Seattle Making the Right Moves

I was skeptical when Freddie Ljungberg went down. I never liked that they would be playing in a football stadium. But besides those two issues, I am impressed by everything else that the Seattle Sounders are doing. While most teams in the MLS routinely lose money, Seattle is already planning on making a profit this year. Also, contraty to how San Jose was solid defensively but inept on offense throughout much of their first year back in MLS (until they made a few trades later in the season), Seattle is focused on having a quality team from day one. Excluding players they obtained through expansion draft, they have already signed Osvaldo Alonso, Fredy Montero(Highlights above from his time in Colombia), Taylor Graham, Patrick Ianni, Chris Eylander, Kasey Keller, Sebastien Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi, and Freddie Ljunberg. Alonso, Graham, Le Toux, and Eylander all come from USL, and it is nice to see an MLS team bringing in top players that are MLS-quality from that league. I am also liking the move for a young foreign attacking prospect like Fredy Montero. O yea, don't forget that they drafted the best attacking prospect in the MLS Superdraft, Steve Zakuani, with the number 1 pick. I don't know if I see them making the playoffs in the first year, but I definitely see them putting in a better performance than RSL, Chivas USA, and San Jose did in their expansion years.

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Sigi Schmid Named Coach of Seattle

Sigi Schmid was introduced as the Head Coach of Seattle Sounders FC on Tuesday. Click here for the official announcement from Seattle's website. Seattle is not playing around. With a DP in Freddie Ljunberg, a veteran GK in Kasey Keller, young prospects in Sebastien Le Toux and Sanna Nyassi, as well as a solid group of players picked up in the expansion draft; Seattle and Sigi Schmid look to have a much better foundation for success than Chivas USA, TFC, and RSL had. Oh yea, don't forget that they already have about 18,000 season ticket holders lined up, not bad for a new franchise. What do you think of the signing? I have to say it's looking like a pretty good move right now.

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The Following Players Get to Rock These....

Seattle Sounders FC took the following players in the expansion draft that took place today:

1. Nate Jaqua (F, Houston)
2. Stephen King (M, Chicago)
3. Brad Evans (M, Coumbus)
4. Khano Smith (D/M, New England)
5. Jarrod Smith (F, Toronto)
6. Jeff Parke (D, New York)
7. Tyson Wahl (D, Kansas City)
8. Nathan Sturgis (D/M, RSL)
9. Peter Vagenas (M, Los Angeles)
10. James Riley (D, San Jose)

So I guess I am not very good at predictions, as I only guessed 4 out of 10 correctly. For me the selections fall into 3 categories: Nice pick, Wait and See, and Really?.

In the nice pick category, I have Nate Jaqua (Seattle boy, solid target forward), Stephen King (cheap, versatile midfielder out of Maryland), Tyson Wahl (Young, solid defender to pair with the veteran CB yet to be signed), and Brad Evans ( cheap, talented, box-to-box midfielder).

In the wait and see category, you got Khano Smith (tall, athletic winger, but with a heavy first touch and an occassional attitude problem), James Riley (versatile defender played lots of minutes for San Jose but did not consistently impress), Nathan Sturgis (young defender will turn out to be a great signing if he can stay healthy), and Jeff Parke (Solid, proven back but one who still has a suspension to serve and might bolt for Europe).

Finally, in the "Really?" category, there is Peter Vagenas (veteran midfielder would have been a great pick-up a few years back but at 30, a step slower, and with a $144,000 price tag seems like a strange pick) and Jarrod Smith (a young New Zealand international who only played in 6 games last year for TFC). These last two seem odd to me with talent like Jorge Flores, Aaron Pitchkolan, Johann Smith, and Francis Doe available. Seattle did not choose any players from DC, Dallas, Chivas, or Colorado.

Let the offseason trading begin....

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Expansion Draft Tomorrow

Although every blogger and soccer reporter has already talked about this story, I figured I might as well share my opinion. Plus American soccer news is slow today, so sue me. Last year, the San Jose Earthquakes used the expansion draft (as well as some trades) to build their team from the back to the front, and it served them relatively well. Unfortunately, their lack of firepower up top caused them to start the season horribly, until some mid-season trades (Darren Huckerby, Arturo Alvarez) helped them solve that problem.

Look for Seattle to focus on defense in the expansion draft as well because unlike San Jose last year, they already have some quality players on the roster. They have already signed Kasey Keller (GK), Sebastien Le Toux (F), Sanna Nyassi (M), and their DP Freddie Ljunberg (M). With these players available, who would you take? Following these rules, my picks are after the jump.


Player (Team, Pos., Salary)

1. Nate Jaqua (Houston, F, 156,000)
2. Brandon Prideaux (Chicago, D, 72,000)
3. Pat Phelan (New England, D/M, 33,000)
4. Brad Evans (Columbus, M, 33,000)
5. James Riley (San Jose, D, 33,000)
6. Tyson Wahl (Kansas City, D, 33,000)
7. Jorge Flores (Chivas USA, M/F, 17,700)
8. Aaron Pitchkolan (FC Dallas, D, 33,000)
9. Francis Doe (DC United, F, 33,000)
10. Michael Randolph (LA Galaxy, D/M, 33,000)

I wanted to take Eddie Gaven (Columbus, M, 165,000) and Nate Sturgis (Real Salt lake, D/M, 75,000), but I thought the price tag was too high for Gaven (when you already have 2 outside mids on the roster) and I am not convinced that Sturgis will ever be able to stay healthy.

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