Tales from the Off-Season: Part 1

The Schelotto saga

He wants to go, no wait he wants to stay, wait he wants to go again. At this point I have no clue what's on Guille's mind. Columbus fans are surely biting their nails as their best player is doing a quality Mitt Romney impersonation, changing his mind daily it seems. I don't expect this to end quietly. I wouldn't be surprised if Schelotto offers the Crew an ultimatum, "Pay me more or I'm gone!"

DP rumors a plenty

Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Veron, Shevchenko, Zurawski and just about anyone over the age of 30 who has had a decent career have been linked with a potential MLS move. Some of these (Veron, Figo, Zurawski) I see happening in the summer, others (everyone else) I don't envision ever coming to fruition. It will be interesting to see who the second batch of Designated Players will be, but expect more ridiculous rumors as time goes on.

Who's leaving?

Eddie Johnson has several teams chasing him, Taylor Twellman and Kenny Cooper want out of MLS, while Troy Perkins, Clarence Goodson and others have already jumped ship. The revolving door of talent that is MLS will ask for new stars to step up this year as it seems the league is having a "clearance sale". I'm honestly worried where the goals will come from if all our top strikers want out, but I'm hoping the league higher-ups will bend the rules a bit to allow for more pay to keep some of the guys here. In short, I'm worried.

MLS in the national team

The U-23 camp and current senior team camp are almost entirely made of MLS players and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the US' upcoming fixtures. There really isn't much to talk about, just more of a "congrtulations" to the boys.

The ongoing saga with Taylor Twellman's potential transfer

It's obvious by his brash public nature regarding the situation that Twellman is not pleased with New England/MLS' decision to deny a move overseas. Admittedly, Championship side Preston North End aren't the most alluring of sides, their current league position puts them in the relegation zone, but it's been made apparent Twellman wanted the move and feels as if the league is holding him back. Sound familiar? If you're a New England fan, it is. The past two years have seen frustrating battles between the front office and players; Clint Dempsey in 2006, Shalrie Joseph in 2007, and now it seems Twellman's set to take on that role in 2008.

As a Revs fan, I have two views on the move. One side of me would love to see Taylor go, we could use that money to sign the new Toja or Emilio, possibly throw some of the Twellman and Dempsey money into a youth academy, and start re-shaping the squad that has lost three consecutive MLS Cups. However, reality settles in and after years of supporting this club, I know it's not going to happen. I know the money would be sat on or traded for draft picks, much like Dempsey's allocation was. We wouldn't go out and sign anyone outside of the draft, and if we were to, the player would not be ready for first team football.

Call me negative if you must, but Revs fans as a whole tend to share this opinion, and history only enforces it. In recent years, major outgoing transfers have included Andy Dorman, James Riley, Clint Dempsey and Jose Cancela, just to name a few. In terms of players coming in, the only non-draft acquisition who has made a significant impact on the field would be Khano Smith, who joined the club in 2005. Even then it's easy to find the negatives, as it wasn't until this past season when he finally broke out of his erratic style of play into a deadly left-sided force.

Somehow the genius of Steve Nicol has held this team together as a consistently well performer in MLS, but again, Revs fans feel this isn't good enough. Don't get me wrong, I'd take an MLS Cup final appearance over a last place finish any day, but our problem is that we have unused allocations, large amounts of salary cap room and free roster spots that could ultimately be used on the final pieces of an MLS Cup winning squad; a catalyst if you will.

Ultimately, I share Twellman's frustration with the front office, but I can't escape overseas. It's that love/hate relationship every sports fan shares with their team that keeps pulling me back in. However, we Revs supporters as a whole have shown we won't settle for mediocrity, as last year's "Pay Shalrie" saga will show. In my honest opinion, I don't see this season being as hunky-dory as it was last year. I feel a bitter clash between supporters and the front office will ensue and our opinions will be made loud and clear. We will demand a full roster, making acquisitions when needed, and putting more some passion and effort into this team.

We're back!

MLS Insight is back from the dead! I'm sure no one will be reading this anytime soon, but for the handful that might be, a restructuring of the blog and new articles will be coming in the near future. There's a lot on my plate right now, but expect numerous changes to the site and frequent updates very soon.

USA v Catalonia game cancelled

The 9/13 friendly in Catalonia has been canceled by the Spanish Football Federation by an overwhelming majority vote. The reason has been cited as the Euro 2008 qualifier between Spain and Denmark the day after. The current plan is to hold a mini-camp prior to the Switzerland friendly, pending we find a replacement team.

New England Revolution v Carolina Railhawks match report

Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut was the venue for the US Open Cup semifinal between the New England Revolution of MLS and Carolina Railhawks of USL-1. 4,000+ were on attendance last night as the Revs pulled an extra time win over the Railhawks, coming back from a 1-0 deficit. Both teams finished the game with less than they started, Carolina receiving two red cards, New England getting one.

The game started poorly for the Revs as Carolina scored int he 6th minute off of an overall lazy effort from the team. The same can be said for the entire first half as lethargic play littered the field, the majority coming from Pat Noonan who seemed either hurt or bored. Towards the end of the first half, a ridiculous Carolina dive sparked both teams into a frenzy, the ensuing scuffles eventually leading to the ejection of Shalrie Joseph (New England) and Connolly Edozien (Carolina). Minutes later, Jeff Larentowicz would cap off a remarkable team goal, equalizing in the final minute of stoppage time.

The second half was better from the Revolution, as head coach Steve Nicol had obviously had some choice words for the team. Though you can't really say they played well, the were improving as the game went on, and would soon be aided by the ejection of David Stokes 10 minutes from the end of regulation. At the end of ninety minutes, we were deadlocked at one goal a piece.

Extra time started well for the Revs as Pat Noonan scored what would prove to be the game winner only three minutes into the first period. The goal came from a strong midfield run from the Gambian debutant Sainey Nyassi, who had encouraging play for his time on the field. The Revolution didn't die though, and continued to fight, with Adam Cristman having a goal handed on a silver platter minutes from the end of extra time, but unfortunately botched the shot.

Overall the Revolution played ok, well enough to beat a USL side, but if they want to win the Cup, improvements to the attitude and approach to the game must be made. Without Shalrie Joseph, and a slim selection for the backline, the offense will have to carry a lot of the weight.

New England now travel to Pizza Hut Park, the site where two Cup finals have been lost, on October 3rd.

Summer transfer roundup

Columbus Crew

IN: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Boca Juniors), Alejandro Moreno (Houston Dynamo), Andrei Pacheco (W Connection)
OUT: Danny Sztela (Racing Santender), Joseph Ngwenya (Houston Dynamo

Chivas USA

IN: Ramon Nunez (FC Dallas)
OUT:

Colorado Rapids

IN: Mehdi Ballouchy (Real Salt Lake), Daniel Osorno (Atlas), Tony Sanneh (Chicago Fire)
OUT: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)

Chicago Fire

IN: Wilman Conde Jr. (Milonarios), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (America)
OUT: Thiago (released), Tony Sanneh (released)

DC United

IN:
OUT:

FC Dallas

IN: Denilson (Al-Nasr), Juan Sebastián Botero (Independiente Medellín)
OUT: Ramon Nunez (Chivas USA)

Houston Dynamo

IN: Joseph Ngwenya (Houston Dynamo)
OUT: Alejanro Moreno (Columbus Crew)

Kansas City Wizards

IN: Eloy Colombano (LP Estudiantes), Carlos Marinelli (no club)
OUT:

Los Angeles Galaxy

IN: Israel Sesay (Bethesda Arsenal), David Beckham (Real Madrid), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Edson Buddle (Toronto FC), Abel Xavier (Middlesborough FC), Carlos Pavon (Real Espana)
OUT: Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

New England Revolution

IN: Sainey Nyassi (Ports Authority FC)
OUT: Arsene Oka (released), Ryan Solle (released)

New York Red Bulls

IN: Francis Doe (Atromitos FC)
OUT: Elie Ikangu

Real Salt Lake

IN: Javier Morales (Salamanca), Fabian Espindola (Sociedad Deportivo Quite), Matias Mantilla (Defensores de Belgrano ), Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Los Angeles Galaxy)
OUT: Freddy Adu (Benfica), Chris Klein (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Toronto FC

IN: Kenny Stamatopoulos (Tromso)
OUT: Andy Welsh (Blackpool)

*This is not a complete list. I am editing in all the moves that happened between June and August. If you see anything that is incorrect or a missing transfer, please feel free to post as a comment. Keep in mind that I'm editing in more.

New York Cosmos 2.0?

The latest news out of LaLa land involves not a player move, but rather a switch to the backroom staff. The (heavily) rumored move involves the resignation of Frank Yallop, bringing in former German national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann as a replacement.

Seeing as Chelsea and Tottenham have also been linked with Klinsi, I'm not sure that this is much more than a rumor, but he loves LA and I'm sure the Galaxy could find some loophole to get him here.

Stay tuned.