After a 2022 season where the San Diego Loyal placed second in the Western Conference, the club quickly announced that 16 players would return for 2023. About two-thirds of their minutes played re-upped, and only one nailed starter was set to exit. That player, striker Kyle Vassell, was swiftly replaced by high-upside forward Elliot Collier, who rated in the 83rd percentile for expected goals per 90 last year.
Still, something bigger always felt like it was on the horizon. The Loyal have never rested on their laurels - a point we'll return to - and needed a boost after finishing 17 points behind San Antonio. Landon Donovan's last season in charge saw the side lead the conference in goals, but how could Nate Miller reinvent the approach?
The answer seems to have come through the addition of Joe Corona. A San Diego local, Corona has 23 caps for the US Men's National Team amidst successful spells at Club Tijuana, LA Galaxy, and Houston Dynamo. Most recently, Corona plied his trade for GIF Sundsvall in Sweden alongside former USL Defender of the Year Forrest Lasso and new El Paso Locomotive manager Brian Clarhaut.
How does Corona fit into the side? The highlights below give an initial indication:
Clearly, the newest Loyal man is adept as a ball progressor first and foremost. Corona always receives the ball with his head up and immediately thinks towards the opposing net.
His touch and deft passing deserve notice as well. The international veteran cleanly receives the ball with either foot, though he does tend to be right-sided in distribution. That's something to note alongside a player like Alejandro Guido with a similar profile. The differentiator is that Corona plays deeper than Guido; he strengthens the chain of back-to-front progression.
I took the signing's numbers over his last three MLS seasons and measured them as percentiles against USL standards compared to other central midfielders. Corona would've rated as an 88th percentile player, and that's against better competition than San Diego faces week in and week out.
His defensive activity - present, but not shown in the highlights above - deserves notice. Corona is dogged in the press, strong in recovery, and rarely fouls opponents relative to his level of involvement.
You can also see my best guess at Nate Miller's day-one starting lineup. San Diego is rich with talented midfielders, and I simply can't see Charlie Adams or Collin Martin dropping to accommodate the new face. Those two would form a deeper pivot in a 4-3-3 behind Corona's skilled linkage by my reckoning. Ahead of Corona, Alejandro would slot in as a no. 10 to receive balls from deep and thread chances towards the forwards.
In the Donovan years, San Diego often used a wonky system where the left back operated as a traditional fullback in defense but became a central defender in attack. The defensive 4-4-2 allowed for easily-understood zonal coverage patterns; the offensive 3-5-2 allowed the right back - Nick Moon in the example above - to bomb up with extra aplomb.
Corona could feasibly fill one of the conservative wide roles in such a system. He is 32 years old, but he has played farther towards the flank in the past. Ultimately, he'll find his way to full starter minutes no matter what. The value of having four top-notch centermen is crucial as a check against injuries as well.
Finally, it deserves note that this is the third USMNT veteran signed by San Diego since 2020. Both of the previous internationals rated in the 80th percentile for performance relative to their minutes played. Rubio Rubin only garnered about three games in his pandemic-addled year, but he scored five goals during that stretch.
If you need another reason to believe in Corona, the USMNT track record is it. Juan Agudelo, another 20+ cap international, had seven goals in his debut campaign with Birmingham. Michael Orozco, the longest-tenured of the bunch, had an up-and-down first year, but he nearly reached 100 matches for Orange County and re-emerged as one of the USL's best players during a title-winning 2021 season.
Corona adds class and skill to the San Diego Loyal, and bringing in a native son is a smart move for a team that's already successful in connecting with the community. Time will tell what legacy the new addition leaves, but all signs indicate that he'll be deeply impactful.