Now that Atlanta United has signed goalkeeper Alexander Tambakis as its first player, how will the rest of its roster come together?
Club President Darren Eales shed some light on that during an interview in December.
In addition to scouting and signing players, which is what the club did with Tambakis, who was playing in Greece, another one of the ways that Atlanta United will build its roster may come from the MLS expansion draft.
There have been reports that MLS is going to eliminate the expansion draft. Eales said until that happens, the club is planning as if there will be one.
The 2015 expansion draft for Orlando City and NYCFC worked roughly like this:
- The remaining MLS teams were able to protect 11 players from the senior and supplemental rosters;
- Generation Adidas and Homegrown Players on supplemental rosters are automatically protected;
- Designated Players aren't automatically protected;
If a player is selected, the club would then negotiate a salary with the player.
The expansion draft had 10 rounds.
The problem with the expansion draft, as you can guess, is that it is mostly filled with players that teams no longer want as part of their future. Therefore, it’s not something that Atlanta United can count on as a team-building guarantee.
For example, Sports Illustrated noted last year that of the 10 players selected by Montreal in 2011, only one was still with the team and just six ever played in a game.
Of the 20 selections made by Orlando and NYCFC, just seven are still on their rosters.
Eales speculated that if MLS were to eliminate the expansion draft, he assumes the league would devise another way for new teams to acquire players. Two ways would be to increase the allocation money and the number of international slots allowed. Teams start with eight slots for international players. Those slots can be traded. The allocation rules are arcane and difficult to understand. Here is a good explainer.
The U.S. report. The U.S. men's national team opened its 2016 schedule with a 3-2 win over Iceland on Sunday in California.
Though Iceland was missing most of the players that helped its national team qualify for the European championships, it was a good result for the U.S.
Unlike last year, when the offense was punt and pray, the U.S. looked lively when attacking. There was a lot of movement in the channels and the pressure was consistent. The much maligned Jozy Altidore looks to be as fit as he has been in years (though his first touch is still wooden), Michael Bradley finally looked comfortable in the attacking midfielder role that manager Jurgen Klinsmann prefers he play and Lee Nguyen’s passes were decisive and inspiring in how they opened up Iceland’s defense.
As good as the offense looked, the defense was horrid. Both of Iceland’s goals were easily preventable. On the first, central defender Matt Besler twice failed to clear a ball that eventually found an Icelandic attacker. On the second, too many U.S. players stood around arguing with the referee about a free kick instead of retreating to defend the set piece. As a result, Iceland quickly took the kick and scored on a breakaway. Though Atlanta’s Sean Johnson is in camp, he wasn’t in uniform on Sunday.
The U.S., filled mostly with players from MLS, will look to build on that performance against Canada on Friday.
Soccer for the new fans. If you tuned in to the U.S. men's national team game yesterday, you may have heard the announcers discussing players being "capped." There were a few players on the team, Kellyn Acosta, Ethan Finlay, Tony Tchani and Jerome Kiesewetter, who were capped by the national team for the first time.
A cap signifies that a player appeared in a game. Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra earned 110 caps with the U.S. men’s national team.
A player is described as “cap tied” if he appears for a national team in an official competition and not a friendly, which is what Sunday’s game against Iceland was. From that appearance, he can only play for that national team for the rest of his career.
Five good reads: Another national team manager has expressed his preference for players going to Europe rather than MLS.
ESPN lists the top 25 U.S. players.
Ten games to watch. Here are the 10 best games in world soccer to watch on your TV or mobile device this week.
Tuesday
2:45 p.m., Liverpool vs. Leicester City, NBC Sports Live Extra: The Foxes are one the best stories in all of world sports right now because they are atop the Premier League table. It would be the comparable to Georgia State's football being ranked No. 1 in the middle of the season. Liverpool, in seventh and 13 points behind Leicester, has won 18 league titles and is desperate to win more.
2:45 p.m., Sunderland vs. Manchester City, NBC Sports Live Extra: One of the teams chasing Leicester, Manchester City, confirmed the worst-kept secret in world soccer on Monday: Pep Guardiola will leave Bayern Munich and take over as manager next season. It seems an odd time to finally confirm this considering the team is trying to win a title. Will they be focused on Tuesday and mentally have they already checked out on manager Manuel Pellegrini?
2:45 p.m. Sassulo vs. Roma, beIN Sports USA: Sassulo is in seventh in Serie A, five points behind fifth-place Roma, which is four points behind third-place Fiorentina in the race to secure a spot in next year's Champions League.
Wednesday
2:45 p.m. Everton vs. Newcastle United, NBC Sports Live Extra: Two teams that spent some coin in the January transfer window. Everton is trying to secure a top-10 finish while Newcastle, which spent more than every team in Germany's Bundesliga, is trying to avoid relegation.
2:45 p.m. Lazio vs. Napoli, beIN Sports USA: Napoli are atop Serie A, two points ahead of rampaging Juventus. Lazio are in ninth.
3 p.m., PSG vs. Lorient, beIN Sports Connect: This is just for giggle because PSG is already 24 points on top of the next closest team in France's Ligue 1. If you want to see goals, tune in.
Friday
2:30 p.m. Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Werder Bremen, Fox Soccer 2Go USA: Borussia features U.S. player Fabian Johnson. They are in sixth in Germany's Bundesliga and pushing for a Champions League spot. Werder Bremen is fighting to avoid relegation.
8:30 p.m., Queretaro vs. Veracruz, Univision Deportes: This will be hard fought because both teams are near the bottom of the LIGA MX table.
Saturday
7:45 a.m.: Leicester City vs. Manchester City, NBCSN: The game of the week in the Premier League. Should Leicester pick up six points during the week by beating Liverpool and Manchester City it will be very hard to dislodge from the top four and a spot in the Champions League.
12:30 p.m. Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich, Fox Soccer 2Go USA: Two German heavyweights will go at it. Munich is atop the Bundesliga while Leverkusen is in fourth.
