, but their defense needs another key piece or two.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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The Sounders traded Tyrone Mears to Atlanta for $50,000 general allocation money. Also, Dempsey was in camp yesterday and has been cleared for full training.
 

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Lots of news:
  • Meanwhile, the long-rumored acquisition of Brad Guzan is on hold. Atlanta wanted to use TAM to buy down Guzan's contract to sub-DP levels. (The previous sentence was made possible by MLS...) However, this was contingent on getting him on a free transfer. If they have to pay a fee, it will screw up how they calculate his salary cap hit and make the math impossible.
This deal is apparently finally done:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-united-signs-guzan/ObF8j8bDlhh6lFw2KJeVgN/

Atlanta United has signed U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan, but he won’t be available to play for the club until this summer. Middlesbrough FC, the club Guzan was playing for in England’s Premier League, tweeted the long-rumored news on Wednesday. Atlanta United confirmed the signing.

The club said he signed a multi-year deal with MLS. Atlanta United was able to secure the rights to the player by being No. 1 in the MLS Allocation list.
Also in news slightly MLS related news, former Timber Jorge Villafana said on Twitter/IG that he is going to USMNT camp
 

Titans Bastard

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Beyond Guzan, Atlanta continues to make signings:
  • Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, a 24 year old Argentine CB, comes on loan from Estudiantes
  • Anton Walkes, a 19 year old CB, comes on loan from Tottenham
They have also reached 27,000 season tickets sold. Sometimes, I wonder how Boston would do if the market had started later on with an expansion franchise that hadn't been weighed down with so many years of Bob Kraft's incompetence and neglect. Some of these expansion clubs are about seven levels above the Revs as an organization before they've even played a game.
  • Dallas signed Paraguayan forward Cristian Colmán to a DP contract, reportedly beating out competition from a bunch of prominent clubs in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. They've been in need of a quality forward, so if he's the real deal, they're going to be really good.
  • RSL signed veteran forward Chad Barrett and CB / Large Human David Horst.
  • Seattle added a left back from their USL affiliate, signing 19 year old Cameroonian Nouhou Tolo.
  • Columbus struck a deal with Chorrillo of Panama to convert Cristian Martinez's loan to a permanent deal. He's a 19 year old winger. They also signed 20 year old American CM Abuchi Obinwa, who spent a couple of injury-filled years with Hannover 96 from 2014-2016.
 

Titans Bastard

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  • The Revs added another CB: Benjamin Angoua, an Ivorian who comes on loan from Guingamp. He has a long history in Ligue 1, but lately has been starting a little less than half of his games. So, probably not a total world-beater, but certainly better than having to put Watson or Woodberry in there. The Revs could really use another experienced CB, but I'm not sure that will happen.
  • Orlando City sent attacking midfielder Kevin Molino and goalkeeper Patrick McLain to Chicago in exchange for a hefty sum of GarberBux - $450k GAM and $200k TAM. Molino was very productive last season. Adrian Heath clearly has developed a strong affinity for him over the years.
  • Orlando also picked up Josh Saunders from NYCFC for a throw-away draft pick. Saunders was made expendable by NYCFC's acquisition of Sean Johnson. This is a salary dump.
  • NYCFC signed 24 year old Peruvian center back Alexander Callens, who comes on a free from Numancia. He left Peru as a teen for Real Sociedad, played extensively for their reserve team, and has been in the Segunda with Numancia for the last 18 months.
  • San Jose signed Costa Rican NT forward Marcos Ureña. Since leaving Alajuelense in 2011, he's had stints at Kuban Krasnodar, Midtjylland, and Brøndby, but based on his stats he never really got going at any of those spots.
  • Luis Silva has re-joined RSL after a perplexing one-year sojourn to Tigres. Silva is a useful attacking midfielder in MLS, but he was never going to get a shot at a strong Liga MX club like Tigres. Not sure why the club wasted its time.
  • Chicago signed an academy midfielder to a homegrown contract, 18 year old Djordje Mihailovic. He's been involved with the US U19 team this year.
 

Titans Bastard

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Wow:


Onyewu is 34 and hasn't played a game since February 2015.
 

Titans Bastard

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MLS set yesterday as a deadline for applications for the next round of expansion from 24 to 28 teams. There are 12 cities bidding for the four slots (or 13 for five if you aren't a believer that Miami will actually be #24).

Charlotte [not connected to current USL team]
Cincinnati [FC Cincinnati - USL]
Detroit [not connected to locally popular NPSL team]
Indianapolis [Indy Eleven - NASL]
Nashville [not connected to upcoming USL team]
Phoenix [Phoenix Rising - USL] <--- yes, that's actually the club's name now
Raleigh/Durham [North Carolina FC - NASL]
Sacramento [Sac Republic is no longer part of this?]
San Antonio [San Antonio FC - USL]
San Diego
St. Louis [St. Louis FC - USL + bigger money investors]
Tampa Bay [Tampa Bay Rowdies - USL]


Elbowing out the Sacramento Republic owners and identity seems like an enormous mistake to me.
 

Infield Infidel

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Surprised Ottawa didn't apply, they have a stadium and solid attendance. I figured their move to USL was like Tampa Bay, a way to have closer contact with MLS.
 
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Titans Bastard

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Surprised Ottawa didn't apply, they have a stadium and solid attendance. I figured their move to USL was like Tampa Bay, a way to have closer contact with MLS.
They may have just wanted to get away from the NASL dumpster fire. In the USL, they aren't traveling west of the Mississippi and they've already partnered up with Montreal. Both will save money.

Ottawa has made some MLS expansion noises in the past, but I think the market is just too small. I see them as a worse candidate than all twelve markets on the list.
 

Titans Bastard

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As has been rumored for about a month the Timbers have apparently signed Sebastian Blanco (pending physical, ITC etc):
http://www.espnfc.com/story/3051737/portland-timbers-sign-sebastian-blanco-from-san-lorenzo-sources
A $4m fee is a big signing. The article says that Portland beat out Club América and Fenerbahçe; his profile does look like that of a player more likely to wind up with a big Mexican club. Not all of these signings are a complete success (like his Timbers predecessor Melano), but these are the sorts of deals I want to see. Not Frank Lampard types.

Some other news:

  • LA signed French winger Romain Alessandrini from Marseille, where he was a rotational starter for a few years. At age 27, this looks like a good signing. LA's midfield is loaded with talented players (Jones, Lleget, this guy, the Portuguese DM they signed, Ema Boateng, Jose Villarreal, Raul Mendiola). The question will be how Lleget and Jones fit together.
  • NYCFC signed 25 year old Finnish CM Alexander Ring from Kaiserslautern. He's a box-to-box guy who supposed cost €300k, @Schnerres, scouting report? I assume he's the player they wanted Mix Diskerud to be. (Diskerud is still in limbo.)
  • Minnesota United landed their starting goalkeeper - John Alvbåge, a 34 year old Swede who comes from IFK Göteborg. He's on loan through mid July with the option to extend it another 1.5 years, so they can cut and run if he turns out to suck.
  • Toronto signed Chris Mavinga, a 25 year old French/Congolese LB/CB who has bounced from Liverpool's academy to France to Rubin Kazan, where hasn't been playing. Not sure if he's competing for one of the CB positions in the 3-5-2 or competing with Justin Morrow at LWB.
  • Seattle signed 29 year old DM Gustav Svensson. He's another Swede with multiple stints at IFK Göteborg, with detours in Turkey, Ukraine, and in 2016 China. Seattle seems to be taking advantage of the CSL's sudden decision to reduce the number of foreigner slots per club. He's Osvaldo Alonso insurance, I'd guess.
  • Atlanta signed 23 year old Venezuelan forward Josef Martinez on loan from Torino. He has 2.5 years of Serie A experience, but was never quite a full-time starter. I'd guess that he'll be part of Atlanta's front four with Kenwyne Jones, Miguel Almiron, and Hector Villalba, but it's always hard to tell with expansion teams. Atlanta's roster is very intriguing.
  • Philadelphia signed Bosnian NT midfielder Haris Medunjanin. He spent all of 2016 at Maccabi Tel Aviv, before that had stints at Deportivo, Gaziantespor, Maccabi Tel Aviv (again), Real Sociedad, and AZ. The Union have a lot of midfield options to sort through now, especially because Edu is healthy again.
  • Philly also signed Fafà Picault on a free from St. Pauli. He pissed off the management there for some reason and they were publicly thrilled to get rid of him.
  • NYRB signed an 18 year old Cameroonian center back, Hassan Ndam. Their release says he comes from Rainbow FC, which has sent a number of other players to NYRB in the past. Ndam played HS soccer in Florida last year, though, so I'm not sure what that's all about.
  • Soony Saad signed with Sporting KC once again. He spent the last two years playing in Thailand.
  • Vancouver sold their academy product Kianz Froese to Fortuna Düsseldorf. The Whitecaps are producing some interesting prospects, but they are having a really hard time getting them to take the next step. Carl Robinson has not given many chances to his youth, except for current Canadian wunderkind Alphonso Davies.
  • San Jose signed German DM Florian Jungwirth from Darmstadt. They already have three other defensive-minded CMs in Godoy, Ceren, and Alashe, so perhaps the fact they announced him as a D/M indicates he will be used in defense more often. They also signed center forward Danny Hoesen on loan from Groningen.
 

Titans Bastard

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Elbowing out the Sacramento Republic owners and identity seems like an enormous mistake to me.

The big money behind the Sacramento big (Nagle) and the owners of the Sacramento Republic brand have reconciled. That's really important to their bid. Sacramento has done everything right with the USL launch, the stadium plans, and a large fanbase for a minor league team. They can't afford any infighting because at this point it's pretty obvious that they really need to force their way in and that MLS is looking for reasons to select other markets instead. Sacramento MLS is ready to roll, but MLS still hasn't pulled the trigger; if MLS really wanted Sacramento they'd be in already.
 

Senator Donut

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That is the first halved shirt in MLS that I can remember. Seeing the whole outfit with mismatched shirts and socks gives it s bit of a jester/harlequin vibe, but I like it. It definitely "feels" more European than MLS. (Ironically, in watching Cagliari play in halves shirts while I type this.) it also looks like less of a giant UHC billboard than their last few efforts. I wish they had made the left sleeve red to complete the look, but I'll probably fork over $60 of my hard-earned money for this polyester shirt.
 

steeplechase3k

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I like those. The Timbers did half kits for a few years but they were similar colors. Dark/light green or red.

It also makes the red and blue of the logo show up more.
 

Arroyo Con Frijoles

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The "New England flag" thirds are my favorite Revs shirt ever, but I really like these too. I am now excited for another inevitably lackluster season!
 

Titans Bastard

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Catching up on some moves:

  • Carlos Carmona has dropped one letter and moved from Atalanta to Atlanta. He's a 29 year old CM with 50 caps for Chile. Atlanta's player recruitment has been impressive, though it remains to be seen how well and how quickly the team can gel.
  • San Jose signed Jahmir Hyka, a 28 year old Albanian midfielder, from Luzern of the Swiss Super League. Transfermarkt tells me he's primarily a left-sided player, which makes sense because SJ already has a glut of CMs.
  • Portland acquired Kenyan CB/DM Lawrence Olum from Sporting Kansas City for $50k in allocation money and a draft pick. He's no more than a serviceable backup, but his acquisition came on the heels of losing another CB Gbenga Arokoyo to a long-term injury. Liam Ridgewell is a lock starter at CB, but his partner is up on the air - maybe Olum, maybe veteran Roy Miller, maybe Rennico Clarke, maybe more-of-a-DM Amobi Okugo. They could really stand to find an upgrade. Nat Borchers, who IMO is one of the best American center backs never to quite reach a USMNT level (he did get a few caps) has retired. He's 35 and had a serious injury last year.
  • Dallas signed a pair of players - 31 year old Argentine RB Hernán Grana and 21 year old Venezuelan winger Carlos Cermeño. Both are on loan, from All Boys (ARG) and Deportivo Táchira (VEN) respectively. Grana had a stint for the Crew before; he was acquired because the contract of an earlier signing, Jose Salvatierra, was canceled after a failed medical.
  • Philly signed creative midfielder Adam Najem, a product of the NYRB academy who couldn't come to terms with his team and was traded. Najem had a successful NCAA career at Akron, but was reportedly NYRB wouldn't budge from the league minimum of $50k. With Davis, Adams, and Basuljevic they have plenty of academy midfielders on their squad as it is.
  • RSL signed winger Brooks Lennon on loan from Liverpool. He's 19 and was a member of their academy before signing with Liverpool. I think he's a reasonably good prospect, but he's not going to make it at Liverpool, so this could be the first step towards permanently rejoining RSL.
  • Minnesota signed 25 year old Danish winger Bashkim Kadrii on loan from FC Copenhagen. Glancing at his history, he was a regular at OB for a while, but has been a bench guy for FCK since transferring. He'll probably be wing depth behind Ibarra and Venegas in Minnesota to start the season.
  • Columbus signed Artur, a 20 year old DM on loan from São Paulo. Midfield depth behind Wil Trapp, probably with an option to buy if he turns out to be good.
 

Titans Bastard

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steeplechase3k

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  • Portland acquired Kenyan CB/DM Lawrence Olum from Sporting Kansas City for $50k in allocation money and a draft pick. He's no more than a serviceable backup, but his acquisition came on the heels of losing another CB Gbenga Arokoyo to a long-term injury. Liam Ridgewell is a lock starter at CB, but his partner is up on the air - maybe Olum, maybe veteran Roy Miller, maybe Rennico Clarke, maybe more-of-a-DM Amobi Okugo. They could really stand to find an upgrade. Nat Borchers, who IMO is one of the best American center backs never to quite reach a USMNT level (he did get a few caps) has retired. He's 35 and had a serious injury last year
Olum played for the USL Timbers in 2007-08 so he's coming "home".

There are rumors that the Timbers are working to sign Cameroonian Defender Banana Yaya as the second CB.

And I agree on Borchers, he also seems like a really wonderful person, he's staying in Portland and going to be working on the Timbers TV broadcasts.
 

Titans Bastard

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Olum played for the USL Timbers in 2007-08 so he's coming "home".

There are rumors that the Timbers are working to sign Cameroonian Defender Banana Yaya as the second CB.

And I agree on Borchers, he also seems like a really wonderful person, he's staying in Portland and going to be working on the Timbers TV broadcasts.
His beard will be missed.

 

Titans Bastard

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He's back in Cascadia, for Vancouver this time:


The Whitecaps have struggled to get good production from a forward lately. Montero scored double-digit goals in all four seasons for Seattle from 2009-2012.
 

Senator Donut

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Minnesota received $100k GAM and $125k TAM in 2018, and an international roster spot in 2017 for surrendering their spot in the allocation order for a player they didn't even want.
 

Titans Bastard

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Oft-injured winger Josh Gatt signs with Minnesota

Gatt played in six games for Molde at the end of the 2016 season after finally returning to health. He had missed over three years, with the exception of an abortive 5 minute substitute appearance in 2015 during which he re-injured himself.

He never had a particularly refined game, but he was insanely fast. Injuries take their toll, so the speed and quickness he has retained after so many years on the shelf is the big question for him.


NYCFC signed a DP winger, 29 year old Argentine Maxi Moralez. He comes from Mexico's León and prior to that was a five-year starter for Atalanta in Serie A, receiving a solitary cap for Argentina in 2011.

NYCFC looks strong on the wings in 4-3-3 with Harrison and Moralez as starters and Lewis and Shelton off the bench. There's Tommy McNamara, too, though I suspect he'll line up centrally in 2017.
 

Titans Bastard

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I'm a fan of this if true. Cropper, Knighton, and Shuttleworth are all mediocre goalkeepers and we really don't need to carry all of them plus Matt Turner. Using one to get Femi back is a minor win and should clear up a bit of cap space too (assuming cash isn't part of the deal). Plus, the word seems to be that Cropper has the edge for the starting job and even though I'd rate him as below-average for an MLS starter, he alone among the three has upside potential.