There has been a lot of press this off-season on the moves in the east but most has focused on D.C. United and all the foreigners they have brought in. United is favored to win the east, again, but the other teams that were near the top last year have also made many off-season moves. Will they be enough to offset the moves that D.C. United made? Only the upcoming season will tell.
Kansas City Wizards
Out: Jose Burciaga Jr. D, Edson Edcock, Nick Garcia D, Aaron Godbolt, Eddie Johnson F, Willy Guadarrama, Chris Konopka
Added
Forwards: None
Midfielders: Roger Espinoza D/M, Pat Healey, Tom Gray, Vicente Arze
Defensemen: Chance Myers, William Yomby, Matt Marquess, Jonathan Leathers, Rauwshan McKenzie
Goalkeepers: Andrew Kartunen
Outlook: The Wizards lost a lot of defensemen and to compensate drafted many of them including Chance Myers with the #1 pick in the Super Draft. They will have a hard time scoring, as they did not add any forwards and lost Eddie Johnson. Kansas City is still looking for help at the forward position. If the young defense can play well, look for a lot of low scoring games in the Midwest this upcoming season.
New England Revolution
Out: Pat Noonan F, Chris Loftus F, Willie Sims F, Andy Dorman M, Miguel Gonzalez M, James Riley D/M, Marshall Leonard D
Added
Forwards: Mkokheli Dube, Saidi Isaac
Midfielders: Kyle Altman, Spencer Wadsworth, Michael Videira, Joe Germanese
Defensemen: Chris Albright, Chris Tierney, Rob Valentino, Matthew Britner
Goalkeepers: None
Outlook: The Revolution let a lot of forwards go and brought in two. Their attack will be the weak link in an otherwise strong team. The departure of Noonan will hurt more than expected. Their defense and midfield is full of hopefuls and unproven talents and it will be interesting to see how they play out this season. Even though they still have glaring holes on their roster there are no trades on the horizon.
New York Red Bulls
Out: Blake Camp D, Santino Quaranta M/F, Clint Mathis M/F, Sal Caccavale M, Joe Vide M, Markus Schopp M, Ronald Waterreus GK
Added
Forwards: None
Midfielders: Michael Palacio, Danleigh Bormanm, Manuel Laurent D/M, Luke Sassano D/M,
Defensemen: Eric Brunner, John Gilkerson
Goalkeepers: Zack Thornton
Outlook: The Red Bulls cannot have another injury-marred defense like last season and they made a significant Goalkeeper addition bringing in Zack Thornton. The forward line played well last season, which is why they did not mess with it. If it aint broke don’t fix it. The only problem this year will be getting them the ball, as the main weakness in the Big Apple is the midfield. There have been rumblings that the Red Bulls are looking at bringing in some international talent at the midfield position but nothing has materialized as of yet. They should not wait though, as if they upgrade the midfield they may be able to give DC United a run for their money in the east.
