Hello all, and welcome back to the first true update to our Seattle Sounders story! I apologize for taking a full weekend for getting this up, but between packing up for a move and trying to decipher the inner workings of the MLS’ confounding roster system (you’d think practically growing up with this league would help, but I assure you it didn’t), I haven’t been able to get a worthy post ready. That all changes now, of course, so let’s take a look at how things are shaping up this season.
Roster Moves:
As I mentioned, the MLS roster system is…different. For starters, because players are contracted to the league and not your team, there is functionally no such thing as a «free transfer». You have three options: trade or sell the player (but you can’t «offer to clubs» in game, you just have to hope someone likes your guy enough to make an offer), waive the player (which you can only do after the waiver draft), and mutual termination (which they almost never agree to). This made clearing out some of the deadwood rather a rather odious endeavor. Mercifully, Seattle already possesses an impressively strong roster, and I focused instead on bringing in a few backup players:
I brought Srebrenko in on a free transfer after he’s spent the majority of his career with Slaven Belupo in Croatia. His talent level is roughly on par with the rest of my midfield, and I’ll be using him quite a bit.
I managed to lure Wayne Rooney’s younger brother across the pond, and while he has nowhere near the talent of his brother, he is more than capable of succeeding in the MLS. I’ll be using him primarily as a sub and the occasional starter when playing against weak teams. I may look to send him out on loan to help further develop his skills.
A reasonably talented youngster with truckloads of potential. He’s unlikely to see much first team action this season, but I’m attempting to arrange a loan so he can pick up some much needed experience.
Here is our overall transfer activity (not much to speak of really):
Starting Eleven:
And now please allow me the honor of presenting you with our starting eleven for the 2010 season (hint: nearly all of them were already here):
Goalkeeper:
An American soccer legend, Kasey Keller also happens to be the best keeper on the squad by a country mile. Given his age, I expect him to retire in the nearish future, so I’ll be on the lookout for a talented replacement/backup.
Fullbacks:
A very solid leftback, he’s more or less capped out his potential but I still expect see him shutdown the left side of the pitch.
Another incumbent, he isn’t the most talented player on the pitch but he was the best available (and frankly, sometimes that has to do).
Centrebacks (I spelled it British for you):
A reasonably skilled centerback, I picked Jeff up on a free (which didn’t show up in the transfer history for some reason) after he’d been out of football for two years (his most recent stint being a 2004-2008 run with New York). He’s pretty experienced, and I hope he takes advantage of the opportunity he’s been given.
Another incumbent, Tyson is here primarily as a long-term sub. Seattle’s star defender is out for 14 months with a knee injury, and Tyson is filling in. Not exceedingly talented, but better than anything I could find on the waiver market.
Midfielders:
A rather talented young Swede with another half star of potential in the tank. He’ll be one of my primary midfielders going foward, though I do have some concerns about his fitness and strength.
You’ve already met this guy, and he’ll be one of my starting midfielders going into the season (following an impressive friendly campaign).
Not the strongest squad in the world, but a decent setup for the MLS (only New York and Los Angeles are appreciably better than us), and so we should be able to achieve our objective of challenging for the MLS Cup title. I’m fairly concerned about my defense, and our wingers need a bit of work, but I’m hoping a strong midfield and the prowess of Montero will carry us in the meantime.
Sibo
23 мая, 2011 at 18:41
Well done Jon!
A great start to the season and you look like you have a pretty strong squad for the MLS, I certainly think you will go all the way to the playoffs this season and I hope you can win it!
Well done and good luck! :D
P.S. Donovan always seems to go to Europe but never makes an impact…strange…
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:00
Thanks Sibo! I’d be pretty stoked if we were able to win it all in our very first season (though that would almost certainly hasten my departure), and I’m looking forward to how things unfold!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 19:08
Hi Jon
When I was looking at your starting eleven I thought «there’s a strong back four» so I was very suprised to see 12 goals conceded. Still I’m sure you will figure that out and at least you are scoring at the other end and have basically gotten off to a great start so well done!!
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:21
I was just as surprised as you were! I’m rotating the lads around a bit to see if they perform better in slightly different positions, and so far it’s looking a bit better.
Johnny Karp
23 мая, 2011 at 19:12
You seem to have a good starting eleven there with Fernandez and Montero being by far the best of the bunch. I think that the start was not so bad, you scored plenty and that’s a very good thing in my book. The defense would need some work but attack is more important :) By the way, I’m impressed to find out that Keller is still playing, I think the first time I’ve seen him was at the World Cup in 1994 when he was a backup for Tony Meola (I might be wrong though). Anyway, best of luck for the coming matches!
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:26
Even older than that Johnny, he backed up Tony Meola in the 1990 World Cup! I agree that our offense is definitely holding us afloat at the moment, but I need a solid defense to be happy. :)
Darren Smith
23 мая, 2011 at 19:28
I like your squad Jon, they look strong especially Montero. A good start has left you near the top, but like you say, the defence is a worry. If you can strengthen that, your squad should be near untouchable. Keep up the good work.
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:26
Thanks Darren! I’m resorting to manual searches to try and find a suitable defender, but so far everyone I’ve found is well beyond my price range.
Ana Garcia
23 мая, 2011 at 22:36
Wow, the MLS is so confusing….
But you do have a couple of amazing players in Alvaro Fernandez and Freddy Montero. Did you buy him or was he already their as he looks good enough to play at a higher level.
Defence is a worry but am sure you can address that as the season goes on, but goals shouldnt be a problem with Montero!
Good luck!! :)
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:28
I agree Ana, I agree. Even with it being my native league, I have a far better grasp of the English or Spanish leagues than the MLS (you really can’t look at it like a traditional football league, it’s structured more like the other major American sports). Alvaro and Freddy were already with the club, so I can’t claim any credit for them. Freddy is being headhunted pretty hard, but I’m determined to keep him as long as I’m with Seattle!
Excessive
23 мая, 2011 at 23:51
Great squad you’ve got there mate, some real top quality players that will see you and Sounders push for that elusive MLS title. Montero is the pick of the bunch though, im pretty such he will be talismanic during the course of the season.
Good luck :)
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:31
He already has been! Freddy has 8 goals in 9 appearances, and is carrying an average rating of 7.60. Needless to say, without him we’d be a bottom feeder.
CsAtlantis
24 мая, 2011 at 00:04
Haha the league gave LA 400 thousand out of Donovan’s transfer? Guess the league itself hangs onto most of the transfer money
Alvaro and Montero look like great players of this level, though I’ll be tempted to play a central tactic Jon, your wingers are a bit weak
Thats quite a lot of goals conceded Jon, which of your defenders has the lowest average rating? Have you gone through the Waiver draft yet? Sometimes a few good players to pick up there……
Good luck in the league, just have to tighten up a bit at the back
Stromson
24 мая, 2011 at 02:34
Yep, that’s the one downside to the players being contracted to the league! I agree that our wingers are lacking, I’ve started to shift away from my 4-5-1 to a more central 4-1-2-1-2. Oddly, my defenders all have ratings of 6.9 or above, and statistically aren’t doing badly. I’ve noticed other teams tend to exploit my center, and I might need to rearrange my midfielders into a more defensive posture.
I’ve already gone through the waiver draft (which was where I picked up John Rooney), but I have my scouts in all four corners of the world looking for some guys to help boost the team.
vaibhavc
24 мая, 2011 at 15:39
Hey Jon
You don’t have that bad of a team actually. It looks pretty good, but what happens counts in the game. Donovan moves to United in my game a lot, so I was not too surprised.
Darthbane999
24 мая, 2011 at 15:48
Chad Marshall is a good defender from Columbus but he will not come easily. If a centre back can score 9 goals a season from corners for me, I’m sure he’ll work well for you. He defends well but the downside is he doesn’t actually survive well against the most pacey strikers.(14 and above pace; he only has 10).
I do have bad news to break to you. I can predict a club going to bid at least £3M for Montero and your board will intervene for you. It sucks but the American club chairmen seem a bit short of money and anything twice Montero’s price would be good enough to make them intervene( since Montero is your best player; the rest will go for even less).
And if there’s one more thing to say, it’s that any transfer out of US can only get the club at max £400,000. It’s stupid but the American FA seems to be in need of the money. And therefore absorbs anything above that amount.
Stromson
25 мая, 2011 at 13:47
Aha, that would explain why they only got the $400,000 in allocation funds. Sadly, the MLS isn’t really hurting for cash, but I suppose it still makes some sense. So far nobody has bid for Montero (I signed him to an extension), but Fernandez is a hot commodity!
Laxeyman
24 мая, 2011 at 19:01
Good pre season, and it looks like you have a solid team there, and with Montero up front you should score plenty of goals. Good luck!
Stromson
25 мая, 2011 at 13:48
Thanks Laxey, Montero is absolutely amazing!
Sears
24 мая, 2011 at 19:11
That’s a decent squad, and you’ve gotten off to a good start as well. Good luck!
Stromson
25 мая, 2011 at 13:49
Thanks Sears, I wish I could claim credit it for it but Seattle was already a title contender without much help from me! :-p