September W’s = Depth + Endurance

The Dog Days of September are upon us. Forgive me from borrowing a phrase from baseball used to describe the difficult stretch run toward the end of a season. While in baseball, the dog days happen in August, I think we are seeing these trying times come upon MLS players in late August and carry over into September.

This year the physical toll seems to be more evident than usual due to several factors:

• The oppressive heat of summer 2010
• The World Cup hangover or layoff depending on the player involved
• The MLS representation in the CONCACAF Champions League
• The number of big international friendly matches played in July

Mix into all the above the ridiculous amount of travel which is unique to Major League Soccer and you have some very tired athletes taking the pitch every weekend. Just look at clubs like the Galaxy, the Fire, Seattle and Toronto. The fatigue is evident, in fact, it only serves to highlight the lack of depth for many MLS clubs. Most benches are stocked with young, unproven, and very cheap players looking for their big break.

MLS has not yet reached the economic level of having clubs with the luxury of going two and three players deep at each position without losing a lot of quality talent.

So, as we gear up for the final push to the playoffs, the teams with the best quality reserves are sitting in a good position and may soon find that elusive “second wind” to finish strong.

In my estimation, teams that fall into this category include the Red Bulls, Columbus, RSL, and Dallas.

Definitely NOT the deepest club!

What are your thoughts? Which clubs have the strongest 15-20 man rosters from top to bottom?

Category: MLS