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East notes: Ralston chooses family, home
All-time MLS games played leader joins AC St. Louis as player-coach
02/03/2010
By Kyle McCarthy / MLSnet.com Staff
Steve Ralston faced a difficult decision as he contemplated his options for 2010.
The veteran midfielder held two different, yet alluring, choices in his hands. The New England Revolution tabled a new contract offer to keep him in the fold for another season to provide guile in the attacking third. AC St. Louis, an expansion club in Ralston's hometown, offered the chance for the 35-year-old to wind down his career back in Missouri as a player and an assistant coach in the newly-formed USSF Division II.
"By no means was it easy," Ralston said. "I was going back and forth just like Brett Favre. Honestly, it was a very difficult decision, but I felt like the timing of it created a great opportunity (in St. Louis)."
Ralston pondered the the pros and cons of both offers and decided to end his MLS career after 14 seasons. The pull of security (a multi-year deal in St. Louis to play and coach as opposed to a one-year deal with the Revolution) and family (a group that almost exclusively inhabits one of the USA's most storied soccer hotbeds) led the MLS original to move on to a new challenge back home after eight seasons in New England.
"I could have stayed and re-signed with the Revolution, but I would have been in the same situation (next year) that I was this offseason -- wondering what I'm doing and trying to figure out the next contract," Ralston said. "This St. Louis deal might not have been and probably wouldn't have been here next year, so I felt it was the right time and a great opportunity for me to finish up my playing career and do a little bit of coaching as well."
Ralston's decision adds impetus to New England's search for creative help in the attacking third. Revolution vice president of player personnel Michael Burns said the Revs were already on the lookout for an attacking midfielder because Ralston -- who hopes return to the field by the end of April -- would miss some time as he recovered from a right ACL tear suffered in September. Without Ralston in the lineup in 2009, New England often struggled to maintain possession and combine intricately to conjure up attacking opportunities without resorting to more direct play.
Even with Ralston now out of the picture, Burns said the Revs will move carefully to identify the correct player rather than succumb to the pressures of finding someone to fill the playmaking void quickly.
"We're not going to sign someone just to sign someone," Burns said.
United feels playmaking pinch: New England isn't the only team in search of creative help after D.C. United confirmed on Monday that it planned to move forward without former MLS MVP Christian Gomez in 2010. Gomez expressed interest in returning, but United decided to look elsewhere.
"Right now, he is not in our plans," United general manager Dave Kasper told The Washington Post. "Is it possible we might circle back? It's possible, but we told him to explore all his options."
Gomez, 35, struggled to recapture the form he displayed during his first stint with United (2004-2007) upon his return from Colorado prior to last season. Gomez registered six goals and four assists, but fell out of favor in the second half of 2010 as his influence waned in the run of play.
The Argentinean playmaker's departure seemingly opens a void for a true No. 10 to join United from abroad, though D.C. could look within in its squad to plug the gap. Veteran forward Jaime Moreno provides the most natural option internally after he inked a new deal on Monday, but Moreno remains a better fit as more of a withdrawn forward and might not be a 90-minute, every-game player at this stage of his career. Santino Quaranta presents another option if United coach Curt Onalfo decides not to play him on the right wing.
Union bolster strength at left back: Not every Eastern Conference team is scrambling to find options in traditionally difficult spots to fill. Philadelphia, for instance, obtained a second starting-caliber option at left back last week when it acquired U.S. international Michael Orozco on loan from Mexican side San Luis.
Philly traded an undisclosed amount of allocation money to New York to move from sixth to first in the allocation order. With their new perch atop the allocation rankings, Union added the 23-year-old defender to its nascent roster. New York now stands at No. 5 after Orozco's arrival.
"We are happy to have Michael join us," Union manager Peter Nowak said in a statement. "It is great to have a player at the top of his game show his desire and commitment. We hope to have him as an anchor at the back of our defense for a long time to come."
Orozco will battle with Jordan Harvey for the left-back berth, handing Nowak two viable opening day choices. Harvey started 29 games for Colorado last campaign, while Orozco, who played for Nowak as part of the U.S. Olympic team in 2008, fell out of the first team picture with his Mexican side.
New-look Wizards focus on fitness: When he took over the Wizards as interim coach last August, Wizards manager Peter Vermes preached the need for his new charges to improve their fitness in order to improve their performance on the field.
The road to success had to start during the offseason, according to Vermes. Vermes and Wizards fitness and goalkeeping coach John Pascarella sent each player away with a carefully constructed fitness plan tailored to help them get fit for the 2010 campaign.
"It's important for the guys to have had a really good offseason," Vermes said. "That part was critical. This game has changed so much. Players used to be able to use preseason as a way to get fit. That's not really the way to do things anymore. You take your time off during the offseason to get away from the game mentally and physically, but it can't be too long. You have to use the offseason to really give yourself a strong foundation. This group has done that."
Vermes and the Wizards, like many other teams around the league, spend the first week of training camp testing the results of the offseason toil. By taking inventory of the fitness levels of each player, Vermes said he can assemble a fitness regimen for the remainder of camp.
"We have a lot of different models that we created over the offseason. Wherever we think the general level of the team is, we can move from there," Vermes said. "As time goes on, we'll tailor things specifically for individual players as we formulate our team so they and we together can work on specific deficiencies within the players and, at the same time, make some of their strengths that much stronger."
If the early returns are any indication, the Wizards took their task seriously. Kansas City started training camp last week and Vermes said the results were satisfactory on the whole.
"It's just good to get everybody together and get everyone working towards your goals for the season," Vermes said.
