Tip Sheet: New York City FC, Orlando City plan for upcoming debut seasons
New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis ticked off his current duties as if he were preparing for a match at the weekend. His team will not play until the start of next season, but the responsibilities – different as they are compared to the playoff pursuits ongoing elsewhere – remain just as pressing.
“We’re scouting on all sorts of fronts right now,” Kreis said during a conference call held after the Expansion Priority Draft on Wednesday. “We’re scouting on the international front very heavily. We’re scouting in college very heavily. We’re scouting in the NASL – because the USL just finished – very heavily. We’re scouting MLS very heavily.”
Kreis and Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath need all of the information they can gather as their clubs attempt to build their squads over the next few months and react swiftly to changing landscape in front of them. Both managers must evaluate and weigh potential additions carefully as they attempt to build upon the pieces already in place.
Orlando City boasts the advantage of transferring its existing infrastructure into MLS after a successful run in USL PRO. Heath expects to include nine players from his USL PRO side (six have already signed and the club is in negotiations with three more) on his MLS roster next year. Their continued presence allows Heath to integrate fresh faces into the team without sacrificing the progress made over the past few years.
Some of those returning players – including Luke Boden and USL PRO MVP Kevin Molino – have established their credentials as potential MLS standouts, but the lack of top-flight experience – excluding Kaka, of course – needs addressing ahead of the upcoming campaign. The upcoming Expansion Draft on Dec. 10 will provide an opportunity for Orlando City to reinforce the side with seasoned figures with MLS experience. It is a opening Heath said he plans to take.
“First and foremost, we’re looking at somebody who can come in and contribute. For ourselves, we have some really good young players, we think, but we aren’t sure everybody there is going to contribute,” Heath said. “We know we’re going to need players who have played in the league. It’s a demanding league, we know that. I think it’s important that we get people who know the ins and outs of it.”
NYCFC already started the process of cobbling together MLS experience by acquiring Jeb Brovsky, Andrew Jacobson, Josh Saunders and Kwame Watson-Siriboe during the course of this year. Their presence allows Kreis to plan for the future with a base of proven, tested campaigners already in place to complement Frank Lampard and David Villa and establish the expectations within the ranks.
“I would say that both [Heath] and I have a real firm idea in our minds about how we want our teams to play, how we want our clubs to behave in the locker room and what kind of people we want to have in our groups,” Kreis said. “I think we’re looking the characteristics of the players who will fit into our style and the way we see the game”
By moving proactively to land several veterans before the Expansion Draft to set that tone, NYCFC now possesses the flexibility to act as a conduit to other clubs. Kreis and sporting director Claudio Reyna can pluck potential contributors out of the pool and shepherd other desirable options along to other clubs to compile resources for the future. The dexterity could prove useful down the road, particularly if NYCFC needs additional latitude to import players from overseas beyond its current trove of allocation money and draft picks.
The divergent paths followed so far unify around the task ahead, though. Both teams must use the next few months wisely to assemble squads capable of coping with the rigorous debut seasons and ensure all of their best laid plans come to fruition. As the list of duties reflects, there isn’t any time to waste.
Michael Bradley and Toronto FC need three points against Portland to bolster their quest for a playoff berth.
Five Points – Week 30
1. Toronto FC must stand and deliver against Portland: The straightforward victory over Chivas USA provided the Reds with something to build upon ahead of a six-pointer against the Timbers. TFC must find a way to cope with Portland’s ability to acquire possession and maintain its defensive shape accordingly. Some of the tweaks instituted by Greg Vanney – including placing Michael Bradley in a deeper role and restoring the recovered Steven Caldwell into central defense – must pay off to give the Reds a chance of claiming the required three points ahead of a difficult trip to LA Galaxy next weekend.
2. D.C. United must keep foot on the throttle against Philadelphia: Everything is breaking United’s way at the moment: Ben Olsen just signed a five-year contract extension, the team is at the top of the Eastern Conference and the taxing CONCACAF Champions League trek is just about over after the midweek victory against Tauro FC sealed a place in the last eight. This match against the Union provides an inviting opportunity to keep things rolling and protect the three-point advantage at the top of the East. Philly needs every point at this stage, but this game -- the most difficult fixture on its remaining schedule -- represents something of a bonus with a three-match homestand looming. United must find a way to restrict the Union in the wide areas and then strike when the visitors are stretched in order to sustain this recent run.
3. Morales vs. Morales at B.C. Place: Vancouver desperately needs a positive result at home to recover from the defeat in Portland a week ago. Pedro Morales operated a peripheral figure in that game with the Whitecaps essentially overwhelmed in central midfield. The influential Whitecaps captain must assert himself in this affair to give the home side a platform to respond. The holding duo behind him – Matias Laba and Russell Teibert, most likely – must find a way to disrupt RSL’s rhythm, play quickly and thwart Javier Morales in order to free up their playmaker accordingly.
4. Houston, Chicago must start their miracle runs now: The postseason chase is just about up for the injury-riddled Dynamo and the tie-ridden Fire. Any revival act should have started weeks ago, but it must certainly involve claiming three points at BBVA Compass Stadium on Sunday. Houston (seven points out entering the weekend) can at least stay on the fringes of the discussion with a victory. The potential returns of Will Bruin, Boniek Garcia and Jermaine Taylor from injury could boost the cause substantially.
5. Remember when LA Galaxy – New York stood out as the biggest game of the year?: Blame the growth of the league (more organic, regional-based rivalries) and the schedule (fewer meetings across conferences) for taking the sting out of this match over the years. This affair still matters to both teams, though: the host Galaxy need the points to maintain the chase for the Supporters’ Shield, while the Red Bulls cannot afford to slip in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The key for the visitors: striking the right midfield balance (the recent shift to a 4-2-3-1 formation certainly helps) to prevent the Galaxy from breaking quickly through Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane.
