Sounders FC sign Obafemi Martins as their newest Designated Player

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders have finally signed Nigerian international Obafemi Martins as their newest Designated Player after weeks of speculation. Martins joins the team from La Liga side Levante and could be available for Tomorrow nights rivalry match against the Portland Timbers. Both the Sounders and Levante reportedly agreed to a deal for Martins, but the deal couldn't get done because the there was a $4 million buyout clause that had to be paid in order to allow Martins to join the Sounders immediately. Then about a week ago, it looked like the deal was going to be put on hold until the summer because of the fact that Martins was the team leader in goals and that Levante were still competing in the Europa League. But then on Monday, ESPN FC reported that Martins paid his release clause and now the signing was made official earlier today.

Martins began his career Italy, spending a year in the Reggiana youth system before joining Inter Milan in 2001. In five seasons for Inter, Martins made 136 appearances and scored 49 goals in all competitions and led the squad to a Serie A title in the 2005-06 and Back-to-Back Coppa Italia titles in 2005 and 2006. Following his stint with Inter, Martins joined Premier League club Newcastle United where he made a total of 104 appearances and 35 goals before leaving the Magpies in 2009 after the club was relegated to the Championship. He then joined German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg where he didn't make much of an impact. He made only 25 appearances and scored 6 goals for them. Following his disappointing season he joined Russian Premier League club Rubin Kazan and made 12 appearances and scored two goal in 2010 before returning to England on loan during their offseason, joining Birmingham City till' the end of the season. During his short time there, he scored the game winning goal in the Carling Cup final against Arsenal. Pouncing on a loose ball in the final minute. I did a recap of this match a couple years ago while I was experimenting prior to the Sounders 2011 season. He only made six appearances and scored two goals before suffering a stress fracture on his left tibia. And of course recently played for Levante in La Liga where he made a total of 27 appearances and led the team in goals with nine.

Martins has also represented Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010 as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Overall he has capped 38 times for his country and scored 18 goals. As a matter of fact, following tomorrows match, he'll hop back on the plane and join Nigeria for their World Cup Qualifying match next Saturday against Kenya.

Here's a look at what we're about to get out of Martins.....

2013 Seattle Sounders FC season preview

By Money Mike


It has been a long offseason for the Seattle Sounders with players leaving and new faces arriving, which of course happens every year. But with their leading goalscorer gone, how will the Sounders fare in the year 2013? I'll talk a little bit about that as I preview the Seattle Sounders 2013 season. The Sounders are coming off their first trophyless season since joining MLS in 2009. Last season, they reached their fourth straight U.S. Open Cup final only to lose to Sporting Kansas City on penalties and they also reached the Western Conference final for the first time but that was the farthest they would go in 2012 as they would lose to the LA Galaxy 4-2 on aggregate. Also because they didn't win a trophy in 2012, they won't be competing in the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League. So, since there's no Champions League for the Sounders this season (other than the 2012-13 Champions League Quarterfinal and beyond, should they advance), head coach Sigi Schmid won't have to shuffle the lineup around as much as last year because of depth and long travel. He won't have to deal with that.

As far as the offseason is concerned, the Sounders have brought in some veteran guys, a couple of draft picks, a homegrown player and also a local favorite made his return to the Emerald City. At the same time, they lost a couple of key players. Defender Jeff Parke was traded to the Philadelphia Union back in early December, and Fredy Montero was loaned out to Millonarios for the entire season but he signed a contract extension with the Sounders prior to the move so he should be back in 2014. Earlier this offseason, the Sounders were expected to sign Honduran defender Wilmer Crisanto. However, for some reason the deal fell through. Somebody reported that the deal for Crisanto fell through because there weren't any international roster spots available, which was bullshit because the Sounders had four international slots available at the time. Now another slot has been occupied and another was traded to the Montreal Impact as part of the deal that brought Lamar Neagle back to Seattle. The Sounders also brought in former Mali international defender Djimi Traore, was part of Liverpool's UEFA Champions League winning side in 2005, former New England Revolution captain Shalrie Josphn, defenders Eriq Zavaleta and Dylan Remick and they also signed DeAndre Yedlin as their first homegrown player. Of course, we're expecting Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins to be signed as a designated player at some point but one designated player would have to go in order for that to happen and after much speculation, it looks like it'll be Christian Tiffert. Now it's a question of how strong this years team is compared to last years? Will year five be the year the Sounders bring an MLS Cup to Seattle?


Sounders 2013 roster:

1. GK - Michael Gspurning
2. DF - DeAndre Yedlin (HGP)
3. MF - Brad Evans
4. DF - Patrick Ianni
5. DF - Adam Johansson
6. MF - Osvaldo Alonso
7. FW - Eddie Johnson
8. DF - Marc Burch
10. MF - Mauro Rosales (DP; Captain)
11. FW - Steve Zakuani
12. DF - Leonardo Gonzalez
13. MF - Christian Tiffert (DP)^
14. MF - Alex Caskey
15. MF - Mario Martinez
16. FW - David Estrada
20. DF - Zach Scott
21. MF - Shalrie Joseph (DP)
22. DF - Eriq Zavaleta (GA)
23. MF - Servando Carrasco
24. GK - Marcus Hahnemann
25. MF - Andy Rose
26. FW - Sammy Ochoa
27. MF - Lamar Neagle
29. GK - Josh Ford
30. DF - Andrew Duran
33. DF - Dylan Remick
34. DF - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
50. DF - Djimi Traore

Notes:
^ - Could be gone before the start of the season

HGP - Homegrown Player
DP - Designated Player
GA - Generation Adidas


Offseason moves:

Acquisitions:

January 11, 2013 - DeAndre Yedlin (University of Akron; Sounders U23) - Homegrown player
January 17, 2013 - Eriq Zavaleta (Indiana University) - MLS SuperDraft 1st rd. (10th overall)
January 17, 2013 - Dylan Remick (Brown University; Worcester Hydra) - MLS SuperDraft 2nd rd. (35th overall)
January 27, 2013 - Lamar Neagle (Montreal Impact) - Trade
February 19, 2013 - Shalrie Joseph (Chivas USA) - Trade
February 23, 2013 - Djimi Traore (Olympique de Marseille) - Free transfer

Departures:

December 3, 2012 - Mike Seamon (Pittsburgh Riverhounds) - Option Declined
December 3, 2012 - Andrew Weber (Phoenix FC Wolves) - Option Declined
December 3, 2012 - O'Brian White - Option Declined
December 7, 2012 - Jeff Parke (Philadelphia Union) - Trade
December 14, 2012 - Cordell Cato (San Jose Earthquakes) - Option Declined (traded to San Jose on March 1, 2013)
December 14, 2012 - Bryan Meredith (IK Brage) - Option Declined
December 14, 2012 - Daniel Steres (Ventura County Fusion) - Option Declined
December 14, 2012 - Michael Tetteh - Option Declined
February 26, 2013 - Babayele Sodade - Released


I'm just ready for the season to start. Even though Montero is gone, I still think Seattle is one of the teams to beat in MLS this year. They've had a great preseason, winning the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson. The new guys have come in and worked their asses off all preseason. Not that it matters heading into the regular season because that's where it really counts. I really don't have much to explain here. I'm just sick and tired of waiting for the season to start. Will 2013 be the year? We'll have to find out.

Sounders take Eriq Zavaleta and Dylan Remick in the MLS SuperDraft

By Money Mike


The 2013 MLS season is two months away and earlier today, the MLS SuperDraft took place in Indianapolis and well, it was full of surprises. There were at least two or three players that were projected to be a first round picks and weren't selected at all. We also had quite a number of trades made with teams swapping draft selections. One of those trades included Seattle Sounders FC landing the 10th overall pick from Toronto FC for their 16th overall pick. Who did they get? No mistakes here, the Sounders selected Eriq Zavaleta from NCAA National Champions Indiana with the 10th pick of this years MLS SuperDraft. Seattle also picked up Dylan Remick from Brown University in the second round of the draft (35th overall). Zavaleta is a member of Generation Adidas so he will not count against the MLS senior roster this season.

Zavaleta has spent his time in the youth ranks of Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and the Columbus Crew and was also a member of the U.S. Soccer Residency program in 08' and 09'. If you thought Zavaleta was a forward this entire career, listen to this. During his time with the U.S. U-17 national team, he was used primarily as a defender and was a starter for the under-17's at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. He appeared in all four matches for the team, leading them to the round if 16 where he was actually sent off in USA's 2-1 loss to Italy. Overall, he made 23 appearances for the under-17's. Despite the fact that he has represented the United States in the youth level, Zavaleta is eligible to represent El Salvador in the senior level due to the fact that his father is from El Salvador and has represented them in the international level. In his two years with Indiana, Zavaleta started in all 46 games and tallied 28 goals and 9 assists and of course led the Hoosiers to their eighth National title.

I did mention his father Carlos was a member of the El Salvador national team, also his uncle Greg Vanney (some of you may have heard of him) was also a professional soccer player. Both of these guys were coached by Sigi Schmid during their career. Oh you guys don't believe me? Take a look at the video, I'll prove it to you....

Remick was Seattle's second round pick from Brown University. In his freshman year, Brown made 17 appearances and finished with a pair of goals and one assist and received the team's Britton Chichester Award, which is given to the freshman who contributes most to the team. A year later, he started all 20 games and helped lead the defense to 11 shutouts. In his junior year, he started the teams first 16 games before picking up a season ending injury. He scored two goals and also recorded two assists that year. In his final season with Brown in 2012, Remick made 18 appearances and led the Bears with seven assists. Could possibly be a left back for the Sounders, but I'm not going to talk about any of that right now since he hasn't made the team yet.

The MLS Combine was pretty interesting this year. You had players that were expected to be a potential Top 5 pick that struggled to meet all expectations and then there were a lot of players who nobody knew much about who stepped on the pitch during the Combine and made a lot of noise. I thought Sigi Schmid, GM Adrian Hanauer, Chris Henderson the Technical Director, and the rest of the Sounders FC staff that traveled to the east coast did an outstanding job of scouting these players, getting to know a little bit about them and doing whatever they can to snap them up. I'm still surprised the Sounders were able to pick up Zavaleta because he was expected to be a Top 5 pick, maybe even a no. 1 overall pick, so I don't know why anybody didn't to cash in on him but more importantly, I don't care because he's here in Seattle and he's ready to kick his pro career into high gear and hopefully Remick will have the opportunity to do the same here in the Emerald City.

Sounders make a suprise move: Acquire Eddie Johnson from Montreal for Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle

By Money Mike

Well I don't think this was in anybodys mind. We already knew this guy signed with MLS, but none of us tought that he would end up here in Seattle, but it turns out to be the case. Earlier this afternoon, the Seattle Sounders have acquired U.S. veteran Eddie Johnson from the Montreal Impact. In exchange, the Sounders have traded Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle to the Expansion Side. This move was made about an hour after Johnson was acquired by the Montreal Impact through the Allocation process. Johnson joins the Rave Green shortly after his contract with Mexican club Puebla was cancelled due to his low fitness levels.

Johnson began his professional career with the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) in 2001 and he was inconsistant at the start of his career, scoring only seven goals in 43 matches. In 2004, he had a breakout year making 26 appearances for Dallas, scoring 12 goals and setting up three others. In 2005 however, Eddie Johnson suffered a foot injury and he didn't make much of an impact with Dallas since then. In 2006, Johnson was traded to the Kansas City Wizards and it didn't start out the way he would've wanted to, scoring only twice in 19 appearances. In 2007, Johnson returned to form and had a career year, scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances with the Wizards. In 2008, Johnson left Kansas City to join Premier League club Fulham and since then, this guy has basically disappeared. His time with Fulham has been unsuccessful, he was loaned out to three clubs and had unsuccessful stints with them. In order, 18 appearances and no goals with Fulham, 30 appearances and two goals with Cardiff City, 16 appearances and five goals with Aris Thessaloniki and 16 appearances and no goals for Preston North End. On December 22, 2011, Johnson agreed to join fellow American teammate DaMarcus Beasley at Puebla F.C. However, Johnson was released just days after signing with the club.

Going into the 2011 season, Fucito was recovering from a foot injury and Neagle, who didn't make a single appearances during his first stint with the Sounders in 2009, re-joined the club on trial after spending 2010 with USL club Charleston Battery and IFK Mariehamm in Finland. These two weren't expected to do much during the 2011 season, but after Steve Zakuani and O'Brian White suffered injuries that kept them out for the rest of the season, both Neagle and Fucito stepped up and made a huge impact. Fucito made 19 appearances and scored two goals and Lamar Neagle finished with 23 appearances and five goals including a hat-trick in a 6-2 beatdown of the Columbus Crew.

Thoughts on this move:

I'm really shocked about this move. I'm not going to tell you guys whether or not I think this is a good trade. Eddie Johnson's had his ups and downs during his career. Lately his fitness levels have been down. Adrian Hanauer and Chris Henderson must have a reason that we don't know about for acquiring Eddie Johnson. If Johnson stays healthy, I think he'll have a pretty good season. Right now, I'm just going to keep my opinion to myself and wait and see what happens.

Seattle Sounders come into this season with a much different look.

By Money Mike

Well we've had another long and busy offseason, but we're only five weeks away from getting back to business again. Sorry I'm two weeks late with this article. A couple weeks ago, I let my mother borrow my laptop and she ends up breaking my power cord. I was hoping to get a new one in the next couple of days, but instead I had to wait until last night to get a new power cord, but now that I have it, I'm gonna give you guys my personal opinion on this team regarding how they are on paper compared to last year, are they better defensively, are they one of the top contenders for the Supporters Shield, the MLS Cup, etc. Lately, the MLS website has been all over the Los Angeles Galaxy, talking about how unstoppable they're gonna be this season (that's what they think, lol!) because Edson Buddle back as well as Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Mike Magee and David Beckham is staying in LA for another two years.

As for the Seattle Sounders, well, it's been a busy offseason. The primary focus this offseason was getting a new goalkeeper as well as two outside backs. The Sounders found all three by acquiring goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, right back Adam Johansson and left back Marc Burch and following the departure of Erik Friberg, they added a little depth in the midfield with the addition of Christian Sivebaek and Cordell Cato.

I think Seattle definitely one of the top teams that will contend for the MLS Cup title with LA and maybe Real Salt Lake as well. First things first though, we need to get past the quarterfinal. That injury to Mauro Rosales on the last week of the regular season really hurt us in our chance of getting to the Cup final. But that was the past, right now, it's time to move on to the 2012 season. The Sounders look to have everthing in place now with Michael Gspurning between the pipes and Adam Johansson and Marc Burch on defense. Right now the only concern for me is, which of our draft picks will make the team this season?

Currently the roster is sitting at 28 players. Prior to the Supplemental draft, I liked the chances of both of our SuperDraft picks Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade making the squad, but then the Sounders make four picks in the Supplemental Draft plus trade their rights to Leone Cruz to Real Salt Lake for their Supplemental pick Andy Rose.

I still like Duran's chances, but I don't have much hope for Sodade now because one of our four selections in the Supplemental Draft was Jason Banton from English club Leicester City F.C. Prior to his short stint with Leicester City, Banton spent some time in the Arsenal youth system, then he joined the Blackburn academy in 2008 and stayed there for about three years before spending six months in the Liverpool youth system. He recently made one appearance for Burton Albion during his short loan stint from Leicester City where he made no appearances. You know, I was quite surprised that nobody cashed in on this kid in the MLS SuperDraft. I was expecting him to be taken in the first round. Too me, I think this was a huge pick.

Besides Banton, the Sounders also selected Tim Pontius from UC Santa Barbra, Abdul Aman from the University of Washington, and Wes Feighner from Cal Poly. Aman was just cut from the team a couple of days ago so that leaves us with Banton, Pontius, Feighner, Rose, Duran, Sodade and a few trialists on this team like Andrew Weber, Alex Caskey, Harlinton Gutierres and Ever Alvarado.

Now asside from all of that, I'm pretty sure some of you guys have been keeping track of Steve Zakuani and his road to recovery from that broken leg he suffered in Colorado following a two footed challenge by that Stupid Prick who goes by the name of Brian Mullan. There were times last season when I forgot Zakuani was on this team and I don't know why, because there was absolutely no doubt in my mind or in anyone's mind that he is an important player on this team. I've kept track of his road to recovery and last I heard, he was aiming to return in late may-early june at least sometime during the summer. Of course we have our Designated player Fredy Montero who has scored 34 league goals in this three years here in Seattle and will continue to add to that all season long. Again, the Sounders have everything put in place, our backline looks a lot better than last year, plus we have Michael Gspurning who brings a little more height in goal. For the new players, it's just a matter of getting the hang of playing together.

Sounders select defender Andrew Duran and forward Babayele Sodade.

By Money Mike


The 2012 MLS SuperDraft took place earlier today in Kansas City. Quite a few young stars like Jason Banton and Kohei Yamanda weren't selected, so they'll have to wait until the Supplemental Draft next Tuesday to find out where they're headed. It would also make it a little difficult for them to earn a spot on their team. The two players that were selected earlier by the Seattle Sounders won't have to wait for Tuesday. The Sounders selected Creighton University defender Andrew Duran at #15 overall and University of Alabama-Birmingham forward Babayele Sodade at #34 overall. With the team stacked up with 29 players on the roster now, both Duran and Sodade will have their work cut out for them at training camp.

Duran's college career didn't start out well at all for him. In 2007, he was named among the Top 100 Freshman to watch by College Soccer News. However, he only made nine appearances as a freshman after missing most of the season due to mononucleosis. In his sophomore season in 2008, he made seven appearances because suffering a season ending ACL injury in a match against the University of Denver. In 2009, after missing the season opener, Duran came off the bench in his first two matches of the season before making his first start of the season against the Washington Huskies. Overall, he made 14 appearances in 2009 including seven starts. In 2010, Duran got off to a good start in his senior year. He scored his first goal of his collegiate career on the road against UC Santa Barbra. The Bluejays posted four shutouts in their first four matches of the season, however he redshirted the rest of the season after tearing a meniscus in his knee on September 17, 2010 against SMU. In his redshirt-senior season in 2011, Duran made 24 appearances and helped lead Creighton to an NCAA record 0.20 goals against average, 19 shutouts. The Bluejays conceded five goals all season. However, they failed to win the College Cup after being knocked out in the Semifinals on PK's against UNC Charlotte.

It was just about an injury prone collegiate career at Creighton for Andrew Duran, but he stepped up and became a leader to Creighton's back line in 2011.

Duran actually spent a week here in Seattle, training with the Sounders and also caught a game at CenturyLink Field. In that game, Jeff Parke scored from a corner kick in stoppage time against Sporting Kansas City to give the Sounders a 1-0 win. That goal convinced Duran that he wanted to be a Sounder.

In the second round, the Sounders selected Babayele Sodade from UAB. Sodade improved his production in each of his four seasons with the Blazers. After failing to score in his freshman year, Sodade scored seven goals in 18 games as a sophomore, nine goals in 18 games as a junior and led the team with 13 goals in 21 games as a senior. With Nate Jaqua finally gone after his shit performance in both 2010 and 2011, and O'Brian White still recovering from two blood clot surgeries he had last season, Sodade gives the Sounders depth at the forward position. I'm a little surprised that he wasn't taken in the first round. I know somebody picked him to be drafted by the Sounders, but in the first round though.

Overall, I think the draft went pretty well for the Sounders, but again there's also a supplemental draft on tuesday which is four rounds and the roster for the Sounders currently sits at 29 and all MLS clubs can have a maximum of 30 players on their roster. So the fact that four more players will join camp and the fact MLS season is upon us, we'll have about seven weeks to find out who will make this team and who will have to look for a new club.

Sounders sign Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek

By Money Mike



The Sounders have made yet another move this offseason. Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek joins the Men in Rave Green after five seasons with FC Midtjylland. With the 23-year old joining the club, the roster as it stands currently sits at 27 players. Remember though, the Sounders are still in talks with Cordell Cato, which would make 28. Now you have two more spots available on your roster. The MLS SuperDraft takes place tomorrow, so the question is do you consider drafting another midfielder, or maybe pick up a forward because the Sounders have enough depth in the midfield and there's very little depth in the forward position.

Sivebaek is the son of former Danish international defender John Sivebaek who played for Manchester United and was part of Denmark's international squad that won the European Championship in 1992. Sivebaek of course began his career in the youth ranks of FC Midtjylland in 2006 at the age of 16 and signed a professional contract two years later. He has made 80 league appearances for Midtjylland and scored 6 times for the club. He's also represented Denmark at the Youth Level, however he has yet to make a senior appearance.


Thoughts on this move:

Once again, I'll give the Sounders front office a thumbs up. He's a good attack minded player that will fit in with this team. This is a much different team compared to last years. One of the reasons of course is because our back line is stronger with outside backs Marc Burch and Adam Johansson joining the Sounders back in December. Everything's just about in place for the Sounders and I'm looking forward to a new season.

Sounders acquire Swedish right back Adam Johansson

By Money Mike



Coming into this offseason, GM Adrian Hanauer said the main focus was signing a Goalkeeper and a couple of outside backs after Kasey Keller retired, James Riley was taken by the Montreal Impact in the Expansion Draft before being traded to Chivas USA and Tyson Wahl was traded to the Montreal Impact. You can consider all those holes being filled in now. The Sounders already signed Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning and selected Left Back Marc Burch in the Re-Entry Draft. Now the Sounders have signed a Right Back. Earlier this morning, the Sounders have signed Swedish international Adam Johansson after his contract with IFK Goteborg expired.

According to reports, Johansson has agreed to a three year contract with the Seattle Sounders and will join the club in late January due to the fact that he was called up by Sweden. Otherwise he would've joined camp on time.

Johansson began his professional career with local club Vastra Frolunda which is also where former Sounder Erik Friberg, who revealed this signing with a series of Tweets, began his footballing career. Johansson spent three seasons with Vastra Frolunda and made 66 appearances for the club with a goal to his credit. He joined IFK Goteborg in 2005 and didn't feature regularly in this first two seasons there. In 2007, Johansson finally established himself as a starter for Goteborg. Johansson started 24 of 26 matches as Goteborg won the 2007 Allsvenskan title. In his seven seasons over there, he made 129 appearances and scored one goal.

Johansson has also capped 9 times for the Swedish national team. His first cap came January 2009 against the United States.


Thoughts on this move:

Well I would still consider looking for another Right Back in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft because Sweden qualified for EURO 2012, which means he could be in consideration for that squad that will participate in the European Championship in June. That was the question I had with myself on Michael Gspurning, but Austria didn't qualify so I don't need to worry about that. Anyway, this is a great move. This guy comes in with good technical ability and should help meet one of the biggest offseason goals for the Men in Rave Green which is better possession from their fullbacks.

Sounders reportedly sign 19-year old Cordell Cato

By Money Mike



Well there's no confirmation of this deal, but according to Trinidad and Tobago Express, it looks like the Seattle Sounders have or will sign Trinidad and Tobago U20 international Cordell Cato who was on trial with the Sounders last summer. Right now, I found five sources regarding this move. The Sounders are set to have a three day combine in Trinidad and Tobago from January 2-4 and I would assume that Cato will attend the combine. If the deal is confirmed, Cato will join the Sounders on a one-year contract with an option of an additional two years and will be listed as a Developmental player for the Seattle Sounders. Again, I have found five links regarding this deal which has yet to be confirmed. This would be the Sounders third signing this offseason and I would expect a few more to be made when the International Transfer Window for this winter opens in January.

Cato's agent Evans Wise, a former MLS player, told reporters that they still need to complete some final documents as well as a medical before the deal can be made official. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer and Technical Director Chris Henderson said pretty much the same thing along the lines, saying that nothings official yet.

Hopefully this deal will be completed soon. Of course it's only a one-year developmental contract, but I think Cato will stick around longer than that. He's an exciting young player with a ton of potential. I mean, I haven't seen him, but Hanauer has seen him, Henderson has seen him and the coaching staff have seen him play obviously because he was on trial, so they know a lot more than I do, but hearing what Cato brings, I think he's gonna be an exciting player to watch in the future. I'll have more information about this deal soon when it's officially completed.

Sounders sign Austrian international goalkeeper Michael Gspurning

By Money Mike



The Seattle Sounders earlier today have signed their first player this offseason. The Sounders acquired Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning who, in case you guys didn't know, actually visited Seattle during the summer. Gspurning spent four days here in Seattle last summer, checking out the city as a possible destination after his contract with Greek club Skoda Xanthi was due to expire on December 31. Gspurning also attended Seattle's Champions League preliminary round match against San Francisco FC. After his four day visit in the Emerald City and the fact that he lost his starting job at Skoda Xanthi, Gspurning felt like he had to sign with Seattle. The 30-year old goalkeeper will officially join the club in January on a multi-year deal following the end of his contract with Skoda and an International Transfer Clearance.

Gspurning began his career in Austria Wein's youth system before being promoted to the senior side in 2000, however he never made an appearance for them. He moved to DSV Leoben in 2001 and spent three seasons there. He made 62 appearances during his say with Leoben before moving to ASKO Pasching where he spent two seasons as a backup making only seven league appearances for them as well as a few UEFA Cup appearances. Gspurning left Pasching in 2007 to join Skoda Xanthi in Greece. In his four seasons, before losing his starting job, Gspurning made 89 appearances and currently holds the Greek SuperLeague record for the longest road shutout streak at eight. Gspurning so far has capped three times for the Austrian national team.


Thoughts on this move:

Good move. With Kasey Keller and Terry Boss retiring and the fact that Josh Ford and Bryan Meredith were rookies and aren't quite ready to become a starter at this level, the best option was to sign Gspurning who is a solid goalkeeper and a good penalty-stopper. And again, Gspurning thought it was the best option for him to sign with the Sounders after his four day visit last summer. Good move by the Sounders front office, who have done a great job bringing in new players and making this team stronger and more competitive.

Sounders lose James Riley in the Expansion Draft, trades Tyson Wahl

By Money Mike


The Expansion Draft took place today with the Montreal Impact joining Major League Soccer in 2012. The Seattle Sounders yet again lose a key player. As a matter of fact, they lose two key players. The Montreal Impact selected James Riley before trading him immediately to Chivas USA in exchange for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen. The Impact also acquired left back Tyson Wahl from the Sounders for allocation money, which can be used to buy down player salaries in relation to the salary cap. Former Sounder midfielder Sanna Nyassi was also taken by Montreal in the Expansion Draft. If all the speculation is true, it looks like there is another trade involving the Sounders and the Montreal Impact with Miguel Montano heading to Montreal, but there is no information at this point.

Riley joined the Seattle Sounders in 2009 having been selected by them in the Expansion draft. In his three years here, Riley made a total of 84 league appearances and scored one goal and assisted on nine others. He was voted Defender of the Year for the club and was also voted the clubs Humanitarian of the Year the past two seasons for his contributions in the community. Riley became a fan favorite here in Seattle for all of his hard work not only on the pitch, but in the community as well. With him gone, the Sounders also lose that veteran approach that Riley brought to the team. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said that there are going to be some changes defensively, but I didn't see this being one of them nor did the rest of the Sounder nation here in Seattle.

Wahl was another Sounder selected in the Expansion draft prior to the 2009 season. He's received some critisism from fans about his work rate a few times during the 2011 season, but you can't deny the fact that he was the most improved player on this Sounders team during the 2011 season making 23 appearances, scoring one goal and two assists. He got more playing time in 2011 than he did in his first two seasons combined here in Seattle and he got more playing time here in Seattle than he did in his three seasons with the Kansas City Wizards. This guy emerged as a weapon with dangerous crosses on set pieces. Another huge loss defensively for the Sounders.


Thoughts on Riley and Wahl leaving/Who do you go after in the transfer window?

In all honesty, I'm upset about these two guys leaving the Sounders after all the hard work on the pitch. The positive sign is that these two had a combined salary of $150,000 in 2011, so the departure of these two should give the Sounders more money to spend during the offseason.

Now there have been a couple of questions regarding home-grown talent. If you want to look for a replacement at right back, draft DeAndre Yedlin who, of course, is a defender and obviously a big deal with the University of Akron. In case you guys haven't kept track of the Sounders FC Academy, Yedlin is a native of Seattle who spent a couple years in the Sounders youth system. Yes he's only a freshman at Akron, but how often do you see a freshman defender make 22 appearances with one goal and six assists? How often do you see stats like that. I think he should enter the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and I think the Sounders should draft him in the first round. If you want a find somebody at right back, get somebody who has been in you're youth system, who knows about the team, and has prooven himself that he's ready to take his game to the next level.

Now with Wahl gone as well, who do you replace at left back? There was a rumor a week ago about Joachim Thomassen signing with the club. He's listed as a midfielder, but he can also play left back. So with Tyson Wahl now with Montreal, maybe the Sounders should consider picking up Thomassen.

What do we got going on around the world in soccer? The transfer window has officially opened and almost a week into the FIFA Women's World Cup.

By Money Mike

So the first time we've hit the globe, we were talking about the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga titles being won, as well as the promotion/relegation fight. But fuck that, let's talk about the present. The summer transfer window has opened today, so lots more moves will be made through August 31, which is where I'll bring up the Seattle Sounders after the ridiculous reports about them making an offer to bring in Djibril Cisse. And hey, the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany got underway on Sunday so we'll go back and see how it's going up to Friday. But before that, let's talk about the transfer period.

Summer transfer window has officially opened:

So the summer transfer window has opened which means you'll see more reports of players packing their bags and leaving for their new club or you'll see reports of teams rejecting offers. Every summer, the stupid media would just talk about the same thing every single time. The rumor about Samir Nasri leaving Arsenal for Manchester United is annoying so why dont everybody just shut up and quit talking about it.

The Seattle Sounders were reportedly on the move to bring in Djibril Cisse after he opted out of his contract with Panathinaikos. However, his agent has denied reports that the Sounders have made an offer of any kind for Cisse. Cisse did say that he would like to play in MLS someday, but at this point, we don't know for sure it will be in 2011. We have Lazio also perusing the French striker. There were also reports that the Sounders have reached an agreement with Austrailian defender Lucas Neill who formally played for Milwall, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Everton and Galatasary. But there are others that say the Sounders are interested in picking up Neill. So it's like I'm starting to fall for some stupid reports.

Women's World Cup:

So the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup kicked off about 6 days ago with France defeating Nigeria 1-0 along with Germany defeating Canada by a count of 2-1 in Group A. All 4 teams in that group have played 2 matches each and Germany and France will be the teams moving onto the Kockout stages and Canada and Nigeria are out. In Group B, Japan have booked their place into the Quarterfinals with four points and sadly for New Zealand, they are out. England and Mexico are still tied for second with 3 points. In Group C, the United States and Sweden are both 1-0 after winning their respective first matches. USA will play at 8:30 am today against Colombia. North Korea are in this group as well, they will play Sweden before our match. USA has made it to at least the semi-finals in six straight World Cups. Of course we know what happened in 2007. Prior to that match, starting goalkeeper Hope Solo was questoinably dropped to the bench for Brianna Scurry which was bullshit. Greg Ryan was the coach in the 2007 World Cup, and that move there, benching Solo was a godawful decision because the next day, the United States loses 4-0 to Brazil. Solo had every right to call him off. Greg Ryan is a Fuckin Punk for doing that crap. You can't live through the past every time, you have to start thinkin about the present. Since that incident, Solo made it back on the pitch and the U.S. defeated Brazil in 2008 to win the Gold Medal in China. Will Hope Solo continue where she left off in 2007? The answer is yes. That was a look around the World in Soccer.