Preseason camps are well underway across MLS. The five teams participating in the CONCACAF Champions League have barely three weeks left to prepare for their first-leg matches, and the rest of the league have barely a month left before opening day thanks to February’s truncated nature.
So everyone’s clocks are ticking loudly, fuelling a real urgency to cinch up any further transfer or trade business as soon as possible to get the newcomers in the fold and part of the squad.
So who did the best business of the past week? Here’s my list.
Gio’s Timbers quietly do work
Savarese: working the phones | USA Today Sports Images
Those familiar with Giovanni Savarese’s coaching career are watching closely as Portland’s new coach shapes the Timbers’ roster toward his liking. Sure, the former New York Cosmos boss inherited plenty to work with in the Rose City. But a flurry of activity last week bore his fingerprints – and underlined the wealth of knowledge he brings.
In the span of two days, PTFC signed Andres Flores and Modou Jadama from lower-division sides, re-signed New Zealand international Bill Tuiloma and completed a pricey but intriguing transaction with D.C. United for the rights to D.C. Homegrown and US U-20 international Eryk Williamson. Savarese coached Flores for four years in New York and between the Timbers’ sneaky-good scouting network and his own familiarity with the wholeness of the North American landscape, surely knows plenty about the others.
I honestly have to hedge here a bit on who here will make the biggest and quickest impact, because of the moving parts around them on the team’s depth chart. Some think Williamson could be the next Darlington Nagbe, others are unconvinced. Jadama could be a one-and-done reserve, or a diamond in the rough. But mark my words, they’ll be useful pieces for Savarese.
Crew SC comings and goings
Berhalter: open for business | Greg Bartram/USA Today Sports Images
Less than a week after making a deal with the LA Galaxy for Ola Kamara, Gregg Berhalter was at it again, signing Milton Valenzuela on loan from Newell's Old Boys (Left backs are so hot right now!) and then today reaping a huge haul (over a million bucks in various allocation assets!) from Orlando City for Justin Meram.
Columbus are in a strange spot right now, a painstakingly-constructed title contender experiencing a dose of off-field disquiet. While I doubt any coach enjoys getting a trade request from any of their players, Berhalter has managed the Kamara and Meram situations as well as anyone could expect, meeting the veterans in the middle and vacuuming up funds that he can use to address Crew SC's needs.
Valenzuela appears to be both a blue-chip signing and a long-term investment play for Columbus, whose system relies on fit, technical, aggressive fullbacks going endline to endline to really hum at full speed. I see more than one best-case scenario if his Crew SC career unfolds successfully, whether an extended stay a la Harrison Afful or a Giancarlo Gonzalez-type path to Europe. Either way, it’s good business by Berhalter.
Montreal keep getting younger
Remi Garde, with IMFC owner Joey Saputo | USA Today Sports Images
The Montreal Impact were known as the grizzled barfighters of MLS in recent years, relying on savvy veterans – many with illustrious overseas backgrounds – to make late-season or tournament runs with their own particular brand of Quebecois catenaccio. That may be changing in a hurry, though.
New coach Remi Garde, who drew glowing comparisons to Pep Guardiola during his stint in charge of Olympique Lyonnais, prefers to get the ball on the floor and play assertive, pass-happy soccer. That suggests a more proactive approach than past editions of l’Impact and he’s made a point of freshening up the roster, too, headlined by box-to-box dynamo Saphir Taider.
IMFC’s other newest player is also one of their youngest: Chilean winger Jeisson Vargas. The 20-year-old is far from a sure thing as he arrives via Montreal’s Bologna connection. Yet on first glance he’s a bet well worth taking. Should he find his feet in MLS, Vargas would provide a hugely beneficial counterweight on the flank opposite Ignacio Piatti, stretching the field and forcing honesty from opposing defenders that tend to shift towards the Argentine star’s left wing territory.
LAFC shop domestic
Beitashour heads home | USA Today Sports Images
Splashy signings from abroad tend to draw the most water in MLS, especially when it’s a flush, ambitious expansion outfit like the Los Angeles Football Club. So not too many heads were turned by the Black-and-Gold newcomers’ capture of Aaron Kovar and Steven Beitashour from Seattle and Toronto, respectively, last week.
These are the types of players who can keep expansion sides afloat, especially when the chips are down, as they surely will be for Bob Bradley & Co. in the months ahead.
You can start with their understanding of daily life in MLS, and the trophy-chasing pedigree they bring with them from the league’s two back-to-back MLS Cup finalists – that matters when you’re trying to build a new club’s culture from the ground up. And these two in particular arrive with reasons for motivation.
This is a homecoming for Beitashour, a Californian who had to scrap and claw for every minute of playing time at reigning treble-winners TFC and is ready to pitch in right away. Kovar is a more mercurial case, a clearly talented Sounders Homegrown who hasn’t quite put together consistent runs of form at MLS level. Entering his fifth season, he has lots to prove, and a season-long loan to LAFC provides a framework for it.
