Offseason Outlook: NYCFC

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Offseason Outlook: NYCFC

You’ve got to hand it to NYCFC’s new sporting director David Lee: the guy’s set himself up for success here. For a lot of young sports execs, making the leap from XO to HMFIC means taking a move to some club mired deep in Trust the Process mode. Not so for Lee, who ran point on Claudio Reyna’s personnel decisions the last few years and now inherits what he calls “the strongest roster of players we’ve ever had.”

If only they had a coach. Barring some winter sales, NYCFC’s opening day eighteen looks just about set, which makes it all the more important to give whoever’s going to replace Dome Torrent time to size things up and make a few signings of his own. Whether or not those moves involve much money, they could help shape next season’s tactics and determine whether this team will have the depth to juggle CCL and MLS next spring.

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Offseason Outlook: Nashville SC

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As expected for a club building a roster from scratch, Nashville SC have been busy in the offseason. The debut side added three players in the 2019 Expansion Draft and traded for three more immediately following, and just recently signed four players from their USL roster to MLS contracts, bringing the total number of rostered players to 21.

Under head coach Gary Smith in USL, Nashville primarily played a 4-2-3-1 / 4-4-1-1 hybrid that had the 10 operate in a free role in attack and push up with the striker in defense. Smith also used a 3-4-1-2 on multiple occasions, and while that may continue, the roster construction seems to date lends itself to the former option.

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Offseason Outlook: Columbus Crew

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Offseason Outlook: Columbus Crew

The Columbus Crew had a disappointing season in 2019, finishing 3rd to last in the East. Unlike the stability of last season, the roster is showing more turnover than the club has seen in many years. While most positions have starters already in place, the Crew lack depth in most positional groups.

Here’s how the Crew’s roster stands with a projected depth chart in the Crew’s traditional 4-2-3-1 formation…

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Offseason Outlook: Colorado Rapids

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Offseason Outlook: Colorado Rapids

With the options deadline passing, we now have a really good idea of what the Colorado Rapids front office thinks about where the roster is right now.

Here is a look at the depth chart right now. I picked a 4-4-1-1 not because I know what Robin Fraser wants, but because it's basically the way the players are best aligned right now.

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