San Antonio Scorpions 2015 Season Preview

• Name: San Antonio Scorpions FC
• Location: San Antonio, Texas
• Stadium: Toyota Field
• Head Coach: Alen Marcina
• Captain: Rafael Castillo
• 2014 Season: Spring: 3rd – Fall: 1st – Playoffs: Champions

2014 was a memorable season in San Antonio. The San Antonio Scorpions brought home the NASL Fall Season Championship by a last second goal from captain Adrian Cann. That trophy was quickly followed up by the ultimate prize of the North American Soccer League, the NASL Championship trophy (aka the Soccer Bowl). It was the first soccer championship for the Alamo City,  and they’ll be looking to defend it in 2015. 2015 will be a new experience for the Scorpions as they will now have the target on their backs; how they deal with the pressure to win will be key to a repeat in 2015. #RedAndBlack2Back

Let’s take a look at the transactions that have happened during the off-season.

Who is out?

• Jonathan Borrajo. Traded to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for future considerations. Besides the fact that “future considerations” is massively vague and questionable, Borrajo will be missed. He was a huge part of the defense that led the league with the fewest goals scored against.
• Greg Janicki. Our back line took another huge hit when original Scorpion Janicki left for one of the NASL’s newest sides, Indy Eleven. Janicki had been with the team since its beginning in 2012. He was a great defender and leader for the team.
• Wálter Restrepo. Probably the biggest loss of the off-season. Restrepo now plays for the New York Cosmos. He’s most likely making much more than San Antonio could offer, plus, he gets to play with a living legend in Raúl. Restrepo, if you remember, was famously traded to San Antonio in exchange for “free transportation during Fort Lauderdale’s two road trips to San Antonio in 2014“. You read that correct. It’s not made up. But the fact is that San Antonio will miss his versatility to play centrally or out wide.
• Giuseppe Gentile. Loved his name. He came to San Antonio in the Fall but didn’t see too much playing time. He signed with FC Chiasso of the Swiss Challenge League. Best of luck to the young man.
• Leone Cruz. Signed with the Austin Aztex.
• Sainey Touray. Signed with the Austin Aztex.
• Trevin Caesar. Signed with the Austin Aztex.

Who is in?

• Eduar Zea. Zea is a 25 yr. old Colombian defender who signed from Deportes Quindío of the Colombian Second Division. He has experience in the first division as well was a U-17 player for Colombia in the 2007 U-17 FIFA World Cup. He should be a solid addition to the defense.
• Pablo Cruz. Cruz came from fellow NASL club, currently under league ownership, Atlanta Silverbacks. He is also a former U-17 player for the U.S. Cruz will probably play more in the midfield and look to push the ball up the field. Read more, here.
• Cristian Palomeque. Palomeque is another great Colombian signee on loan from Atlético Nacional. I’ll expect to see Palomeque get plenty of game-time this season and contribute in scoring. He is in a great position to grow here in San Antonio as he can be mentored by Rafael Castillo, fellow Colombian and leader of the team. The league tagged him as a young player to watch for 2015. Read more, here.
• Nana Attakora. Attakora comes to San Antonio from D.C. United and joins Head Coach Alen Marcina & Adrian Cann in the Canadian faction of the Scorpions. He is a big defender who will join Julius James, Zea, Stephen DeRoux, & Adrian Cann on the back line. He has eight caps with the Canadian National Team, including the first two of 2015 against Iceland. Read more, here.
• Marvin Chávez. I’m really excited about Chávez as he has a lot of MLS experience and played for the Honduras National Team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil! I expect him to become one of the leading goal scorers for the Scorpions this year. Read more, here.
• Zourab Tsiskaridze. It’s a hard name to pronounce. “Z” will be a nice addition to the midfield; he’s a big body that can put pressure on opposing defenders. He has experience with the Whitecaps and Impact before they moved to MLS and in the Russian Premier League. If he can do more of this…then I think this year’s midfield will be a strong part of the team.
• Jon Kempin. Kempin is on loan from Sporting Kansas City of MLS. He is a young goalie that will be an awesome addition in goal. He showed his talent during the pre-season friendly against the Costa Rica U-23 team. He saved a penalty kick, diving to his left to prevent the goal, and had a few more saves from inside the box. He should be the #1 keeper, but it will be interesting to see if Coach Marcina will use San Antonio vet Daryl Sattler as well. Read more here.
• Tyler Gibson. Gibson is a rookie who played 4 years with the Charlotte 49ers from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It’s not clear how much playing time he’ll get, but we may see him as a sub occasionally.
• Omar Cummings. The Jamaican international comes to San Antonio with 7 years of MLS experience with the Colorado Rapids and most recently, the Houston Dynamo. This is a huge signing for the Scorpions. We need forwards that can put the ball in the net; hopefully Cummings will help with that. Read more, here.
• Saad Abdul-Salaam. Saad is another loanee from MLS side, Sporting Kansas City. He was the 12th pick of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. It’s unclear if he will start – my guess is that he will start on the bench as a sub. Hopefully he will be a stud for us in the defense.

Returners:

Goalkeeper: Daryl Sattler

Defense: Stephen DeRoux, Julius James

Midfield: Rafael Castillo, Billy Forbes, Richard Menjivar, Josue Soto

Forwards: César Elizondo, Eric Hassli, Tomasz Zahorski

Strengths:

While San Antonio did lose some key defensive players from 2014, I believe that with the additions of Zea and Attakora, our defense should be pretty good.  We did lose goalie Josh Saunders to MLS expansion side, NYCFC, but get Daryl Sattler back. Sattler was the NASL Golden Glove winner with SA back it the teams inaugural season. In the deeproot Funds Cup, Sattler was active and showed good movement and had total control over his box. We also have recent U.S. Men’s National Team call-up, Jon Kempin, in goal as well. The net will be well protected.

San Antonio does brings back 2014 NASL assists leader, Billy Forbes. This is huge! He led the league last year in assists, with 7, and was instrumental in countless other attacks. He also tallied five goals of his own, none more important than the game-winner in the Soccer Bowl. He already assisted on a goal in the game against FC Dallas. Another huge returnee is Rafael Castillo. You might remember his bicycle kick that opened up the scoring in the Soccer Bowl last year. It made news…He brings experience & leadership to our squad. He will be a great mentor for all of our younger players. That goal gets to me every time…

The midfield should be the strength of this team. The ability to move the ball up the field quickly on counter-attacks will be critical to scoring more this year. Set-pieces should be a strength for this squad as well. And with attackers like Chávez, Elizondo, Palomeque, and now Cummings we should see a more potent attack than we did last year. Can one of these players become that “go-to” guy for goal scoring this year? This will be key to a repeat. Finishing seems to be troublesome for the Scorpions, so converting opportunities when they appear will be crucial.

Weakness:

Defense. The defense had its ups and downs during the pre-season. After the Hill Country Derby, I believe that our defense, specifically our set-piece defense, needs a lot of work. Tsiskaridze needs to be in the midfield, not as a full-back, and I think the guys just need to be together for longer to build the chemistry needed. Once the back line starts to gel, I think this group of players could turn out to be a formidable defense. I do think that during the Spring season, the defense will be a work in progress. Building team chemistry doesn’t happen over night, but throughout the Spring, it should build. The talent is definitely there to have an impressive back line.

Familiarity. While we did keep a good portion of our key players, we are bringing in quite a few fresh faces. The experience that those players bring is tremendous, but they haven’t had long to play with each other to develop a lot of team chemistry. This was pretty evident in the Hill Country Derby, so more time together will be a necessity.

Once they start to gel with one another, I think this team has the potential to be very special.

Potential starting XI:
(4-2-3-1)
Jon Kempin
Eduar Zea – Nana Attakora – Julius James – Stephen DeRoux
Zourab Tsiskaridze – Josue Soto
Marvin Chávez – Rafael Castillo – Billy Forbes
Cristian Palomeque

Key Games:

Spring season
April 25th – AT Minnesota United
May 2nd – AT Jacksonville Armada
May 23rd – AT New York Cosmos

Fall season
July 25th – vs Minnesota United
August 15th – AT New York Cosmos
October 10th – AT Indy Eleven
October 17th – AT Ottawa Fury
October 21st – AT Fort Lauderdale Strikers
October 24th – vs New York Cosmos
October 31st – AT Minnesota United

Toyota Field MUST be a fortress! The NASL this year looks to be very strong, and we cannot allow points to be dropped at home. In addition, every game against Minnesota United & the New York Cosmos will be big, especially the away games. If we can leave Blaine & Hempstead with results in the Spring, it will be a big step to claiming the Spring title. Unfortunately, we have to play both United and New York away twice this season while only hosting them once each; those will be crucial.

The month of October will be absolutely brutal as well; it’s not the schedule I’d like to go into the post-season with. Three away games in the span of 11 days will be a tough, mental test for our squad, and ending the season vs New York & United could be a blessing in disguise. It would give us the opportunity to make up ground on them if it is the case that we are chasing them in the Fall. It could also be disastrous if we fall a part in those games.

Prediction:

This should be a very competitive year on the field in the NASL. New York is loaded with legend Raúl, Marcos Senna, & former Scorpion Wálter Restrepo; Minnesota has USMNT player, Miguel Ibarra, & 2014 NASL Golden Boot winner Christian Ramirez. My prediction is that Minnesota, New York, and San Antonio will be fighting for the top spot all season long. We also have to be aware of NASL newcomer, Jacksonville Armada FC. While I don’t think they are a real threat to win the league, they will definitely make some noise and be troublesome to the three top contenders. Retooled Tampa Bay could be a surprise in the league as well. My prediction is that San Antonio comes out in the middle for the Spring season. We will continue to build chemistry but won’t win it. We will gain some steam in the Fall, possibly take the Fall championship, but will be in the playoffs come November. How we play in October will tell us a lot about whether or not this squad can repeat. Although, with the new players added this year, I can also easily see the Scorpions being a middle-of-the-road team the entire year. What cannot happen is to get off to a losing start in either season as it may not be recoverable because of the talent in the league.

(image courtesy of sascorpions.com)