This weekend sees the start of the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, SC featuring MLS clubs D.C. United and the Columbus Crew as well as A-League Champions and hosts, the Charleston Battery, with the reigning PSL Champions, the Wilmington Hammerheads, filling out the field. The competition should prove to be unique and will be quite the treat for those of us who have been craving soccer since the end of the last domestic season. With the MLS season slated to kick off on April 3rd this is the home stretch of spring preparations for both D.C. and Columbus with both teams looking to finalize their rosters and starting lineups. The USL season kicks off slightly later than the MLS season so the Battery and Hammerheads will have a little more time to get their plans together but the soccer this week in the Carolinas should go a long way towards helping to determine what these teams will look like on their respective Opening Day.
Here is a quick look at each team and what we might see from them in this tournament:
Charleston Battery: The reigning A-League champs are looking to retool their perennial contender and defend their title with a mix of old and new players. There have been concerns, however, during the off-season about the departure of certain players and the manner in which they won't be returning to the team that they helped to the A-League championship last season. The focus now is on the guys that are coming back and the new players that are coming with them. They return the majority of a defense that has been the best in the A-League for a few seasons in a row now with Mark Watson and Linval Dixon helping to lead the way with newcomer Michael Green, among others, adding to the depth of the defense. There are a number of new signings including former Dallas Burn and Rochester Rhino forward, Aleksey Korol, that look capable of giving the Battery an excellent chance of defending their title. Ted Chronopoulos, Chris Goos, and Steve Klein provide some of the ballast in midfield and Paul Conway and Josh Henderson return up top once again to lead the way for the Battery attack. However, with the additions of young Paraguayan, Jesus Martinez Morales, Korol, and the return of Chris Bagley from a relatively successful spell on loan with New England at the end of last season as well as Greg Simmonds' return to Charleston there will be plenty of competition amongst the forwards for starting spots. Also looking to make an impact in defense will be Danish additions Andreas Bechmann and Henrik Jensen.
Battery Players to Watch: Chris Goos, Chris Bagley, Aleksey Korol, Paul Conway, Ted Chronopoulos
Columbus Crew: Last year the Columbus Crew was considered one of the bigger disappointments in MLS. The talent appeared to be there with the likes of Brian McBride, Edson Buddle, Kyle Martino, Jeff Cunningham, and Brian West to name just a few. However, somewhere along the way through the MLS season something went wrong and many believe that it all went downhill from Edson Buddle's early season injury that knocked him out for most of the season. The team never really gelled from goalkeeper to defense to midfield and to the forwards and some felt that this team could never quite agree on how they would play together. In the end the disappointing season had many fans calling for coach Greg Andrulis to be fired but Columbus General Manager, Jim Smith, and the rest of Crew management elected to keep him on. Now they are rebuilding in a major way and hope to get a lot of productivity out of healthy and more experienced guys like Martino and Buddle and now think they have a solid foundation in defense with new acquisitions Chad Marshall and Robin Fraser. There looks to be a solid spine to this team with Busch in goal, Marshall and Fraser in central defense, Martino in midfield, and Buddle up top but they'll desperately need for guys like Frankie Hedjuk, Simon Elliott, Manny Lagos, and Ross Paule to contribute in order to get back to the playoffs.
Crew Players to Watch: Edson Buddle, Kyle Martino, Jeff Cunningham, Chad Marshall, David Testo
D.C. United: This team squeaked into the playoffs last season and promptly made an exit in the first round in another tumultuous season under exuberant manager, Ray Hudson. The Hudson era at D.C. United could hardly have been considered serene and this may have been the straw that broke the camel's back with fans and management especially with the future development of 14-year-old phenom, Freddy Adu, at stake. Of course everyone should by now know about Freddy's arrival in MLS with D.C. but what else has gone on around the Beltway? First and foremost, Petr Nowak is now the man in charge with United and will look to command this club with the intensity and drive with which he captained the Chicago Fire for several years. Other key moves involved the temperamental duo of Hristo Stoitchkov and Marco Etcheverry leaving D.C. for other pastures. While loved by many D.C. fans the departure by Marco seems overdue to some. Now it appears that Nowak and Earnie Stewart will mentor this team with the mercurial talents of Adu, Bobby Convey, and Santino Quaranta taking center stage. Hopefully, for D.C. Quaranta can turn things around with the experienced Jaime Moreno returning to United. If Moreno and late season acquisition, Ronald Cerritos, can help mentor the young striker he may just finally blossom into the type of pro player some have felt he could be. However, the most important thing for D.C. may be to get Nick Rimando healthy and back in goal or else Doug Warren will have to come a long way in short time. Luckily D.C. looks to have a good defense that helped them get into the playoffs with Mike Petke a key player in that back line and Ryan Nelsen still the glue that holds it all together. With Nowak as the coach of the team we could even see some tightening of the reins on the demonstrative Dema Kovalenko.
D.C. Players to Watch: Freddy Adu, Doug Warren, Santino Quaranta, Bobby Convey
Wilmington Hammerheads: Much like the Battery the Wilmington Hammerheads are doing a little bit of retooling in order to make a run at defending last season's championship. This year, however, their old nemesis, the Charlotte Eagles return to their division so they could be in for a dogfight for much of the year. They'll need players such as Billy Platz, Johnnie Keen, and George Corrie to be solid once again. Last we heard there were still some question marks about whether or not Graham Goulding, Glenn Murray, and Junior Zarate would be back in Wilmington this season. If not it could take a lot out of this team that is looking to add a number of players that will increase their talent level to compete with their new rivals in the PSL. As for their performance in this tournament, Coach David Irving always puts out a team that can play with anyone. Whether or not they have the offensive firepower necessary to win some of these matches may be something yet to be seen. At this time there are just too many question marks about the Hammerheads to feel too strongly one way or the other about them coming into the Challenge Cup.
Hammerheads Players to Watch: Johnnie Keen, Marc Hubbard, George Corrie, Ryan Miller
Send your comments to the author or
Join us to discuss this article at usldiscussions.com
