Year 2 Starting Off HOT

What a start to the offseason! After giving us bloggers and podcasters a week break after the Championship match, Rhode Island FC kicked the offseason into hyperdrive with two big announcements so far this week (I don’t know anything else but these blogging hands are at the ready just in case).

Roster Announcement

The first domino to fall was the roster announcement. Who was coming back? Who was definitely leaving? I know a lot of us were really struggling with what this day could look like. As we’ve seen with other teams, the Roster Announcement could easily see you turning over half of your roster.

With the emotional attachment we’ve built with this team, alongside how well they played once they meshed in the second half of the season, it would have been absolutely brutal to lose a few core pieces.

While I was worried, there was a glimmer of hope. There were rumors from the big Js coming out of the Colorado Springs trip that Brett Johnson said that they were bringing back the core of this team. Was that just a friendly owner giving people what they want to hear before a huge match? Does that mean MOST of the core but we still lose a few players?

Brett Johnson isn’t fucking around, folks.

In their announcement, it’s clear that this team isn’t slowing down. Every starter not on loan is coming back alongside key backups like Jackson Lee and Joe Brito. We’ll be sure to miss those who will be moving on, especially our guy Gabi Alves but to say this was the best case scenario is an understatement.

Andrew did a great instant reaction blog that represented the larger Tide Talk crew’s thoughts well

And Kevin did a special offseason Quahog Corner to bring everyone together to talk this through

But that’s not all!

RIFC didn’t stop there. Less than 24 hours later, Rhode Island FC announced the signing of Maxi Rodriguez from Detroit City FC. This is MASSIVE. If you were worried that this team was going to rest on their laurels, try and run it back with a replica of last season or were content with this year’s Eastern Conference Championship, RIFC should have dispelled that immediately this week. This team is here to compete at the highest level in this league and they’re backing it up with excellent roster moves.

For more on why I’m so excited about Maxi Rodriguez heading to RIFC, check out my blog below

Offseason tracker

If you’re looking for a single place to see all RIFC roster moves, news and updates, Tide Talk has you covered. Check out our offseason tracker here that we’ll keep updated through Match day 1 next season. Man, that gave me chills

Up the Tide!

Ryan & the Tide Talk team