The Eastern Conference, rough as it was last year, is a treacherous ziggurat his season. Every team looks improved and each is hungry to atone for its own failings in 2005.
By Ridge Mahoney
GANG OF THREE, OR FOUR. D.C. stumbled, the Revs fizzled, the Fire flickered, and the Wizards vanished.
That was then. What now?
Coach Peter Nowak gets his acid test, following a playoff collapse and the controversy of an alleged racial remark. Well-stocked with a trio Argentines, D.C. United is just as dependent on its American role-players: Ben Olsen, Brian Carroll, Alecko Eskandarian, Bobby Boswell. How Nowak manages them and Freddy Adu will determine if he sticks around or gives way to Bruce Arena.
New England's national-team burdens last year did have an upside: extensive experience for the likes of James Riley and Andy Dorman. Class abounds with Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Clint Dempsey, Pat Noonan, Shalrie Joseph, Michael Parkhurst and Matt Reis — all ranked among the league's elite. Failure this year is not an option.
The Fire has most of what it takes to go all the way, but going all the way in this conference is a steep climb up an erupting volcano. Ivan Guerrero, Thiago, Justin Mapp and Gonzalo Segares need ample doses of the consistency doled out by Chris Rolfe and Jim Curtin.
Zach Thornton needs to justify the confidence in him shown by Coach Dave Sarachan, whose prowess with rookies means opportunity for Calen Carr.
K.C. CONUNDRUM. Bob Gansler has a countenance seemingly etched by conservatism but this season he'll wear it as a poker face as he pushes all his chips into the pot.
Jettisoning proven veterans Chris Klein and Diego Gutierrez and taking on Eddie Johnson, a.k.a. the King of Bling, are not the ways of a man playing for peanuts but the stakes have been raised by missing the playoffs despite a 11-9-12 season a year after falling to D.C. in the 2004 final.
Yes, they're desperate. The spotlight shines harshly on veterans Jim Conrad, Nick Garcia, Sasha Victorine and Josh Wolff, for it is they who must carry this team.
NEW-LOOKERS. More than a new name will be needed in New Jersey, but the Team Formerly Known as the MetroStars has also gambled by acquiring Edson Buddle from Columbus, scorer of 42 goals in four seasons, the last of which included a suspension under the MLS's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Policy. Can he find safe haven from temptation, while supported by Youri Djorkaeff and Amado Guevara, and be Bullish in the box? Coach Johnston needs Mo defense, too.
In the other direction went Eddie Gaven, who in some circles took blame for a dysfunctional midfield, sporadic scoring, and not being Ricardo Clark. New Columbus coach Sigi Schmid has also added Chilean defender Marcos Gonzalez and countrymate Sebastian Rozental, Ugandan defender/midfielder Joel Kitamarike, and striker Jacob Thomas, a Texan who has been playing in the German lower divisions.
That's an exotic mix for Middle America, yet only once in the past three seasons has the Crew reached the postseason. Upgrade time!