There are 1,000 reasons we shouldn’t make any Spring MLS predictions regarding who will be left standing in December, and the August transfer window coming with two months left in the Major League Soccer season is one of them.
The New York Red Bulls strengthened again on Tuesday, picking up 25-year-old Argentine midfielder Gonzalo Veron. The move comes one week after New York signed Shaun Wright-Phillips, now No. 98 to his brother’s 99 on RBNY.
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A winger, Veron scored eight times in 52 appearances for Argentine power San Lorenzo, and will bring his attacking prowess to a unit with Sacha Kljestan and Dax McCarty.
Full marks to Jesse Marsch for keeping this basically brand-new unit near the top of the East despite roster tumult that saw Thierry Henry, Eric Alexander, Ambroise Oyongo and Tim Cahill skip town along with coach Mike Petke this offseason.
But, again, considering the league is on a non-traditional schedule that sees loads of transfers in August, those of us who predicted that RBNY would finish near the bottom of the East shouldn’t feel too bad.
Look at the pickups this month alone: RBNY, Montreal and Seattle have all added unexpected pieces. Go back a month with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, et. al. This is one of the unexpected boons of the unorthodox window, but also disappointing to teams that plan a bit better.
The transfer windows fall before and midway through the European calendar. They fall well before and near the end of the MLS season. That’s not going to change any time soon, but it continues to make the MLS regular season feel a bit unsteady (even given the parity of the league).
