The USL Championship season may have ended in November but teams have already started moving to make sure they improve in 2024. This series will look at the moves teams have made and what gaps still need to be addressed as they take this offseason to build a Championship-caliber squad. This week, we look at the teams that finished 2nd, 7th, and 11th in their respective conferences:

New Faces, 2nd Places

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Tampa Bay almost goes in an identical box to Pittsburgh. They had a wonderful regular season in 2023 but tripped over the first hurdle, (or anvil?) in losing to Birmingham Legion in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. This despite losing Neill Collins midseason to EFL side Barnsley and Nicky Law stepping into the managerial seat midseason. Overall, it went about as well as you could hope. They scored 61 goals in the regular season, powered by Cal Jennings and JJ Williams. Those two were responsible for 44 of the 61 goals by either scoring or assisting in what was one of the most potent attacking duos in the entire League. Rowdies fans were also thrilled to see both of them make the list of the 12 players TB had under contract for 2024. Until December 4th at least.

Monday morning it was announced that JJ Williams was headed to Rhode Island in what has been a very impressive offseason for the Anchors (I’m sure they aren’t going by this but I’m starting it, deal with it.) So the remaining players in St Petersburg were suddenly short the team’s second-top goalscorer and top assister all in one.

Do not get me wrong, the spine of this team has been largely kept intact. Of the players that played more than 2000 minutes for TB last year, Williams, Yann Ekra and Connor Sparrow are the only players not returning at this moment. The club did announce that Ekra and Sparrow were among those that were still discussing an extension for 2024 and I would personally be surprised if the club did not have a degree of confidence by saying that out loud.

More interesting than the personnel between the lines will be new boss, Robbie Neilson. There is a continuity here, from the fact he is Scottish himself, boasts a similar style tactically to Neil Collins and the fact that their names combined could be a creative pub trivia night answer (Robbie Neill Collins.)

Most recently the boss at Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership, Neilson’s approach was far from lighting the league on fire but a defense-first approach meant that his club finished fourth in 21/22 in a League where two of the teams are practically playing a different sport. Neilson will have to get to grips quickly with the squad and the League and will need to add quality to replace the departing Williams and some quality in wide areas as Sebastian Dalgaard departs having spent three seasons in St Pete’s.

Look for the Rowdies to reload in 2024, as long as Robbie can get them firing again.

Orange County SC

Similar to Tampa Bay, Orange County had a midseason coaching change, although theirs was altogether more traumatic. Morten Karlsen took over after just eight matchdays for Richard Chaplow who was able to gather just six points from the 24 available to him. The decision to change managers proved to be inspired, with Karlsen averaging just shy of 2 points per match, launching OCSC right up the table to seize that second spot in the West.

The manner in which he did this was not wholly dissimilar to Chaplow, with a solid defense making the foundation for a solid counter attacking team. His attack was more dynamic and seemed to be let off the leash a little under Karlsen. They scored 40 goals in the 28 matches he took charge of having scored just 14 in the opening ten under Chaplow while still maintaining a solid defense. Karlsen’s squad kept 12 clean sheets in the final 28 matches having kept just one in the opening ten. The performance that Karlsen extracted from this squad was absolutely extraordinary having taken over midseason. That being said, there is a big change for this squad in 2024.

Ok, I’ll just go ahead and address the 20 goal-involvement elephant in the room. Milan Iloski is off to Nordsjaelland of the Danish Superliga. While many teams are reliant on one or two top goalscorers (like Tampa above) the next closest player to Iloski was Thomas Amang with just 10 goal involvements. The attack is going to need help in the offseason and adding 20 goals from a player that plays in attacking midfield or on the wing is not going to be easy. Ronaldo Damus, who remains unattached thus far headed into 2024 could be tempted for a reunion at the club he fired to a USL Championship title in 2021. Plus, its just an hour up the 5 to the Sand Canyon Ave exit in Irvine. Other interesting ideas could be Albert Dikwa or Jeremy Kelly of Memphis but Damus feels like the obvious choice, if they can land arguably the hottest property on the market.

The first concrete news of the offseason was that Karlsen had been locked down to a multi-year deal as the permanent manager, his audition going better than anyone could have expected really. The questions remain around their squad though, as they have announced (as of the time of writing 12/10/2023) just five returning players so far. I’m sure there are more announcements coming, but they have opted to announce just their defensive players thus far. Colin Shutler, Ryan Doghman, Markus Nakkim, Dillon Powers and Owen Lambe. Doghman, Nakkim and Powers are three of the six players who logged 2,000 or more minutes for OCSC in 2023 with Lambe not far behind. Shutler found his footing after OC had had a lot of instability at goalkeeper so that will do some good to have an established #1 early on in the offseason.

The lack of announced signings makes it hard to see what OC needs but having the right man at the helm in Karlsen. This, combined with a solid defense, makes it clear that they just need to make sure the attack gets up to speed and they can be a force in the West yet again in 2023.

Convergence

Birmingham Legion

There are not too many roller coasters in Alabama from what I gather, with Alabama Adventure outside of Birmingham boasting the Rampage. The 2023 Birmingham Legion season can now be added to this list. Five wins from their first eight preceded a five game losing streak. Four wins from their next six preceded another three game losing skid. From August 12th to the end of the season, Legion did not have another streak of more than two matches without a loss. Inconsistency and lack of availability for Legion’s difference makers were the most common themes. That combined with only four draws the whole season meant that these periods of feast or famine were felt even more acutely.

Far be it from me to reduce a season to two games but Tommy Soehn’s 2023 Legion can basically be encapsulated by their two playoff matches. They absolutely blew away Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. Preston Tabort Etaka was irresistible in his forward play and he combined with Prosper Kasim and Diba Nwego so well. Their midfield and defense allowed Tampa Bay little room on the ball and only allowed two shots on target across the 90 minutes against one of the most potent attacking units in the League. Contrast that with the next game out against eventual finalists Charleston. The game was too open, with Birmingham relying on Matt VanOekel to keep them in it despite forcing just two saves out of Trey Muse at the other end. They had just three attempts on target and Charleston saw the game out with relative ease despite the close scoreline.

Matt VanOekel will return for another season between the pipes for Birmingham. *Image courtesy of Birmingham Legion.*

The good news for Legion fans is that Soehn is returning a significant chunk of the big difference makers. Tabort Etaka, Kasim, Nwegbo, and VanOekel are back, alongside Enzo Martinez, Tyler Pasher, Alex Crognale, Phanuel Kavita, Matthew Corcoran, Trevor Spangenberg and Mikey Lopez. This group accounts for 23 of the 44 goals Legion scored last year, with Juan Agudelo and Neco Brett reportedly still in negotiations over a possible return to Legion in 2024.

The question is with such a significant chunk of the group returning, especially if Agudelo and Brett rejoin, how does this Legion side evolve beyond the 7th place finish they managed in 2023? Do they hope for more availability from the likes of Pasher? The unfortunate news there is he has only made more than 24 League appearances in one season of his career, when he appeared in 32 matches of the 2019 USL Championship season with Indy Eleven. Agudelo and Prosper Kasim had flashes of brilliance but struggled for consistency in front of goal, with Agudelo scoring about once every six matches and Kasim logging only two League goals.

This looks like a season of consistency or stability for Legion, but many will be asking themselves, is that enough?

El Paso Locomotive

If Birmingham’s season was a roller coaster, El Paso Locomotive’s was a Drop Tower. A rise to the top powered by the likes of Denys Kostyshyn, Lucho Solignac, Petar Petrovic and Marc Navarro saw them go 12 matches without losing. Then they followed that up with the drop. Ten matches without a win, during which they conceded five goals to RGV, four to Miami, and five to Phoenix. Truly not a dip but a sudden drop which left supporters’ stomachs in their mouths. They won four of their last eight but only one of those wins, a 3-2 thriller against Charleston, came against a team above them in the table and two of them came against the two worst teams in the League.

The issues Locomotive faced in the back half of last season really centered around a lack of depth at both ends of the pitch. Bence Pavkovics departure midseason was nothing short of a calamity at the back. Lucho Solignac finished as the top scorer in 2023 while playing his last match of the season on August 13th, a full two months before the final whistle went in their 2-1 win over Oakland Roots on the final day.

Brian Clarhaut has looked to retool pretty immediately this offseason. There has been some substantial turnover. Kostyshyn and Navarro are already moving on, with Solignac looking unlikely to return and Petrovic the only name of those four I mentioned above that will be in Locomotive blue (or white?) in 2024. On their way in are Joaquin Rivas and Bolu Akinyode from Miami, Elijah Martin from San Diego, Justin Dhillon from San Antonio and Amando Moreno from New Mexico United. These last two signings in particular show a pretty aggressive departure for Clarhaut, who had previously targeted Europe-based signings. They reportedly out bid NMU on Moreno’s wages and they paid SAFC a fee for Dhillon’s services. Rivas, Moreno and Dhillon are significant additions to an attacking front that is in desperate need of a rebuild.

Question marks remain for El Paso at the back as Noah Dollenmeyer, who spent the end of 2023 on loan from Los Angeles FC, is the only recognized center back confirmed for 2024 and Benny Diaz is on his way across the border to FC Juarez. Javier Garcia has been confirmed but as he was the backup for 2023 it remains to be seen if Locomotive will target a different player as the #1.

The second season for Brian Clarhaut in West Texas will be one where he is rebuilding the team, can he fit it to his image? And moreover, what is his image? Will they resemble the adaptive, attacking side of the first half of the season? Or will they morph into a more defensive system like they employed in the second half?

Loudoun United

“We demand to be taken seriously.” This is the sign visible in front of GOB Bluth and the Alliance of Magicians in Arrested Development but it could double as a saying for Loudoun United. I still remember the sentiment on The USL Show following their 3-1 win over Memphis on the opening day in 2023. Loudoun seemed to be cooking up something pretty impressive. They drew on the 2nd matchday against San Antonio and even added some nice home results over Birmingham and Oakland.

Then we saw who they really were. A young team that would struggle to hang with the more experienced squads in the division.

Any team would struggle to adapt to the loss of a player like Panos Armenakas midseason. Zach Ryan and Kalil El Medkhar kept things exciting at the top end of the pitch but they struggled for service and the club averaged just over a goal per game. Meanwhile, they were often overpowered in defense and allowed 61 goals across the regular season.

One of the main issues for Loudoun was simply consistency in their personnel. Loudoun didn’t have a single player start more than 29 matches and only seven started more than 20. They used a (by a long distance) League-most 33 different players across the 34 matches. They literally had someone making their season debut in all but one match! In order to move forward, Loudoun will need to find a core, keep them available and supplement them with some consistent help off the bench.

They have begun the announcements for 2024 but they are doing it in this irritating way where they only announce one player at a time. They started with Zach Ryan, an important signing given that he accounted for a third of their goals in 2023. They have also announced that Yanis Leerman and Hugo Fauroux are returning. Their new signings do indicate a different approach this year. Drew Skundrich joins from Colorado Springs while Tommy McCabe comes in from FC Tulsa. Adding veterans with experience in the League in central midfield is exactly what you would want to see from Loudoun as they look to shrug off the arrested development of their life as an independent club.

Monterey Bay FC

The phenomenon out West in the USL Championship this year is that Las Vegas Lights were truly the only team who did not compete. Monterey Bay finished second-bottom but they were five points off making the playoffs and only seven points from the eventual Champions, Phoenix Rising. MBFC were a competitive team, even if some of their underlying numbers meant they were always going to struggle to stay in the top eight.

Frank Yallop, who has overseen the squad since they made their debut in 2022, will be returning for another season as head coach. They are returning 15 players from 2023, which may lead to similar questions as I raised regarding Birmingham. Are they leaving themselves enough room to improve the squad over what they achieved last year?

They will have to evolve in attack, as Christian Volesky and Sean Okoli are not two of the fifteen players returning. Alex Dixon, Sam Gleadle and Chase Boone all make the return, but 12 goals walk out the door with Volesky and Okoli. Volesky you can only speculate but Okoli never really lived up to the production they had hoped for. That being said, there is room to add a big name in that forward position. In the meantime, they have gone shopping on the San Diego Loyal Going Out of Business market. Carlos Guzman adds quality and experience in the center of MBFC’s defense while Xavi Gnaulati is one of the most exciting young players in the League. Both signify a nice change for MBFC, who add a big name and an 18 year old who is as promising as Gnaulati.

Key over the next weeks will be continuing to find those pieces which help this team evolve beyond what the core was capable of last year.

- Phil Baki

Getting to the Next Level