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After their first season in existence in 2012, the San Antonio Scorpions entered their first offseason following a wonderful first campaign on the field, claiming the NASL Regular Season Championship, the league MVP and the Golden Gloves winner. The squad failed to keep the core of that team together however, forcing too much turnover for the following year. That turnover, combined with a lack of any preseason, caused the team to delay the chemistry-building process prior to the 2013 season, which was a disappointing one for the club.
With foreign players brought in almost blindly, and former MLS players joining the squad as a mere vacation, the club didn’t have much of a choice when the 2013 season ended but to blow it all up once again. Under new manager, Alen Marcina, the club has begun to undergo its second squad makeover in as many years, however there is much more optimism this time around as the former Canadian international forms his own team for his desired formation.
When a team is rebuilding a squad, there are going to be some departures that the fans, and maybe the club as well, will not like. The trio of fan favorites for the Scorpions: Hans Denissen, Walter Ramirez and Luka Vucko are just a few of the mainstays from 2013 that will not return next season. Vucko has returned to play in his native Croatia, while Ramirez has joined NASL new boys Indy Eleven, and Denissen accepted a big contract from the Cosmos. Losing your leading scorer as well as your most used defender can certainly be looked at as a negative, however Marcina is building a squad that fits his style of play, rather than trying to mix and match inherited players to fit what he believes is a winning scheme.
Marcina plays a very attack-minded 4-3-3 formation and has undertaken a project this offseason to build a starting 11 that will turn that formation into some of the best attacking play in the league. For Marcina, it seems as if whatever his budget is has not made too much of a difference. He has earmarked players whom he believes are the best players in the league (a league he knows just as well as any manger in the NASL from his playing and scouting days). Those earmarked players are mostly former Best XI players in the NASL, so it isn’t hard to believe why Marcina would value them, however the more impressive bit is that he has managed to recruit and capture these players to play in one squad together.
After retaining one of the best center-forwards in the league in Tomasz Zahorski, Marcina has brought in former FC Edmonton and NASL Best XI midfielder Shaun Saiko, former Puerto Rico Islanders’ player of the year Jonathan Fana, former NASL Best XI midfielder Walter Restrepo, and the two best midfielders from the Silverbacks in 2013 in Danny Barrera and Best XI player, Richie Menjivar. These additions coupled with Zahorski and another returning player, Sainey Touray, provide Marcina with plenty of options up front.
With those options, here is how we see Marinca’s midfield and forwards setting up in his 4-3-3 formation:
Menjivar
Barrera Saiko
Fana Restrepo
Zahorksi
The front six in Marcina’s formation, when on their game, can challenge any attacking presence in the NASL including the very dynamic Rowdies’. Below we examine their possible roles in the formation and what they could bring to the club.
Richie Menjivar
The latest signing for Marcina and the Scorpions may well be the most vital. Menjivar is the pivotal center midfield player that plays box-to-box and dictates the tempo of the game. Before being named to the NASL Best XI in 2013, he led the Silverbacks to a Spring Season Championship and a place in the Soccer Bowl. Menjivar also plays internationally for El Salvador and featured prominently for the country in this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. Before signing with the Scorpions, it seemed Menjivar was destined for MLS, trialing with the Portland Timbers. However he will now be the engine room in this formation that makes everything go, and he will link up with someone he knows well in Barrera.
Danny Barrera
Barrera, like Menjivar, joins the Scorpions from Atlanta and brings some creativity and flair to the midfield of San Antonio. While Menjivar dictated the run of play in Atlanta, it was Barrera who would pop up and make something happen offensively. He was tied for second in the league in assists and added a few goals to his name in 2013 as well. Barrera is left-footed, and can play behind the strikers as well as out wide. Him and Menjivar are both young (Menjivar- 23, Barrera – 24) so they will bring their impressive chemistry to the Scorpions.
Shaun Saiko
Once again, the Scorpions seemed to snag one of the best players from another team (this time, FC Edmonton) after signing the Canadian international as a free agent. Saiko and Edmonton didn’t end on good terms, but what is the Eddies’ loss could be the Scorpions gain. There is no denying Saiko is technically gifted and a brilliant attacker. Creative and quick, he was stifled by playing in Edmonton’s defensive and long ball-style formation, although he still pulled off a Best XI award in 2011. Saiko will most likely play more out wide in Marcina’s formation and will cause havoc for many a fullback because of the way he will be utilized.
Jonathan Fana
Fana has been out of the NASL for a year now, but he knows this league well and has proven he can play at this level. As one of the three forwards, he will make runs off of Zahorski and create danger on the advanced flanks. Fana is a former Islanders player of the season, and what he lacks in height, he more than makes up for in speed. If he can rekindle his form that he displayed with Puerto Rico, it will be exactly what Marcina is looking for.
Walter Restrepo
Restrepo and Saiko are similar styled-players, but the former will be more suited for the third forward spot because of his eye for goal. He has been used mostly as an attacking midfielder and a winger in his NASL career that landed him on the Best XI list in 2012. But with this Scorpions formation that carries plenty of quality midfielders, Restrepo looks set to play a bit more advanced on the opposite flank from Fana. Also like Saiko, Restrepo’s tenure in Fort Lauderdale looked to have ended badly, but if he performs on the field, that shouldn’t be an issue in San Antonio.
Tomasz Zahorski
The lone returning Scorpion in this front six for San Antonio, Zahorski joined the club at the start of the 2013 Fall Season and immediately established himself as one of the best strikers in the league. He scored more goals in the Fall Season than anyone else and his goals to shots ratio was outrageously impressive. The attack will end with him in front of goal, and with the supporting cast around him, his goal tally should at least double from last season.
Although the team has had to rebuild almost their entire squad for the second year running, Alen Marcina has finally had the chance to bring in the players he wants and that fit what he is trying to do on the pitch. Oh and before we criticize their attack-minded purchases too much, Marcina has also retained defenders Stephen DeRoux and Greg Janicki while adding Adrian Cann to replace Vucko, so the Scorpions are looking out for their back line as well. There is obviously much more work to be done for a team that had such a disappointing year last season, and it remains to be seen how many of these players perform and/or stay healthy. However, finalizing deals for your potential starting midfielders and forwards is a good start, not to mention the fact that almost all of them are, or were once considered some of the top players in the league.
(image courtesy of Mexsport)
