Roster Reset | Hamid Opening Doors?

The boys are back from Florida, swapping in some new trialists for the recently dismissed. We won't have Three Boys or apparently a challenger for Wicks as the backup, and the search goes on for defensive help as Arzu is left in limbo while sometime-defender (but mostly midfielder) Shintaro Harada and the undrafted Barry Rice get added to the pot. Good thing MLS delayed Roster Compliance day, eh?

To the updated list, my friends.

Senior Roster

1.  Josh Wicks, GK

2.  Troy Perkins, GK

3.  (I) Julius James, D

4.  Lawson Vaughn, D

5.  Marc Burch, D

6.  (I) Dejan Jakovic, D

7.  Bryan Namoff, D

8.  Devon McTavish, D/M

9.  (I) Floribert N'Galula, D/M

10.  Rodney Wallace, D/M

11.  (I) Cristian Castillo, M

12.  Danny Szetela, M

13.  Clyde Simms, M

14.  (I) Tiyiselani Shipalane, M/F

15.  Chris Pontius, M/F

16.  Santino Quaranta, M/F

17.  (I) Thabiso Khumalo, M/F

18.  Adam Cristman, F

19.  Jaime Moreno, F

20.  (I) Danny Allsopp, F

Developmental Roster

1.  (GA) Bill Hamid, GK

2.  John DiRaimondo, M

3.  Brandon Barklage, M

4.  Jordan Graye, D

Trialists

1. Andrew Quinn, GK - haven't heard he was dismissed yet, but was he ever official on trial?

2. (I?) Lyle Adams, D - I'm assuming he'll want a senior spot, given last year. Also, he grew up in Florida, but does he have citizenship/green card?

3. (I) Quiarol Arzu, D - Honduran youth national teamer, center or right back, awaiting judgement after his trial

4. Barry Rice, D - Can't get enough of your love, babe?

5. (I) Jermaine Taylor, D - Jamaican international center back, will he be fit in time for a trial?

6. (I) Shintaro Harada, D/M - CP Baltimore star could provide depth in defense and midfield
7. (I?) Kurt Morsink, M - another of Onalfo's band of KC rejects, does he have a green card or citizenship?

8. Daniel Wasson, M - washed out abroad, has MLS experience, eligible for Dev Dollars (25 or younger at start of season)

9. Andy Najar, M/F - DCU academy product, probably not really on trial

GA = Generation Adidas

I = requires international roster spot, maximum of 8 internationals on final roster [Cristman trade leaves us with 7 spots]

We've got some finagling to do if we expect to squeeze any of those 9 "possibles" into the existing, filled to the brim roster. It's interesting to note the positions of the trialists that we're really looking hard at. While Harada played in defense last year, he's a natural midfielder. So that leaves us with utility mids Harada, Morsink, and Wasson competing with, I'm assuming, DiRaimondo, Barklage, McTavish and N'Galula and, though he's not positionally in quite the same ballpark, Shipalane.

The other area that's in the spotlight is defense. You've got to figure that "no decision" on Arzu is probably pending a look at Taylor, if he recovers enough for a trial. That said, if the kid was "can't miss," you'd figure we would have made an offer. That doesn't sound like somebody who's going to challenge James for a starting spot does it? So Graye, Adams, Harada again, McTavish again, Rice, Arzu, perhaps Taylor, and Vaughn are all scrapping for utility defensive depth spots.

On the existing roster, I'd say all three Dev spots (outside of Hamid's) and perhaps as many as 4 or 5 senior spots might be up for grabs. Realistically, that's probably closer to two, with Shipalane being the most vulnerable, but the number of trialists we're having a look at suggests that maybe things aren't quite as settled as they would seem. What seems more certain after this latest round is that Onalfo's happy with his attacking options. Only one trialist, academy product Najar, an unlikely signing who has played most of his pre-season minutes in midfield, is left to challenge for a spot, if indeed he was ever really "on trial."

But what about the goalkeeping situation? Kocic was sent packing first, then the more experienced Burse after a brief look. Does this mean that we're settling on Wicks as the backup, or has Hamid impressed so much in pre-season that he poses a real danger to Wicks for the #2 spot? That could certainly open the door for another amongst that horde of trialists...