Greyhounds are off and running
The incumbent is defunct. The traditional power has renewed inspiration. Last year’s favorite is healthy again and reinforced. The league’s all-time winningest team has joined the fray. And yet, the most feared team is the one with the worst record in MLS history. Cataclysmic changes during the offseason have forged an explosive Eastern Conference. The race to avoid fifth place is sure to be tight.
CHICAGO
Could turf back-Fire?
How will moving to Naperville affect the Fire? Tickets to see the team play at North Central College sold well early, so the passionate support should continue, but will noisy fans be enough to maintain Chicago’s supremacy at home? The Fire had a sparkling .758 winning percentage at Soldier Field but now must play on an artificial surface in a venue that might not feel major league.
Right now, injuries are a primary concern for Chicago. Carlos Bocanegra, Ante Razov, Josh Wolff and Billy Sleeth nursed their way through preseason and should be ready for the opener, but Hristo Stoitchkov (hernia surgery), Jim Curtin (fractured fibula) and Aleksey Korol (knee bursitis) are out. The Fire hopes to have Stoitchkov back by early May, when the top Americans must report to World Cup training camp.
Chris Armas is a definite. Wolff is a probable, if he’s healthy. DaMarcus Beasley, Zach Thornton and Razov also are contenders. Bocanegra, who started at the Gold Cup, is a long shot.
Cardinal Field’s high-tech turf, designed for soccer, could provide Chicago an additional advantage because visiting teams will need to adjust. It could backfire if it contributes to more injuries.
The loss of Diego Gutierrez is the only major change to the roster, and the Fire plans to stick with what has made it successful.
In sizing up the league this year, Coach Bob Bradley hinted at his team’s internal motivations.
“There are a couple of teams that have been pretty successful over the years and have worked pretty hard to keep those teams together, then there are some other teams that were basically given a free pass to get better,” Bradley said. “Is it going to be that the teams that built things up gradually still have an advantage because of the continuity, or are the teams that got this unbelievable opportunity going to move past them?”
Fire general manager Peter Wilt looks for lots of fireworks in the East.
“There will be a lot of long nights for Eastern Conference defenders,” he says, “a lot of 4-2 and 5-3 games.”
COLUMBUS
Making space for Cunningham
Sending four players to the World Cup probably wouldn’t help the Crew’s chances of proving that the 11-game unbeaten streak in the latter half of last season was no fluke. Having Brian McBride, Brian Maisonneuve, Jeff Cunningham and Brian West with the national team in recent months, however, has helped.
“Those guys are way ahead of the rest of the team, and when they came back in, it immediately raised the level,” Coach Greg Andrulis said. “Jeff Cunningham, in particular, has really stepped up his game.”
Although it seems unlikely that all four will go to Korea, Andrulis has more depth at his disposal than ever before. Dante Washington and Edson Buddle provide viable replacements up front, and Duncan Oughton and Robert Warzycha support the midfield – along with draftee Kyle Martino, who has impressed in preseason. A glut of players are competing to start in the back: Mike Clark, Eric Denton, Brian Dunseth, Chad McCarty, Daniel Torres and Mike Lapper, when he returns from injury in early April.
The Crew looks to play a 4-4-2, unbalanced slightly to provide room for Cunningham to operate on the left side.
“Jeff needs space,” Andrulis said. “The other day a teammate made a run in front of him and he stopped and said, ‘What are you doing?’ He’s that confident that he’s going to get behind the guy in front of him.”
Thus, there is no left midfielder, and West joins the attack on the right – almost like a third forward. Andrulis also wants to establish more of a wide game to create chances for McBride, so Denton is likely to overlap on the left – behind Cunningham, of course.
D.C. UNITED
Waiting for Moreno and Olsen
After two dismal seasons, Ray Hudson has provided a breath of fresh air for the fallen three-time champions. The ebullient Englishman’s charismatic madness has infected youngsters and veterans alike – the main question is whether the team is talented enough to win games early and uphold that enthusiasm.
Injuries to Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen will keep them out for the first couple months of the season. By then, Eddie Pope and Richie Williams may be gone for World Cup duty. And Marco Etcheverry, still the hub of the squad, enters the season unfit because of toe surgery and a calf injury.
Within a 34-hour span recently, Hudson’s own optimism blossomed. The day before United’s Champions Cup match against Comunicaciones at RFK Stadium, he shook his head as he assessed the team’s chances in the Eastern Conference.
“It all depends on injuries,” he said. “Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen are two players that make us a different team – a real contender. Without them, I see some serious question marks.”
But the next night, after United’s 2-1 victory in front of 13,000 rain-soaked, bipartisan fans, Hudson professed his excitement.
“We needed this,” Hudson said. “This was our first legitimate launch pad. I’m not saying it’s going to be roses all the way … but this was an important game for us because I had some question marks about certain things, and they got answered in a very positive way.”
Honduran defender Milton Reyes made his debut that night and likely will be a force on the right flank. Goalie Nick Rimando, Brandon Prideaux and Ivan McKinley are other newcomers in the revamped United defense.
The key for United may be how well its three young starters – Bobby Convey, Mark Lisi and Santino Quaranta – produce goals.
METROSTARS
Tinkering at the last minute
Beware the counterattack. The MetroStars are going to leave six players to guard the fort and, upon gaining possession, fly at opposition defenses with some combination involving Clint Mathis, Diego Serna, Petter Villegas and Rodrigo Faria. Oh, and they might add ex-UConn speedster Darin Lewis to that mix.
“We’re basically trying to get as many guns as we can because we’re going to be a team centered around going forward,” Coach Octavio Zambrano said.
The problem is that Lewis and a couple other important prospects were still unsigned a week before the regular season. The search for a central defense partner for Mike Petke seemed to end at Joe Addo, who would have to pass through waivers before officially joining the team.
Furthermore, the two U.S. national team veterans, Marcelo Balboa and Tab Ramos, limped through much of preseason and may not be ready to go 90 minutes right away.
Zambrano has Balboa penciled alongside Daniel Hernandez in defensive midfield and has been thrilled with Villegas, who will play attacking midfield whenever Ramos or Mathis are unavailable.
“Petter Villegas has been our best player in camp, without question,” said Zambrano, who also is pleased with draftee Brad Davis in midfield and Brian Kamler at left back.
Signing starters and tinkering with lineups right before the season has never been a formula for success in MLS, but the MetroStars have an offensive arsenal capable of punishing any team that wants to send its defenders forward.
NEW ENGLAND
Pingpong diplomacy
Feeling slightly trapped and mostly bored in Aguas de Lindoia, Brazil, the Revolution players pitched money to buy a pingpong table. Table tennis became the focus of evening activities.
Midfielder Ted Chronopoulos, an original member of the Revolution and now a captain (along with goalkeeper Juergen Sommer), thinks the 21 days spent in Brazil were essential for a team with so many new players and a history of clashing personalities.
“That brought the team together because every night after dinner, 20 guys would get around and have a pingpong tournament, yelling and screaming,” said Chronopoulos. “In past years, I don’t think the chemistry was that great. Fernando [Clavijo] wanted to get back to the roots of guys hanging out with each other. We were almost forced to hang out with each other in Brazil because we were so secluded.”
The remaining old guard got acquainted with Carlos Llamosa, Jim Rooney, Mamadou Diallo, Alex Pineda Chacon and Steve Ralston – all projected starters for the revamped Revs.
That unity will be tested when the team starts the season with four road games and suddenly immense expectations.
“We all may be greyhounds racing each other, but let’s face it – New England is the hare,” muses D.C. United’s Hudson.
Hudson says the Revs will have no excuses.
“With that sort of quality and ability – right, left, center, front and back – it’s either a winner or a catastrophe waiting to happen,” he said. “And I hope that puts pressure on them, because I don’t care saying it. There should be no excuses for that team.”
Clavijo is confident that his team can handle the pressure.
“I have absolutely no doubt that we have the right leaders in this group,” Clavijo said. “We’re not worried about expectations from other people, only expectations from each other.”
by Soccer America Senior Editor Will Kuhns