EASTERN DIVISION
CHICAGO FIRE
Investor/operator--Anschutz Entertainment Group.
MLS championships--One (1998).
Home--Cardinal Stadium, Naperville, Ill.
Coach--Bob Bradley.
2001 record--16-6-5.
Top players lost--Diego Gutierrez, Eric Wynalda.
Top players gained--None.
Outlook--The deepest and one of the best-coached teams in the league will have to dig even deeper this season. First, World Cup 2002 will rob it of midfielder Chris Armas, for sure, and possibly also forward Josh Wolff and midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. Second, the renovation of Soldier Field has temporarily consigned the Fire to the campus of North Central College in Naperville, Ill., a small field in a small stadium with small crowds.
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COLUMBUS CREW
Investor/operator--Hunt Sports.
MLS championships--None.
Home--Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio.
Coach--Greg Andrulis.
2001 record--13-7-6.
Top players lost--Tenywa Bonseu, Ansil Elcock.
Top players gained--Brian Dunseth, Chad McCarty.
Outlook--For the Crew, a great deal will depend on the results it can obtain while striker Brian McBride is busy with the U.S. national team, before and during the World Cup. John Wilmar Perez pulls the strings in midfield and, in Dante Washington, Jeff Cunningham and Brian West, the Crew has plenty of speed, but its rebuilt defense remains a question mark.
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NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Investor/operator--Kraft Soccer Properties.
MLS championships--None.
Home--CMGI Field, Foxboro, Mass.
Coach--Fernando Clavijo.
2001 record--7-14-6
Top players lost--Leonel Alvarez, Cate, William Sunsing.
Top players gained--Adin Brown, Alex Pineda Chacon, Mamadou Diallo, Carlos Llamosa, Jim Rooney.
Outlook--No MLS team has undergone as drastic a transformation as the Revolution, which even has a new stadium. Not least of the player additions were Pineda Chacon and Diallo, the league’s 2001 and 2000 scoring champions. The defense is bolstered by U.S. national team’s Llamosa. Midfielder Rooney is supposed to be the catalyst of the team.
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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY METROSTARS
Investor/operator--AEG.
MLS championships--None.
Home--Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Coach--Octavio Zambrano.
2001 record--13-10-3.
Top players lost--Mark Chung, Adolfo Valencia.
Top players gained--Joe Addo, Marcelo Balboa, Diego Serna.
Outlook--After obtaining volatile striker Serna to play up top alongside Clint Mathis and the team’s surprise standout of 2001, Rodrigo Faria, Zambrano can have no complaints about his team’s offensive potential. Goalkeeper Tim Howard is one of the league’s best and the MetroStars’ defense is solid, but much depends on whether U.S. veteran Tab Ramos still can orchestrate everything from midfield in his final season, especially considering the loss of Chung.
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WASHINGTON D.C. UNITED
Investor/operator--AEG.
MLS championships--Three (1996, 1997, 1999).
Home--RFK Stadium, Washington.
Coach--Ray Hudson.
2001 record--8-16-2.
Top players lost--Chris Albright, Stephen Armstrong.
Top players gained--Nick Rimando.
Outlook--The three-time MLS champions have suffered through two dismal seasons, something the arrival of live-wire coach Hudson is supposed to correct. Unfortunately for Hudson, he has to work miracles with a cast that hasn’t changed much. And just how will veteran playmaker Marco Etcheverry, fellow Bolivian Jaime Moreno and striker Abdul Thompson Conteh respond to Hudson’s peculiar motivational style? It could be another long season in a difficult division for D.C. United.
