Some Thoughts on the Legion’s New Signings

We’ve been relatively silent the past couple of weeks as far as the Three Sparks are concerned, and have rather skipped over the new additions to the team since noting the Ronaldo Damus loan a while back.

Since then, the team has added Tiago Suarez (full first name Santiago), Sebastian Tregarthen, Stephen Turnbull and, of course, most recently Danny Trejo. It’s not clear what arrangements the Legion made with Asheville City for Tregarthen but they likely don’t include any upfront cash since he was still an amateur. Damus and Suarez are on loans and Trejo came on a free, having terminated his contract with Polish Ekstraklase (their top tier) club Korona Kielce on January 6th.

Which means the only player of the five the team had to splash the cash for is Turnbull. That’s some really good business. Not that the team’s owners don’t have money to spare, but still. And it also means the club has capacity to add even more talent. Moreover, Nashville SC of MLS seems likely to pick up Matthew Corcoran who played with them nearly the entire game today in a preseason match with Charlotte FC (it ended 0-0). If so, there will be even more money available. More on that in a bit.

The talent they have just picked up is tremendous already. In fact, the club now has players from all four of the Championship finalists the past two years: A.J. Paterson (Charleston Battery), Trejo (Phoenix Rising), Turnbull (Rhode Island) and Damus (Colorado Springs Switchbacks). The sadly (but deservedly) departed Derek Dodson was also on the 2023 Battery team, in fact.

That is loading for bear. It’s a signal of intent that the Three Sparks are getting way more serious about challenging for a title this year than ever before. Clearly, missing the playoffs in 2024 was utterly unacceptable – as it should be. But what does all of this mean, tactically speaking?

Regular readers will know that I am an advocate of the 3-man back line in the USL Championship. But that is looking unlikely right now as the club is still not long on centerbacks. Suarez is a straight replacement for Alex Crognale, not an extra player. Moreover, despite his evident ability (and ludicrous height) he remains pretty young at a mere 19 years old. Suarez, Paterson and Phanuel Kavita at the back is a possibility but unless another centerback is on the way, that’s a lot to ask of just three guys.

So 4 in defense seems far more probable. Indeed, the team is pretty well-supplied with fullbacks: alongside Turnbull, there are Moses Mensah, Ramiz Hamouda and Jake Rufe. Jake, as a utility player, can of course play centerback when the situation demands but he is much better deployed in a moderately attacking role or in the defensive midfield. And Dawson McCartney has played fullback too, but he too is better used as a wingback.

As for the defensive midfield, the question is whether the team goes with a single or double pivot. Almost certainly, we will see both options used over the course of the year. With Corcoran on the way out, the single pivot looks like the better option at the moment, that being Kobe Hernandez-Foster. Enzo Martinez can drop into a double and we may in fact see that as at 34 he is getting on a bit and perhaps slowing down a tad (physically, that is, emotionally not so much).

That leaves five players to deploy. Here is where it could get really interesting. There are any number of ways to do that. 4 attacking mids and a striker (Damus) is a solid, if predictable, choice. Most notably, the Three Sparks have a lot of wingers to use: McCartney, Tyler Pasher, Preston Tabort Etaka and now Tregarthen. 3 mids and 2 up top (adding Trejo or perhaps Darwin Matheus or even one of the wingers) is also possible. I don’t see that being used too often. Even less likely is 2 mids and 3 forwards. It’s rarely used anywhere (Manchester City and Atletico Bilbao are the most well-known recentish examples) but it has the drawback of not really being focused on wide play, which is what the Legion is built for.

Right now, a 4-1-4-1 or the old standard 4-2-3-1 are looking to be the most often used formations this season. But all that being said, there is still one key position that absolutely has to be filled: a central attacking midfielder. The Legion has yet to find a strong substitute for Bruno Lapa (now in South Korea with Ansan Greeners of their second tier). As noted above, the club should have the money to attract a good one. There are certainly more players incoming; we shall see.

One last quick word: of the players added so far the one with the most upside is probably Tregarthen. For sure he is the most under-the-radar acquisition and the least known quantity. And we can expect him to be highly motivated to make the most of his first professional contract. Keep an eye on him.