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Central Division preview
Updated: Thursday April 05, 2001 4:37 PM
By Ridge Mahoney, Soccer America Each team in what was the toughest division in MLS last year has dilemmas to resolve. Dallas and Tampa Bay are under new head coaches, Chicago has lost its top scorer and defensive linchpin, and Columbus -- the only team in the division not to reach the playoffs -- revamped its system in preseason. Vital players have moved between divisional rivals, which bestows a further level of intrigue.
ChicagoRole players form the deepest teamJosh Wolff is a new man professionally, personally and physically. The question of whether or not he can be the man for Chicago in 2001 is both enticing and misleading. He will presumably be asked to shoulder the burden of replacing Ante Razov, who led the Fire last year with 18 goals and racked up 42 in a Chicago jersey the past three seasons.
"I've got to be a consistent finisher, game in and game out," says Wolff. "I've been sporadic the first three years, and now Ante's gone. He gave us 14 or 15 goals a year, and I certainly think I'm capable doing that and more." Wolff's totals of 25 goals and 10 assists during that same span are modest. During the offseason, Wolff emerged as a national-team regular, took a wife and recovered from a troublesome sports hernia. Next up is a regular pairing with that burning hunk in a Bulgarian funk, Hristo Stoitchkov. The Fire's biggest need is to replace 1998 MLS Defender of the Year Lubos Kubik, who was traded to Dallas for Sergi Daniv. "We know he's a terrific player and we know we'll miss him, but at the same time we had to deal with that last year," said Bradley pointedly of Kubik, who was limited to just 12 regular-season games and seven minutes in the playoffs because of injuries. "We're fortunate in that we have a group of players who can all play a couple different roles, and we can still put a good group together who can take care of things defensively." Traditionally, the Fire has been stocked so deeply with versatile players that Coach Bob Bradley often has replacements for his replacements, and they are of far higher quality than was Keanu Reeves in the Hollywood version. When Kubik went down last year, Andrew Lewis stepped in and played alongside C.J. Brown and Carlos Bocanegra. When Lewis himself was injured, Bradley plucked Tenywa Bonseu out of the A-League. Bonseu moved to Columbus by league decree during the offseason. When defender Matt Chulis was waived by Columbus in March, Bradley claimed him. Bradley's early-season swipe of Mike Sorber last year proved astute when a knee injury sidelined Chris Armas for two months. Dema Kovalenko notched 10 goals and five assists in his second season while playing mostly midfield and occasionally at forward. He can play alongside midfield dynamo Peter Nowak or in his place. Jesse Marsch has started at least 25 games the past three seasons in midfield and defense. Diego Gutierrez shifted from playing wide left in midfield to the back line and could do so again this year to give DaMarcus Beasley more hyperspace into which to launch himself. And on and on and on. "You look at this team and '98," says Wolff, who was a rookie on that championship team. "We've lost a lot of players, but there's a good core, a good nucleus, that's been there. "Bob brings in guys who can fill their roles. Our team is strong and we need to play to our strengths."
ColumbusCan new system fix old faults?The Crew will need help -- and health -- to reverse its 2000 playoff miss. Losing the last five games of the regular season peeled back its veneer of talent and revealed an ugly rot. The word on Columbus is that if enough time and pressure are applied, it will concede bad goals at the worst possible times. "When you don't do well, you have to improve everything," says striker Brian McBride, who has battled injuries throughout his career and played just 18 games in 2000. "We've worked on shape and making sure we don't give up easy goals." Tenywa Bonseu, who drew enough notice last season with the A-League's Pittsburgh Riverhounds that Chicago took him as an emergency fill-in, has been brought into a backline that is being redesigned and restocked. New Zealander Duncan Oughton had all but won the job at right back in preseason, but he'll be out about a month after being injured in a Spring-Training game. Fitzgerald was also trying to find a spot for left back Marcus Stergiopoulos from Australian club Eastern Pride as he worked during the preseason to adopt a 4-4-2 as the team's basic formation instead of the 3-5-2 he has predominantly used in the past. Fitzgerald believes it will better accommodate the central midfield pairing of Robert Warzycha, who wants all the balls all the time, and Brian Maisonneuve, who just wants to avoid the infirmary. "Robert is better off in the 4-4-2 because he can get the ball more and usually has more space," said Fitzgerald. Warzycha compiled 13 assists last year to give him 57, a team record, for his career. Maisonneuve missed all of the 2000 season because of surgeries on his right ankle. Colombian midfielder John Wilmar Perez is a high-priced senior international who is solid enough in the middle but perhaps not worth a foreign slot. "With two people in the middle, it's a lot more work sometimes, especially toward the end of the game with tired legs and [when] people stop shifting," said Maisonneuve. "I'm up for it. I've been saving up two years for this so I'm ready to run." The Crew has players who can run. Attackers Jeff Cunningham and Brian West can scorch any defense but as often as not run themselves aground. Fitzgerald would like a full and productive season out of McBride. In no season has he come close to the 17 goals he scored as a rookie in 1996. He had six last year. "We're more organized, and hopefully we be more consistent, which I believe is the key to winning games in this league," says Fitzgerald. "It's been important in the past, but it's even more important now, because with the rosters reduced from 20 to 18, it's going to be more difficult to be consistent."
DallasAfter five years, a new directionDallas striker Ariel Graziani walked behind the Kansas City goal during an MLS Spring Training match and shouted some abuse in Spanish at Wizards keeper Tony Meola. The gist of Graziani's tirade was Dallas taking over as MLS top dog. The Burn did tie Mexican club Guadalajara, 2-2, but a 5-0 pasting by the MetroStars and a 2-0 loss to the Wizards in Florida indicate Graziani's proclamation may be a bit premature. "We have a lot of good players and a lot of talent, but that's not enough," says goalkeeper Matt Jordan. "This league has so much parity, you need to be organized and play together. We had a tendency in the past to get a little spread out and to get exposed." Coach Mike Jeffries took over for Dave Dir in January. Under Dir, the Burn never missed the playoffs in five years, but it never got past the semifinals, either. "Dallas always played us incredibly tough," says Jeffries of battles while he was an assistant with the Fire. "We always had respect for them as a team that was good with the ball, was very competitive and had a good work rate." He inherited a team devoid of wide midfield starters -- Mark Santel and Sergi Daniv were traded before his arrival - and lacking in leadership. "That is an issue with this team," says Jeffries, who left a Chicago locker room roiling with strong personalities. "This is a quiet team. It needs Chad [Deering] to step up, it needs Oscar [Pareja] to step up, maybe Jason [Kreis] a little bit." Jeffries will count on Lubos Kubik, who was with him in Chicago, to anchor the defense as well as lead the troops. He traded for Miles Joseph to provide width in a midfield that already has the classy Jorge Rodriguez and Deering. He's confident the attacking triumvirate of Kreis, Pareja and Graziani supplies sufficient firepower. Those three combined for 29 goals and 26 assists last year. Pareja's 13 assists equaled his output from the previous two seasons. Kreis' numbers (13 goals, 11 assists) slipped from his MVP season in 1999 (18, 15) yet still he hit double-digits for the second year in a row. Jeffries wants more mobility from the skilled yet subdued Pareja, who can be taken out of a game by tight pressure. He also wants enough flank play to open up the midfield. "We can get by," Jeffries says, "but if you don't have anything on the flanks, you're very easy to defend."
Tampa BayDestiny may lie in the balanceThe Mutiny is out to prove it isn't just about Mamadou Diallo and Carlos Valderrama. "We were successful last year because Mamadou is so dangerous and Carlos is such a great passer," said defender Chad McCarty. "But this year we have to become more balanced." Diallo missed the single-season scoring mark by one when he finished with 26 goals. Valderrama set an assist mark by hitting the same figure. "The league knows [Diallo] and knows what he's going to do so it's a lot easier to mark him if we have nobody [else] that poses a threat," says Coach Alfonso Mondelo, who replaced Tim Hankinson last December. "By having somebody else it will make Diallo a lot more dangerous." Mondelo juggled forwards to find the right partner for Diallo -- Ali Curtis, the No. 2 draft pick overall, and several invitees got a look -- but the issue was still in doubt when Spring Training ended. Consistent scoring from flank midfielders Eric Quill and Steve Ralston could help the Mutiny. They combined for 28 assists, yet the speed and guile that can corkscrew defenders yielded just five goals apiece from a combined 92 shots. Keeping Diallo on the field and on an even keel is a priority for Mondelo, but it is not the only one. "We have to minimize the number of scoring opportunities," says Mondelo. "We're giving away too many goals." He has added former Rochester Rhinos defender Craig Demmin for his speed and experience and tested Joe Addo in midfield while tinkering with three- and four-man back lines. The Mutiny usually played a 4-5-1 under Hankinson and was burned by teams overrunning midfielder Josh Keller, who was often left stranded by teammates bombing forward. Besieged keeper Scott Garlick set a league record last season with 184 saves. "Teams would just come down our throat because we had one player, Josh Keller, trying to do the work of two or three," says McCarty. "This team needs to be more balanced in the attack and in defense. We have players who can score and a great goalkeeper in Scotty Garlick. "We have the players who can win a championship. It's just a matter of putting it all together." Ridge Mahoney is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine.
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