The Offseason So Far: They've got a new coach for the first time this decade, and thus far Brad Friedel's been happy to make behind-the-scenes moves rather than big, bold, write-it-in-neon-letters-10-feet-tall-and-luminous moves.
Another way to say that is "they haven't actually acquired anyone yet."
Which, you know what? That's fine. The Revs' problem the last few years was that they acquired too many guys with overlapping rather than complementary skillsets, spent too much on marginal imports and didn't develop their own players. That's how you end up with Juan Agudelo as a midfield playmaker and Benjamin Angoua at left back and zero meaningful draft picks of recent vintage (though I do like Brian Wright, and am happy they brought him back).
Well Angoua's gone, as are DPs Kei Kamara and Xavier Kouassi. That's a lot of leeway for Friedel.
It shouldn't be that hard to build a winning team around Agudelo, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez and Krisztian Nemeth (who I'd use as trade bait, but whatever). It really shouldn't.
JAN. 2 UPDATE: Gabriel Somi is, from what I've heard, a done deal. That should take care of left back for the year.
The only other move so far is inking Homegrown teenaged attacking midfielder Isaac Angking, who just missed the cut for the US U-17 World Cup team. He's a good prospect.
There are lots of other good prospects being linked to the Revs via the rumor mill, which is fine and good and as it should be for a team that has a load of cap space and a need to crawl back above the playoff line. Something would be wrong if the Revs didn't have those rumors trickling in.
But here's one that disturbs me: Nguyen's being linked to a Vietnamese team. Revs, please...
Nguyen's closer to the end than the beginning, but he went for 11g/15a last year, and showed more positional flexibility (either second forward or central midfield) than in years past. There is no reason to part ways with him now.
JAN. 24 UPDATE: So it turns out what was percolating with Nguyen wasn't really a move to Vietnam, but rather a trade request. Um...
In MLS we've seen the occasional ruthless trade, a la what happened with Dax McCarty in Harrison last year. Fans go nuts with anger about those things, but at the same time they understand.
But a standoff has the potential to torpedo a player's market value. What's the best-case scenario for the Revs here? They get an unhappy player back and risk poisoning the locker room for a rookie coach? They trade him for (probably) less than what this would've been had they handled the situation quietly? They let him sit in the stands all year?
None of that maximizes the asset's value and it stands in contrast to the way the Ola Kamara trade request was handled in Columbus.
The Nguyen saga has overshadowed an otherwise productive if low-key offseason. Somi was inked for free, as was d-mid Wilfried Zahibo. They also got Ecuadoran attacker Cristian Penilla on loan from Pachuca, and in between drafted a bunch of right backs. This team is actually pretty deep (save, of course, for center back) and balanced right now.
The question, then, is about their high-end talent. Nguyen was their answer to that question. Now they have to figure out what comes next.
