American defender Tim Ream signed a 3 1/2-year contract with the Bolton
Wanderers of the English Premier League. | File Photo: DailyHarrison.com

For better or for worse, Metro has solidified its position as one of the most poachable clubs in the US.  Tim Ream is the latest promising young player to pack his bag for greener pastures after turning a training stint at Bolton into a roughly $3 million sale to the EPL side.  This comes three and a half years after the sale of Jozy Altidore to Villareal, with Juan Agudelo looking destined to move to a bigger club sooner rather than later.  Of course it is disappointing to see good young players leave, the fact that we are producing talent strong enough to get picked up by Europe is reassuring.  Plus, its much better to have your top players poached by big teams in Europe than to trade them away for next to nothing to other MLS teams, which used to essentially be part of the job description of Metro and Red Bull GM's.  Here's wishing the best to Mr. Ream, who put in two solid seasons for New York and has a long and promising career ahead of him.

The sale of our best center back stings a bit less because he has already been replaced.  Sure, I'm positive Tim's mother would argue he simply can't be replaced, but the Red Bull front office did the best they can, bringing in Juan Carlos Osorio's former love/defensive interest, Wilman Conde days after Ream was let go.  Conde was a beast for the Chicago Fire from 2007-2010.  Originally brought in by Osorio, he created a bit of a stink when he wanted to swap clubs with his coach and join The Great Note-taker in New York, but he ended up putting his caveman-like head down and performing despite being in a bad situation.  He left the league for Mexico's Atlas last year, where he put in 13 games before picking up an injury for the rest of the season.  If he plays as well as he did in his first run in the league, he will be an excellent pick up.

Conde will likely be starting along Swedish defenseman Markus Holgersson, who was originally brought in to play next to Ream in the middle of the backline.  Holgersson, 26, just picked up his first cap for Sweden (albeit their C team) and has the physical build to succeed in MLS, although it remains to be seen if he is strong and smart enough on the ball for Hans Backe's liking.  Further depth was added to the squad with the signing of Jonathan Borrajo, a right back from Clifton who most recently played in Norway.  The signing of Borrajo represents a dramatic shift in team policy from signing relatively unknown Scandinavian players from the European scrap-heap to signing relatively unknown American players from the European scrap-heap.  This was continued with the signing of keeper Jeremy Vuolo from Finland's AC Oulu.  Unless Erik Soler adds another keeper, Vuolo looks likely to start, with his only competition coming from rookie Ryan Meara after Frank Rost and New York parted ways.

Although Metro lacks serious depth, it looks more fleshed out than last season, and with a number of trialists and potential signings joining the team in camp South of the border, the squad stands to get deeper still.

Dave Braneck for DailyHarrison.com

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