I have to say though, a rotating line up has not worked particularly well for Liverpool and we don’t even have that much depth or quality at each position.

Just when we get to those final 10 games, Concacaf CL qualifying and group stages will pick up, so we’ll never actually have that much of a slow down in games, if at all. We may in fact have a distraction, like DC did last year, struggling to choose between league games and CCL games. I’d like to see us take both very seriously and do well in both.

Honestly, I don’t know if this chemistry question is a fantasy issue or a real question. I look at the pictures and video of our guys and they seem happy, I just wonder what will happen in the locker room with so many new faces (Oduro, Smith, Hall, Petke, say Traynor, say Zimmerman, say Pacheco, say Celades and maybe even Carlos Johnson).

Eugene has a great point (as usual); The seasons commencement is jam packed. That can be an issue. But turning that argument around, perhaps Osorio wants the players to feel comfortable in a rotating line up in anticipation of this grind. Lets face it; once the season commences, they are going to be playing a lot of games for the majority of it. If the players are used to playing with many people instead of just 1 partner, then that would give Osorio the maneuverability to be competitive on all tournament fronts. Then, as the season slows down to the final 10 games, he will know what the strongest line up to field will be, based on his year long tinkering.

All I am saying is it can work both ways. They can either never find an identity or be stengthened by the shuffle.

btw – a previous comment you made got me thinking on this topic, hence the write up. Great stuff.

That still doesn’t address the left wing question — where we need either a starter or depth, depending upon who you ask.

Dave, a big point I should mention, this year we will be playing 2/3RDS of our league games before the all-star break, half way through the season. Twenty out of 30 regular season games will be stuffed into the first half of the season. With that kind of grind and so many of our points to be won early, I don’t believe the team can afford to come into the season still looking to get settled and build chemistry. We basically need to be into the playoffs or solid playoff contention by the all-star break.

Combined with the extra team this year, the general improvement with more quality players coming in than leaving, and the fact that our defense hasn’t been adjusted much leads me to be pretty concerned.

We need to get all of our trialists in and evaluated before the roster deadline, and we need to make sure the guys we’re taking are able to get up to adequate fitness in time. I say that because I’ve noticed that in some Central and South American leagues, players can get by with so-so fitness as long as everyone is in the same boat. In some of the Libertadores matches I’ve watched, guys look like they’re huffing and puffing by the end of the game, barely making it. That doesn’t fly in MLS, where fitness is a high priority for all teams. So guys we’re going to be in will need time to get ready. On top of which, they’ll need time to build chemistry.

I don’t know man, I’m concerned that we have 2 question marks on our undone left side and we still haven’t adequately addressed central defense or the RB position.

btw –

http://mls.theoffside.com/major-league-soccer/mls-poll-whos-da-champ.html

VOTE RED BULLS! LAURIE IS STUFFING THE BALLOT!!!!