The Charleston Battery are looking for a third consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Final as they enter the 2025 preseason. | Photo courtesy Charleston Battery
Preseason is in full swing across the USL Championship with a little over a month to go before the 2025 season officially kicks off on Saturday, March 8, and with that most clubs are getting close to completing their roster builds for the new season.
As is the case most preseasons, though, there are still roster spots up for grabs as trialists look to earn their spot on a club for the new campaign. The spots they’re vying for? Well, that could be for a variety of different positions as clubs look for upgrades on their current squad or additional talent to fill out their depth chart.
Here’s a look at which position in particular looks like it needs to be addressed in the upcoming weeks by each club in the Eastern Conference. You can find the list for the Western Conference here.
Legion has been aggressive in adding talent this offseason after missing out on the postseason for the first time, but the center of defense still appears an area of concern this preseason. Veteran center back Phanuel Kavita is back with a new contract, while AJ Paterson remains with the group, but from there the side has two teenagers in top 16-year-old prospect Ramiz Hamouda and 19-year-old loanee Tiago Suarez.
Hamouda could be due for a step forward in minutes this season after logging just under 500 minutes last season, but Birmingham could probably do with another experienced head in its contingent alongside Kavita and Paterson to help the youngsters along.
There’s a very good case to be made that Graham Smith and Leland Archer made up the best center back tandem in the USL Championship last season – they combined for a 14.12 Goals Added mark per American Soccer Analysis while both sitting in the top six in the league’s center backs – but right now there’s only new arrival Joey Akpunonu providing back-up in the central defensive positions in the club’s depth chart.
We saw last offseason that Nathan Dossantos could fill in if needed, but that’s not really the ideal situation here. Finding a younger center back with upside to grow into the role should be addressed before the campaign begins.
The biggest challenge Detroit City has had since joining the USL Championship in 2022 has been its attack, with the defensive structure the side has put in place at the foundation of three consecutive postseason appearances and a top-three finish last year as it finished with a sub-1.00 goals-against average as a club.
After Ben Morris and Maxi Rodriguez became the first players to record 10 goals in a regular season in the Championship last year – only for Rodriguez to head to Rhode Island FC in free agency – Le Rouge have tried to address that this offseason with the arrival of South African forward Darren Smith from the Finnish top flight. Still, those appear the only two out-and-out forwards on the roster for now, something that Detroit will need to address as it ramps up for the new season.
After conceding the second-most goals in the Eastern Conference a season ago, Hartford Athletic has looked to make upgrades defensively this offseason with the acquisition of Adrian Diz Pe via transfer from Indy Eleven one of the notable moves the side has made this offseason.
While the Cuban’s arrival should be a plus for Hartford only a year on from him earning a 2023 USL Championship All-League selection, the center back position still feels a little bit thin for Head Coach Brendan Burke’s squad. Diz Pe, Joey Farrell and Jordan Scarlett are all experienced campaigners but are also all at least 29 years of age going into camp. Adding some younger depth to that rotation should be a priority here.
After last year’s fourth-place finish, Indy Eleven has kept a solid core and added what looks like on paper to be some smart additions, including 2024 League One Defender of the Year Bruno Rendon. The other thing that’s somewhat striking in Indy’s current roster makeup, though, is how many center forwards the side seems to have.
From the returning duo of Romario Williams and Elliot Collier to new arrivals Edward Kizza and Elvis Amoh, that’s a lot of players who figure to do their best work inside the edges of the penalty area, but it leaves only Maalique Foster as an out-and-out winger.
There are mitigations to this, of course, with Aedan Stanley a fine creator from left back or left wingback. Rendon could fit in on the opposite flank should Indy play a three-man back line, too. Finding another player who can stretch an opposing defense in the manner Foster does would be a nice piece to add to what looks like an already-formidable squad.
Loudoun United FC signed forward Wesley Leggett to a new multi-year contract this offseason after his breakout campaign last year. | Patrick Garber / Loudoun United FC
Loudoun United will return its top two scorers from the 2024 season in Zach Ryan and Wesley Leggett, with the latter on a new contract that could keep him at the club through the 2027 season.
Aside from that, however, there’s Abdellatif Aboukoura – who had five goals in the 2024 season, and not much else in terms of attacking threat in the current squad. With Khalil ElMedkhar having headed to FC Tulsa and center forward Tommy Williamson also moving on, Loudoun needs to find some more scoring threats to push the side toward the postseason positions.
Look, as usual it’s hard to find a gap in Louisville City’s squad as it begins preseason. As my friend John Morrissey points out here, you can make the argument the 2024 Players’ Shield winner might be even better than it was a season ago on paper with its offseason additions.
There is, however, the question of who’s going to back up Phillip Goodrum now that he’s the man with Wilson Harris’ transfer overseas. The likes of Jansen Wilson, Ray Serrano, Brian Ownby and Adrien Perez all look like wingers, not the centerpiece of a 4-3-3. It’s the spot Louisville might need to find someone for on its depth chart.
So, there’s obviously a good amount of work to be done on Miami’s roster. I can’t reveal too much here, but safe to say the work is going on behind the scenes to get the squad together under new Head Coach Gastón Maddoni.
At the same time, if there’s one position that was desperately in need of an upgrade from last season, it’s between the sticks. Miami’s goalkeeping room combined for a save percentage of 60.1 percent a year ago and allowed 7.67 more goals than its Expected Goals on Shots on Target mark of 81.33xGASoT. Finding someone to lead the way there might be the most important spot the side has to fill this offseason.
Oalex Anderson Jr. is set to lead North Carolina FC's attack again in the 2025 USL Championship season after a stellar campaign in the club's return to the league last year. | Photo courtesy Zach Taft / North Carolina FC
North Carolina FC is bringing back a good core from the side that reached the postseason in its return to the USL Championship a season ago and has supplemented that so far this offseason with a pair of good defensive reinforcements in former Academy product Conor Donovan and Triston Hodge.
Monday’s latest offseason arrival of Pedro Dolabella – who starred for Union Omaha last season as the side won both the USL League One Players’ Shield and Final – should help to address the other end of the field. At the same time, the three-player contingent of Oalex Anderson, Evan Conway and Rodrigo Da Costa he’s joining feels a little bit light at the moment and will likely need some depth added to it in the next few weeks for the side to make a leap forward.
The Hounds have made two splashy forward signings this offseason. First, the club brought Bertin Jacquesson on board on a full-time deal after his loan stint from Real Salt Lake last season and then it made arguably the biggest free agent signing in club history with Augustine Williams’ arrival.
Now the question is who fills out the rest of the attacking corps. As it stands, Jacquesson and Williams are the only two out-and-out forwards in the squad. While players like Robbie Mertz and Danny Griffin can chip in from midfield, some more pieces are probably going to be needed for depth and rotation throughout the season.
The defending Eastern Conference title holders have both retained most of the key pieces from their remarkable inaugural season, including signing Golden Playmaker Noah Fuson to a contract extension, and added pieces at key positions starting with central midfielder Maxi Rodriguez.
The squad’s looking good, overall, but last week’s transfer of Stephen Turnbull to Birmingham Legion FC and the departures of Collin Smith and Gabriel Alves do leave the side with only returning standout Jojea Kwizera and newcomer Dani Rovira as likely regulars at the two wingback positions. While Frank Nodarse and Fuson can pitch in there, as shown last season, finding another player for whom that’s the primary position should be in order.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies had one of the best attacking tandems in the Championship last season as both Manuel Arteaga and Cal Jennings earned All-League honors and finished in the top four in the league in goals.
Arteaga remains with the Rowdies for the new season, but with Jennings’ departure there isn’t a lot of experience in the forward line to join him. Sure, Leo Fernandes is back to play off the front line and provide some attacking punch, and there’s Nashville SC loanee Woobens Pacius, who has a solid track record in his career so far. Beyond that, though, there are teenagers Endri Mustali and Cristian Ortiz, both of whom it may be too much to expect to make an immediate breakthrough this season.