Beasts of the Southeast - Preseason: Inter Miami make MLS-record trade, Agyemang and Cremaschi called up to USMNT, and Atlanta United spends over $30m in the winter window

By Brian Maurer

A new MLS season is underway so here is our new monthly column; Beasts of the Southeast. It will have updates on all six MLS clubs in the Southeast: transfers, roster updates, recent form, power rankings, and Players of the Month. Enjoy!

Since there is no regular season form to go off of the initial power rankings are based on how the clubs finished last season and how their rosters have changed so far during the offseason and preseason. Orlando City was a better team than Charlotte FC last year but it’s still a question mark as to how well Orlando’s new signings replace key their former attacker Facundo Torres. Nashville SC had a worse record than DC United but their club on paper seems a bit more established as long as BJ Callaghan can get all the pieces to work right. Atlanta United is the real wild card in the preseason rankings because of the big moves they made.

Since there have been no regular season games our first Players of the Month award is going to both Patrick Agyemang and Benjamin Cremaschi since they are two young players who earned USMNT call-ups during the recent January camp. This was Cremaschi’s second time being called up to the senior team, he was also a part of the USA roster for the 2024 Olympics. Agyemang scored a goal in each of his two appearances.

Beasts of the Southeast Power Rankings

Beasts of the Southeast Players of the Month

Inter Miami

Inter Miami appointed Javier Mascherano as their new head coach, he is a former Barcelona player who is now reuniting with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba.

So far, Miami has brought in free agent Fafa Picault, Tadeo Allende, and Telasco Segovia as attacking reinforcements. Defensively they have brought in Gonzalo Lujan and Maxi Falcon. The expectation is that more players could come as they traded Leo Campana for an MLS-record amount of GAM.

Miami had over $3m in GAM before they traded Campana and the Diego Gomez transfer to Brighton went through, so they are stacked with allocation money and are willing to spend it to bring in more reinforcements to defend their Supporters’ Shield.

Because Miami is in the FIFA Club World Cup they are also being given up to $2m in additional GAM to help them boost their rosters for this extra tournament.

The Herons had a hectic travel preseason schedule. They finished up their first friendly against Club America in Las Vegas and then made a trip to Peru and Panama. Then they went to Honduras. They finished up in Florida with a final preseason game against state rivals Orlando City. 

February and March schedule

Inter Miami ends a busy preseason and begins with a full slate to start the year. They have seven games scheduled for February and March but those numbers will increase if they get past Sporting Kansas City in the Concacaf Champions Cup who they are heavily favored against.

Wed, Feb 19, 8 PM - at Sporting KC - Concacaf Champions Cup

Sat, Feb 22, 7:30 PM - vs NYCFC

Tue, Feb 25, 8 PM - vs Sporting KC - Concacaf Champions Cup

Sun, Mar 2, 7 PM - at Houston Dynamo

Sun, Mar 9, 5 PM - vs Charlotte FC

Sun, Mar 16, 7 PM - at Atlanta United

Sat, Mar 29, 7:30 PM - vs Philadelphia Union

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

LW Allende Picault		CF Suarez Afonso		RW Messi Taylor
		AM Segovia Cremaschi
	DM Redondo Ruiz		DM Busquets Bright
LB Alba Allen	CB Martinez Aviles		CB Falcon Lujan	RB Weigandt Gressel
		GK Callendar (INJ) Ustari

Charlotte FC

Charlotte FC made noise when they announced they were signing Crystal Palace legend Wilfried Zaha to a DP loan deal. The left-winger has the talent to be a talisman-type signing. Something he was familiar with for the majority of his career in Croydon.

Attacking midfielder Pep Biel is returning to the Crown but this time his loan deal has been negotiated down to a non-DP level. Charlotte also brought a new face to the midfield, Eryk Williamson from the Portland Timbers. Williamson (27) has six USMNT caps and will likely be a regular contributor in Charlotte’s midfield if he can stay healthy, something he has struggled to do so far in his career.

The Crown is also starting to look a little light on the left after transferring left-back Jere Uronen and loaning Joao Pedro.

Charlotte has also moved on from their DP striker, Karol Swiderski, transferring him to Panathinaikos. This move opens up another DP spot for the Crown. Depending on the amount of the Uronen transfer, and with the Swiderski move, Charlotte should have over $5m GAM to work with.

They now have made a few positional upgrades and have also added some roster flexibility by adding GAM and opening a DP spot.

Charlotte opened their preseason against Nashville SC. They then traveled to Raleigh to play NCFC. The Crown then traveled to California for the Coachella Valley Invitational and played their first CVI match against the LA Galaxy and wrapped up the preseason with games against Phoenix Rising FC, Austin FC, and the Portland Timbers.

February and March schedule

The Crown starts the year off with a tricky schedule. Getting through their first four with positive results would set them up nicely as their schedule gets a little less ominous as they head into April. They also knock off three of their six Western Conference games during this opening stretch.

Sat, Feb 22, 10:30 PM - at Seattle Sounders

Sat, Mar 1, 2:00 PM - vs Atlanta United

Sun, Mar 9, 5:00 PM - Inter Miami

Sat, Mar 15, 7:30 PM - vs FC Cincinnati

Sat, Mar 22, 7:30 PM - vs San Jose Earthquakes

Sat, Mar 29, 4:30 PM - at Colorado Rapids

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

LW Zaha Smalls		ST Agyemang Toklomati		RW Abada Vargas
	CM Williamson Bronico		CM Biel Bender
		DM Westwood Diani
LB Ream Forbes	CB Privett		CB Malanda Tuiloma	RB Byrne Scardina
		GK Kahlina Bingham

Orlando City

The big news for Orlando City is their record transfer of Facundo Torres to Palmeiras. Their roster is pretty solid and there’s an argument to be power ranked in second if replacing their all-time leading goalscorer wasn’t an obvious question mark.

Orlando has earned some respect that they can make the roster adjustments needed in time after making the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. So far they signed a new DP winger, Marco Pasalic to replace Torres on the right. They also added Nicolas Rodriguez on a U22 Initiative deal to add more wing depth. Their most recent addition was to bring in midfielder Eduard Atuesta to help cover for the absence of Wilder Cartagena who just recently had surgery for what is reportedly an achilles tendon injury. While they have made these additions to make up for some of the holes in their roster, their depth is lacking in some spots; particularly in midfield.

The club also mutually agreed to terminate Nicolas Lodeiro's contract, making Martin Ojeda the sole chance creator in the middle.

The Lions started their preseason games against Atletico Mineiro and then played Canadian clubs Forge and CF Montreal. They wrapped up the preseason against Inter Miami after playing against Rhode Island FC.

February and March schedule

While Orlando City is having to make some adjustments and adding new key pieces to their team they were at least given what looks to be a favorable early slate of games. Their first three home games are against Eastern Conference opponents who all failed to make the playoffs in 2024. If they can get results in those home games to start the year they could build some early momentum. Something they struggled with the past two seasons.

Sat, Feb 22, 7:30 PM - vs Philadelphia Union

Sat, Mar 1, 7:30 PM - vs Toronto FC

Sat, Mar 8, 7:30 PM - at NYCFC

Sat, Mar 15, 2:30 PM - at NYRB

Sat, Mar 22, 7:30 PM - vs DC United

Sat, Mar 29, 10:30 PM - at LA Galaxy

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

LW Angulo Tsukada		ST Enrique McGuire (INJ)		RW Pasalic Rodriguez
		AM Ojeda
	DM Atuesta Cartagena (INJ)		DM Araujo Guske
LB Santos Reid-Brown	CB Jansson Williams		CB Schlegel Brekalo	RB Thorhallsson Smith
		GK Gallese Otero

Atlanta United

One of the most highly anticipated offseasons in MLS to monitor has been Atlanta United. They have spent big money on the roster had have reloaded with new a coach and a new face in the front office. They have now built one of the stronger front offices by hiring Chris Henderson who worked for the Seattle Sounders and then most recently was the Sporting Director for Inter Miami. They also hired Ronny Deila to be their next head coach, who most recently struggled while abroad but won an MLS Cup while with NYCFC.

The Five Stripes have put an experienced front office and coach to lead the way, and they didn’t waste time splashing a bunch of cash to help support Deila on the field. They spent reportedly $22m on Emmanuel Latte Lath as their new DP striker. It's a league record transfer, the second time the record has been broken this winter window. Atlanta is also bringing former icon Miguel Almiron back on a transfer that is reportedly over $10m. 

These big moves have overshadowed the savvy deal they made to bring in Mateusz Klich from DC United who will not fill a DP spot for the Five Stripes. On paper, this club now looks very dangerous, but they need to back it up with some early results.

Atlanta stayed on the East Coast for their preseason as they began with a matchup in Tennessee versus Chattanooga FC. They then traveled to Alabama against the Birmingham Legion and then continued to Florida to face off against the New England Revolution. While in Florida they wrapped up their preseason against FC Cincinnati and returned to Georgia for one last preseason game against FC Dallas.

February and March schedule

Atlanta United has a difficult start to the season as they play six straight opponents who qualified for the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2024. They can at least take heart that four of these first six are at home. With the money spent this winter this Atlanta roster is looking good on paper. Given the Eastern Conference gauntlet they have to work through to start the year we all might find out sooner rather than later how well “on paper” translates to the grass.

Sat, Feb 22, 7:30 PM - vs CF Montreal

Sat, Mar 1, 2:00 PM - at Charlotte FC

Sat, Mar 8, 7:30 PM - vs NYRB

Sun, Mar 16, 7:00 PM - vs Inter Miami

Sat, Mar 22, 2:30 PM - at FC Cincinnati

Sat, Mar 29, 7:30 PM - vs NYCFC

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

LW Lobzhanidze Silva		ST Latte Lath Thiare		RW Almiron Togashi
		AM Miranchuk
	DM Klich Fortune		DM Slisz Muyumba
LB Amador Edwards	CB Abram Williams		CB Gregerson Cobb	RB Lennon Hernandez
		GK Guzan Cohen

Nashville SC

Nashville SC is going through a structural change as BJ Callaghan became their new head coach last July. This will be the first window where Callaghan has been fully involved as the manager, so this window should reflect the structural changes coming to Nashville’s style of play.

The direction is becoming clear with the early winter signings of Gaston Brugman, Bryan Acosta, Ahmed Qasem, and Edvard Tagseth—more ball progression, especially in midfield. They also added veteran fullback Andy Najar. 

The formation will also likely look more like a variation of a 4-3-3. This change leads to one main question. How does Hany Mukhtar fit into that system with Sam Surridge?

Nashville opened their preseason campaign versus the USYNT U20s, they then played versus Charlotte FC. The Coyotes wrapped up their first preseason phase against Lexington SC and then traveled to Florida where they played the Columbus Crew and wrapped up in Florida against DC United. They finished up their preseason against Austin FC in Texas.

February and March schedule

Nashville SC has a decently favorable schedule to start the year, especially their first three home games. This could give Mukhtar, Surridge, and co. the opportunity to work out some attacking kinks and build some momentum in Callaghan’s system.

Sat, Feb 22, 8:30 PM - vs New England Revolution

Sat, Mar 1, 7:30 PM - at NYRB

Sat, Mar 8, 8:30 PM - vs Portland Timbers

Sun, Mar 16, 2:00 PM - at Philadelphia Union

Sat, Mar 22, 8:30 PM - vs CF Montreal

Sat, Mar 29, 8:30 PM - vs FC Cincinnati

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

LW Schaffelburg Boyd		ST Surridge Bunbury		RW Muyl Qasem
		AM Mukhtar
	DM Brugman Yazbek		DM Tagseth Acosta
LB Lovitz Washington	CB Maher Applewhite		CB Zimmerman Bauer	RB Najar Gaines
		GK Willis Valdez

DC United

DC United is in a tricky spot going into 2025. Their current CSO Ally Mackay is trying to rebuild the structure of the club, and that has led to them having to still use a DP spot on Mateusz Klich even though he’s been traded to Atlanta United. They also transferred Theodore Ku-DiPietro. This is the cost of poor management and Mackay still has her work cut out to right the ship from past misdirections.

So far this winter DC United’s biggest signings include defenders Lukas MacNaughton, Kye Rowles, and Derek Dodson and midfielders Randall Leal and Brandon Servania. They have done most of their recent recruiting through intraleague methods due to their lack of roster flexibility.

While this club was carried by Christian Benteke’s Golden Boot-winning season last year, they are clearly in a bit of a difficult spot and may not be able to dig themselves out of the hole by the end of 2025.

DC United opened their preseason schedule versus the New York Red Bulls. They then played Charleston Battery and the Colorado Rapids. They wrapped up their preseason with games against Nashville SC and Houston Dynamo.

February and March schedule

If DC United can find a way to get clicking early even with how haphazard their roster currently feels they could start the year off on a decent foot. Three of their first four games and none of their first three opponents qualified for the playoffs in 2024. Their fourth game is against CF Montreal who squeaked into a play-in game. If Benteke can bang in some goals DC could get some points early and then who knows what could happen from there.

Sat, Feb 22, 7:30 PM - vs Toronto FC

Sat, Mar 1, 8:30 PM - at Chicago Fire

Sat, Mar 8, 7:30 PM - vs Sporting KC

Sat, Mar 15, 7:30 PM - vs CF Montreal

Sat, Mar 22, 7:30 PM - at Orlando City

Sat, Mar 29, 7:30 PM - vs Columbus Crew

Projected starting eleven (with backups)

	ST Peglow		ST Benteke Badji
	AM Leal Kijima		AM Pirani Hopkins
	DM Enow		DM Peltola Servania
LB Stroud Schnegg	CB Rowles Tubbs		CB MacNaughton Bartlett	RB Herrera Dodson
		GK Barraza Joon Hong