- Takuro Nishimura (Defender, 32, spent last season with USL1 Portland Timbers)
- Santiago Fusilier (Midfielder, 26, formerly of US1 Carolina Railhawks, apparently spent all of last year on trial with Chacarita Juniors in Argentina.)
- Lucio Luiz de Oliveira Gonzaga (Attacking Midfielder, 29, last with Real Maryland of USL2 and multiple indoor soccer teams)
Clearly, the club is trying to mess with my spell check.
A look at the rosters of the other clubs in USSF Division 2 shows players who have experience at higher levels. Do we have reason to be optimistic?
Vancouver boasts Jay Nolly, Justin Moose, Greg Janicki (ex-DC United) and Blake Wagner (ex-FC Dallas).
AC Saint Louis signed Steve Ralston.
Miami FC has Tristan Bowen (loaned from LA Galaxy last season), Reinier Alcantara (18 caps for the Cuban National Team) and Gale Agbossoumonde (US Under 20 National Team, currently on loan at Sporting Braga in Portugal.)
USL1 teams pushed and even performed better than MLS and Mexican teams last season. How will Crystal Palace Baltimore fare against this competition?
Great blog. Keep it up when you aren't snowed in.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to be optimistic, look at Austin, Minnesota or even St-Louis rosters, on paper, they are clearly weaker than what Baltimore already has. Yoshitake and Patterson are very good div.2 players.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt that Palace will have an initial leg up on new teams. But a look at a very small Austin roster already shows Jamie Watson (RSL, FC Dallas), Jay Needham (DC United draft pick, USL 1 Puerto Rico, Norway First Division Alta IF), and the English Eddie Johnson (Man U youth teams, England National Youth Teams and Coventry City)
ReplyDeleteWell, ex-MLSer can be mistakingly bad players. There was an old rule stating that MLS starters > ULS startes > MLS benchers > USL benchers.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw many teams having far worse lineup than CP in their first year of existence. They will have a real chance of making the playoff and that's really what counts in the inaugural season.
There's no doubt MLS teams have drafted some busts. I have two main concerns with Palace's current situation.
ReplyDeleteThe first is the leftover core (however much that is) from last seasn. Last season saw a sputtering offense and a season that was perhaps best defined by a 3-0 US Open Cup departure at the hands of the PDL's Barons.
The second involves the new players. Hopefully, they are solid. But I hesitate to put my trust in players who have played predominantly indoor soccer or who spent last season out of contract.