United Hopes That Changes Will Translate

With Mart¿nez and Peralta stationed in front of him, the California-bred Wells has had to brush up on his limited Spanish but said the transition has been smooth. Communication is "maybe a split-second slower than usual -- it's not automatic yet -- and it's just going to take a few more weeks for it to click," he said.

Peralta does speak some English after living in California with his family when he was young, while Mart¿nez's European pro travels exposed him to Italian.

This year's South American imports have had to connect with last year's -- Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred, Portuguese speakers who understand Spanish and are learning English. Soehn does not speak Spanish, but learned German from his European-born parents and converses in it with Emilio, who spent part of his career in Germany.

Soehn's early concern at training camp was not just communication, but fitness. While Olsen has remained sidelined after offseason ankle surgery and some players have been slowed by minor ailments, Soehn has had to get everyone else up to speed.

"Conditioning wasn't where I liked it to be so we had to take our time to work on the tactical part," he said. "It's only now that we can start focusing on that because they are fit enough."

Soehn believes that, with time, his new-look team will find its old rhythm and be well prepared for next week's debut.

"It's always difficult when you add new faces," he said. "But the guys we added are experienced and we have enough guys from last year who have a good understanding of how it all works."

Added Simms, "It was a little struggle in the beginning, but I think we're coming together nicely, we're getting tighter as a team on and off the field."

United Notes: The club signed third-year midfielder Justin Moose, rookie midfielder Ryan Cordeiro and rookie defender Pat Carroll (West Springfield High) to developmental contracts and waived forward Jerson Monteiro, who was acquired late last season from Chicago.