With the 2023 Season getting ready to kick off here in the Rivercity in less than 2 months, the Kickers are getting ready to move things into high gear. And of course, with the offseason starting to come to end and preseason starting to ramp up, these are the 3 biggest talking points so far.
#1. Multiple Players come back for multiple years to come. Being a fan of a club in lower league soccer is the ability to get to know a player on a personal level, But with that, you understand that your favorite might be a one-and-done. The Richmond Kickers this offseason has made a statement this offseason by keeping a core group of players on long-term deals. Some of the core players coming back with long-term deals are Emiliano Terzaghi, Dakota Barnathan, and Nil Vinyals.
#2. What to expect from Joao Gomiero. With Ethan Bryant departing to go to Sporting Kansas City II this offseason, Darren once again went into his index role and called on the services of another USL League 2 product in Joao Gomiero. If you are not familiar with Joao's game then you have to look no further than the US Open Cup match against NC Fusion U-23. He comes into the squad having practiced already with the team during the latter half of the season. Joao's ability as a CAM/CM gives Darren a unique player to tinker with in the midfield as he could be the understudy to Nil in the more advance attacking midfielder or he could be the connecting piece between the attack and defense.
#3 Who will be the number 2 to Darren Sawatzky With Mika Elovaara moving to a new job, the Assistant Coach's seat next to Darren is open. The Assistant Coach's role is important as he/she can be the good cop to the bad cop of the head coach. Who Darren brings in as the #2 is just as important as who will be the next signing for Kickers. Darren could look to bring in a coach that matches his fiery persona and playstyle or much like Mika, he can go get a coach that is able to bring new and unique ideas to Roos. Whomever the new assistant coach is, I am sure there will be big shoes to fill.
Don’t forget, the Kickers season starts on the road at Independence on March 18th. You can get your season tickets and make sure to tell them that Rivercity 93 referred you. If you enjoyed this article please take a moment a donation to show for as low as .99 cents a month @ https://anchor.fm/rc93/support
