1. “Winning the off-season” a silly saying … but let’s say it anyway!
Two things to say about this phrase “Winning the off-season.”
First, there probably has never been anything as inane in the MLS vernacular as that goofy little idiom. Am I right? Honestly, “Winning the off-season” is as empty-calorie as a snow cone.
Second, let’s say it anyway! We use that silly phrase because … well, because declaring a winner of the off-season is fun! No, it doesn’t mean a thing. But who cares?
Now that we have cleared that up … Toronto FC is winning the off-season. Again.
It was about this time last year that many of us declared TFC as the top procurer of healing balm for the December-January window. That is, we declared Toronto champion of off-season additions and subtractions.
Sure enough, Toronto’s improvement factor was significant, adding four wins and 8 points to its 2014 totals, thanks largely to off-season additions Jozy Altidore and (even more so) league MVP winner Sebastian Giovinco. Historically speaking, the BMO Field bunch climbed a major rung on the big ladder, gaining the franchise’s very first playoff berth. (They subsequently got kicked in the teeth in the playoffs, but it was progress nonetheless.)
Now they’ve done it again, rising above all off-season challengers by “completing” a project began last year.
For this off-season, TFC already had its difference makers in place: Altidore, Giovinco and Michael Bradley. What they needed was more of the “rock solids.” They needed the backbone guys, the mid-priced dependables that every MLS champion has. They especially needed those guys in defense. And, they needed more leadership to steer everything in the right directions.
Welp, check, check and check-arooney. In the December-January additions of Drew Moor, Steven Beitashour, Clint Irwin and Will Johnson, TFC has covered the bases. Moor isn’t international caliber, but he’s a quality MLS center back with oodles of experience. Beitashour is probably top half in the ranking of MLS right backs. Irwin is 26 and was always solid in three seasons as the Colorado’s starters. Johnson wasn’t quite the same after returning in 2015 from a shattered right leg, but he is still an international (for Canada) and a man whose leadership will be missed in Portland.
There is one more piece that TFC may need in place. Or they may already have it; it’s hard to say at this point.
They need the right manager on the sidelines. It might be Greg Vanney, the man currently in charge. Vanney was fighting with a short stick last year, stuck with too many pedestrian choices along the back line. And it showed. Now he’s got a roster that looks like an MLS contender, not just a team scrapping hard for a playoff spot.
That’s good for TFC – but it comes with a price for Vanney: The pressure is on now.
2. The message behind FC Dallas’ recent signings
When MLS signings don’t immediately make sense, pay attention to what clubs are telling you with those roster additions.
Eyebrows were raised when FC Dallas announced acquisition of two solid defensive midfielders, Juan Esteban Ortiz and Carlos Gruezo, who was among the youngest 2014 World Cup starters.
Of course, FCD already had two steady-eddies at defensive midfield in Kellyn Acosta and Victor Ulloa. That duo wasn’t just a secure holding midfield pair, they were shining examples, the very pride and joy, of Dallas’ highly successful academy program. Their story – two homegrown signings, starting for the club smack dab in the middle of the park – resonated through MLS, and FCD fans were rightfully, fiercely proud.
So why, then, is Dallas apparently trying to corner the market on defensive midfielders? As I said, pay attention to what FCD officials are saying with these signings, without actually saying it.
Ulloa has been such a wonderful story, nearly out of the pro game, but then rescued by Oscar Pareja and molded into a darn solid MLS starter. And he’ll continue to be part of the Toyota Stadium puzzle. But after two playoff appearances, FCD officials likely surmised that Ulloa alone could take the team only so far.
Either he needed to keep growing and continue to elevate his game, or they needed a “next level” presence at holding midfield. Ulloa’s usefulness was in wisdom beyond his years; his positioning and discipline in screening the defense was A-plus stuff. On the other hand, Ulloa’s mid- and long-range passing were just OK, and his range in covering ground was limited. That sometimes left Pareja hamstrung tactically.
As for Acosta, Pareja sees what everyone else sees, a player who can connect lines and contribute a few goals and assists each year. But Acosta – who is currently in his first full U.S. national team camp – needs to feel free to get forward, and that means his holding partner in Pareja’s 4-2-3-1 has to cover more ground.
With Ortiz or (more likely) Gruezo, Accosta will lean forward in the double-pivot, adding utility by connecting more freely with playmaker Mauro Diaz.
Dallas could surely go to the playoffs once again with Ulloa’s ability to interpret and interrupt passing lanes. But a tough tackler who covers more ground? That gives FCD the best chance of advancing further than last year’s Western Conference finals. This is FC Dallas being ambitious, hoping to take things to another level.
3. Roster makeover in L.A. – or just “defensive makeover?”
When is a “roster re-set” really more of a “roster re-set lite?”
Here’s one. It may look like an entire roster overhaul is happening out in sunny Bruce Arena Valley, where players have been coming and going in batches over the last few weeks. But that’s not true – not exactly, anyway.
The entire rear guard is being made over. That stacked attack remains intact.
It hardly takes a bunch of Northern California techies to figure out where L.A. went wrong in 2015. The Galaxy conceded 46 goals, worst among the six Western Conference playoff teams. From there, allowing three goals in a single-elimination playoff matchwas always a recipe for elimination.
That was nothing like the 2011 championship season, when L.A. allowed just 28 goals in 34 contests that season. Or, consider the 2014 season, when they allowed just 37 goals (tied for best in the league) en route to the MLS Cup title?
So Bruce Arena and team president Chris Klein went to work. Hard to say which side ultimately pulled the trigger on deals that saw Juninho and Omar Gonzalez leave the club for Liga MX deals, but the result is the same either way. They are being replaced.
Dutch tough guy Nigel de Jong is among the targets, according to reports. He’s a different midfielder than Juninho, more of a stay-home screener and a ferocious tackler. Juninho’s effectiveness was in his box-to-box, all-around ability. And that worked quite well around the StubHub Center for a bunch of years – until Steven Gerrard was added to the mix.
With the former Liverpool legend now patrolling central midfield, L.A. clearly needed more protection for the back line – the kind of protection a 35-year-old Gerrard cannot offer. (Gerrard will actually turn 36 in May.)
As for the back line itself, that will be directed in 2016 by someone with more experience than Gonzalez; Tuesday the team officially announced Jelle van Damme’s signing. English veteran Ashley Cole may be on the way, too … and we can argue whether that is a good or a bad thing. Either way, Gonzales, Todd Dunivant (retirement) and Tommy Meyer (option declined) are all gone from the 2015 back line. And Robbie Rogers may be switching sides due to Cole’s arrival.
Throw in that swap-out in goal (Dan Kennedy for departed Donovan Ricketts) and this is a defensive makeover like nothing seen in the Arena years around Carson.
4. Setting the over-under on Didier Drogba goals
Now that it looks like Didier Drogba will return to MLS and Montreal this year, a few of us are playing the “over-under” game with Drogba goals in 2016. Where is your number?
Before you stake a position, let’s talk it out.
First, we all know that prudent usage, with plenty of breaks built in for Drogba, would be best for the 37-year-old Ivorian legend. Remember, Amway Canadian Championship is big stuff above the border. So in “either-or” situations, where he needs to miss one or the other, he’s like to miss MLS matches that are stacked close to Canadian Championship contests.
Ditto for any other set of two league matches over four days. Matches on artificial turf look like another good spot to take the occasional break. Long story short, he could perhaps play (just spit-balling here) 24-26 MLS matches. And that is IF Drogba avoids any big injuries.
Also recall that his other-worldly strike rate of 2015 (11 goals in 11 matches) all happened near season’s end, after a significant period of rest. A longer haul will surely dent that dizzying games-to-goals ratio.
All that said, we can look at a couple of comparable pieces, or as near as we can get.
Juan Pablo Angel was 37 in his final MLS year, which unfolded anonymously at beleaguered Chivas USA. He was still somewhat effective, never mind scoring just four times in 19 appearances in that curtain closer. Again, it was lowly Chivas USA; the Goats scored a skinny total of only 24 goals that year (in 30 games), so cut the man some slack.
Robbie Keane turned 35 last year, but managed 20 goals in 22 Galaxy appearances, a truly exceptional strike rate. The point is quality strikers who have come to MLS from the highest levels of the game have prospered well into their 30s. Not all of them, of course, but some have.
Given the increasing likelihood of injury absence, I’m setting my Drogba over-under at 15.5 goals. Which side are you taking?
5. The Little Five
5a. you know what feels very “MLS 1.0?” Talking about which signings are “good for MLS,” or “bad for MLS.” ESPN voice Taylor Twellman – for my money, the most connected man in MLS circles this side of commissioner Don Garber – has been banging this drum lately. And he’s 100 percent right. Teams make personnel choices, not the league. Managers, GMs and technical directors decide what best for their organizations; they don’t care what’s “best for MLS,” nor should they. At 21 years old, MLS is bigger than that.
5b. Deepest teams in MLS? Not much of a contest. It’s New England in the East (even without Jermaine Jones, who probably isn’t returning, although we just don’t know for sure.) And it’s Vancouver in the West. Word is that Kekuta Manneh, said to be nipping at Fabian Castillo’s heals as the league’s premier young winger, may not even crack the starting 11 for Carl Robinson’s side. Yep, that’s depth.
5c. Everyone gets so excited about “trialists.” Too many of us hear “trialist” and let our imaginations go berserk. Here’s what I always say: “Tap me on the shoulder when they sign a contract.” And then tap me again when they play a meaningful minute. Because even if you recognize the name – and that happens frequently – there is a reason they are essentially “trying out.” Speaking generally, and not to be all scrooge-y about it, if they were good enough, they wouldn’t be “on trial.” One will occasionally stick. Most won’t. Keep that in mind.
5d. Hard not to see NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna’s veiled shot at dismissed manager Jason Kreis when he says the club needed “a personality that could lead and could take the pressure. It's important to have a calming influence on the squad.” That was from the news conference to introduce new manager Patrick Vieira.
5e. From this Center Line Soccer interview with San Jose manager Dominic Kinnear, we learn that Steven Lenhart seems highly unlikely to play for the Earthquakes this year. Actually, we learn a lot of things from this extensive, two-part interview with the veteran MLS manager. That’s just the one little nugget that is sure to most interest MLS fans beyond Northern California, because of Lenhart’s status as “player fans love to hate most.” Lenhart, 29 years old, continues to struggle with the knee issue that kept him out for the entire 2015 season. Indeed, he may have played his final game for the ‘Quakes.
Steve Davis has covered Major League Soccer since is first kick in 1996. He writes on-line for World Soccer Talk and co-hosts the weekly radio show/podcast ESPN Soccer Today on 103.3 FM in Dallas. Davis is also the radio play-by-play voice for FC Dallas on 100.7 FM.
