Soccer <\/p>\n
First kick is just over three weeks away, which means that teams around the league are starting to scramble to fill some holes (or in some cases, to create new holes<\/a> that will subsequently need to be filled).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Eastern Conference today, Western Conference tomorrow. Here are a few of the teams I\u2019m keeping an eye on at the moment, and the questions that need answering:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n TFC<\/a> are in the throes of a very, very, very slow-moving rebuild. Remember back five years ago, when they came into this decade as one of the league\u2019s most ambitious and most successful teams? They finished second in the table during that COVID-shortened season, and it seemed like the 2020s would look much like the back half of the 2010s did for the Reds.<\/p>\n Nothing but pain since then. They\u2019ve finished 26th, 27th, 29th (Wooden Spoon) and 22nd over the past four seasons. They\u2019ve run through five coaches in that time \u2013 new boss Robin Fraser<\/a>, who had a hand in all that 2010s success, is the sixth. They have not spent big in the transfer market, but they made two of the more ambitious DP signings in league history in Lorenzo Insigne<\/a> and Federico Bernardeschi<\/a>, and plied them with lucrative, long-term contracts. And thus they are always up at or near the top of annual roster spend.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a rolling disaster. And as of now, the plan appears to be\u2026 run it back<\/a>? Again?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The good news for Reds fans: this might not matter<\/a>. MLS is a weird league, and if Fraser can get buy-in up and down the roster, and can develop a couple of the young (or youngish) guys available, TFC could outkick their coverage even if the team\u2019s a collection of the same faces in the same places.<\/p>\n Still, both Fraser and GM Jason Hernandez have been explicit this winter that the team\u2019s in the market for a new center forward. And, well, I\u2019m going to refer you to that \u201cslow-moving\u201d characterization of the rebuild.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I can say progress,\u201d Fraser told reporters on a Wednesday Zoom call, as per the good folks at Waking the Red<\/a>. \u201cI definitely know that there\u2019s a lot going on, put it that way. It\u2019s not really my area of expertise, but in my constant communications with Jason, I know there\u2019s a lot going on. No door has been closed yet, I think there are a lot of irons in the fire.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the answer at this point would be goals by committee. If we can execute the things that are being asked of us, lots of different people will have goalscoring opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Oooof.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Gregg Berhalter said this team would have four or five new starters coming out of the winter window and heading into the season. So far they\u2019ve added:<\/p>\n If Sam Rogers<\/a> wins the other starting center-back job, that\u2019ll make six new starters.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing! Chicago<\/a> have been mostly terrible for a decade-and-a-half (shoutout 2017 tho), so a rebuild\u2019s naturally going to see some guys move on.<\/p>\n At the same time, it does make sense to keep a little bit of powder dry for the summer. For one, the global transfer market is more frothy at that point, and for two maybe the data Berhalter gets in games that matter from February through June changes his thinking on what kind of DP he needs to add in July.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Said every year since Thierry Henry hung \u2018em up after the 2014 season, and now hit with an extra bit of urgency given how close the Red Bulls<\/a> were to actually winning MLS Cup last year.<\/p>\n The two things that make it feel more possible this season are 1) the team actually did go fairly big last year with the acquisition of Emil Forsberg<\/a>, who was talismanic (an overused word in soccer, but accurate in this case) when available in 2024, and 2) they just moved along Dante Vanzeir<\/a>, who got his moment of glory in the 2024 postseason but was mostly another failed DP signing.<\/p>\n There are two current rumors. One is Timo Werner, the 28-year-old German international forward who\u2019s been miserable on loan from RB Leipzig to Tottenham Hotspur. The confounding factors are that Spurs are short of bodies, so they need all hands on deck, and Werner is now part of that problem due to a hamstring strain he just picked up.<\/p>\n Still, the potential move to RBNY makes a lot of sense from where I sit. Werner doesn\u2019t really have a future either with Tottenham or at Leipzig, and while there are a dozen Bundesliga sides he\u2019d help, he\u2019s on wages through 2026 that only a couple of Bundesliga sides are capable of paying. That means it\u2019s Red Bull Global on the hook, one way or the other (once the Spurs loan ends, anyway), so why not send him to a place where he\u2019d potentially rejuvenate his career and help catalyze a fanbase that\u2019s had their hopes and dreams stoked over the past 12 months?<\/p>\n There is a lot of smoke around this move.<\/p>\n The other name I\u2019ve seen thrown around is Patson Daka, a former RB Salzburg striker who got a big move to Leicester City a few years ago and has mostly not cut it at the Premier League level. Daka\u2019s two years younger than Werner, less injury-prone, and on roughly half the salary, so\u2026 lots of boxes checked here, especially when you look at his goalscoring track record in Austria.<\/p>\n It\u2019s another move that would make a ton of sense if RBNY truly do want to win a cup of some sort. But there\u2019s a lot less smoke here, and virtually none from proven outlets.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n My Pat Agyemang<\/a> agenda is alive and well after his exceptional showing with the US men\u2019s national team<\/a> in two caps this past month. Started and scored in the first game; came off the bench and scored in the second. Was all over the ball throughout, and I thought his movement was good.<\/p>\n But not great. Let me show you what I mean:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n (Yes, I shot that on my iPhone, we\u2019ll all just have to deal with it.)<\/p>\n My one little gripe with Agyemang today was the timing of this run. He\u2019s got to read the play and start sprinting a step sooner. If he does it\u2019s a goal. Doing that is the difference between being a consistent 10-12 goalscorer and a consistent 15-20 goalscorer.<\/p>\n Compare Agyemang\u2019s reactive movement to the way Brian White<\/a> proactively sets up his defender by drifting off his back shoulder, then actually starting his sprint before Diego Luna<\/a> lays in a through-ball:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Diego Luna and Brian White link up to deliver the lead!#USMNT<\/a> x @VW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/g0lghMaiFO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) January 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n White has none of the ability to score the types of run-through-the-lines-and-leave-defenders-in-the-dust goals that Agyemang buried twice with the US, but he\u2019s a 15-goal scorer in MLS anyway because of how polished and ruthless his off-ball movement is.<\/p>\n Given the improvement curve we\u2019ve seen from him over his first two years as a pro, I am very bullish on Big Pat\u2019s ability to add that kind of thing to his game. As per Tommy Scoops<\/a>, Charlotte<\/a> intend to give him that chance this season.<\/p>\n Bonus Question:<\/strong> Is Dean Smith going to play Pep Biel<\/a>, who has returned (but is not on a DP contract) as a true No. 10, or is he going to be inverted on the right wing again?<\/p>\n I\u2019m of the belief that Charlotte need more creativity out of midfield to go up a level, even with the addition of Wilfried Zaha<\/a> and with Agyemang\u2019s presumed improvement. But Smith preferred a more utilitarian approach in central midfield last year, and getting a pure creator into that mix would signify a big shift.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Lions<\/a> sold Facundo Torres<\/a> for a club-record fee last month. Since then they reportedly got close with Croatia international winger Marco Pa\u0161ali\u0107, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside. And that\u2019s really about it, save for some links to Evander<\/a> (who seems unlikely to play another game for the Portland Timbers<\/a> at this point).<\/p>\n Evander is a true No. 10 who would make a lot of sense for any MLS team that\u2019d build around him and pay him what it takes to make him happy. It\u2019d also allow Orlando to slide Mart\u00edn Ojeda<\/a> out into Torres\u2019 old spot as an inverted winger (though don\u2019t be surprised if there\u2019s news about South American interest in Ojeda as well; no guarantee he\u2019ll be wearing purple this year).<\/p>\n A potential Olivera<\/a> move is the one that intrigues me most, though. The Uruguayan international is a true winger who\u2019s made for a 4-2-3-1, which means he\u2019s likely not a great fit for LAFC<\/a> this year. There\u2019s been whispers about selling him on, and I can\u2019t imagine there\u2019d be a more natural fit for a 22-year-old South American with these numbers than playing for Oscar Pareja in Orlando:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWill Toronto be able to remake their roster at all?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Are Chicago keeping a DP slot open for the summer?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
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Is this the year RBNY finally go gigantic on a new DP signing?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Will Charlotte go with Big Pat up top or are they in the market for a DP 9?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
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Could Orlando get involved in the intra-league transfer market with a move for Evander or Cristian Olivera?<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n