2012 Seattle Sounders FC season preview

By Money Mike


OK, now that the CONCACAF Champions League is out of the way (even though it was disappointing), I think it's time that we start previewing the 2012 MLS season. Now the Seattle Sounders, I gotta tell you, they've made so many big moves this offseason. Probably more than the last two seasons combined and just about all of them were very good moves, but there was one surprise move as well. Last season, this team got off to a slow start, but then June came around and they started to click into gear. At one point, they picked up 9 points in 8 days and just took off from there in all competitions including the U.S. Open Cup and the Champions League. Last few games however, they looked pretty weak defensively and that proved to a factor as they were eliminated in the MLS Cup quarterfinal again.

The focus during the offseason was looking for a couple of outside backs and also a new goalkeeper because of the fact that Kasey Keller played his final season in 2011. In the end, they acquired Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, Swedish right back Adam Johansson and former D.C. United left back Marc Burch. They also drafted Creighton University defender Andrew Duran in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft. So now that they officially have everything put into place, you have to say that this is one of the teams to beat in Major League Soccer. We already know the Sounders can score goals because they led the league in that category, it's just a question if their backline is a lot better than last year. And there's no doubt it is. Yes, they're gonna have a couple of bad games this season, like last night against Santos, but right now, this is the only Seattle team that goes out there and wins big games and I can tell you, they're tired of only winning the U.S. Open Cup. Right now, they're aiming to win the MLS Cup.

Sounders 2012 roster:

1. GK - Michael Gspurning
3. MF - Brad Evnas
4. DF - Patrick Ianni
5. DF - Adam Johansson
6. MF - Osvaldo Alonso
7. FW - Eddie Johnson
8. DF - Marc Burch
10. MF - Mauro Rosales (captain)
11. FW - Steve Zakuani
12. DF - Leonardo Gonzalez
13. FW - O'Brian White
14. MF - Michael Tetteh
15. MF - Alvaro Fernandez
16. FW - David Estrada
17. FW - Fredy Montero
19. FW - Babayele Sodade
20. DF - Zach Scott
21. FW - Cordell Cato
22. MF - Mike Seamon
23. MF - Servando Carrasco
24. FW - Roger Levesque
25. MF - Andy Rose
26. FW - Sammy Ochoa
27. MF - Alex Caskey
28. MF - Christian Sivebaek
29. GK - Josh Ford
30. DF - Andrew Duran
31. DF - Jeff Parke
33. GK - Andrew Weber
34. DF - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
35. GK - Bryan Meredith


Offseason moves:

Acquisitions:

December 7, 2011 - Michael Gspurning (Skoda Xanthi) - Free transfer
December 12, 2011 - Marc Burch (D.C. United) - Re-entry Draft
December 29, 2011 - Adam Johansson (IFK Goteborg) - Free transfer
January 11, 2012 - Christian Sivebaek (FC Midtjylland) - Undisclosed
January 18, 2012 - Cordell Cato (Defence Force)- Undisclosed
February 17, 2012 - Eddie Johnson (Montreal Impact) - Trade
March 1, 2012 - Andrew Duran (Creighton University) - MLS SuperDraft, 1st rd.
March 1, 2012 - Babayele Sodade (UAB) - MLS SuperDraft, 2nd rd.
March 2, 2012 - Andrew Weber (San Jose Earthquakes) - Out of contract
March 13, 2012 - Alex Caskey (Charleston Battery) - Free transfer
March 13, 2012 - Andy Rose (UCLA) - MLS Supplemental Draft, 1st rd.*

*Contract rights acquired from Real Salt Lake for Leone Cruz.

Departures:

November 2, 2011 - Kasey Keller - retired
November 23, 2011 - James Riley (Montreal Impact) - Expansion Draft*
November 23, 2011 - Tyson Wahl (Montreal Impact) - Trade
December 2, 2011 - Terry Boss - retired
December 2, 2011 - Taylor Graham - retired
December 7, 2011 - Miguel Montano (Montreal Impact) - Out of contract
December 12, 2011 - Erik Friberg (Malmo FF) - Undisclosed
December 12, 2011 - Nate Jaqua (New England Revolution) - Re-entry Draft
December 12, 2011 - Pat Noonan (Los Angeles Galaxy) - Re-entry Draft
February 17, 2012 - Mike Fucito (Montreal Impact) - Trade
February 17, 2012 - Lamar Neagle (Montreal Impact) - Trade
March 14, 2012 - Amadou Sanyang (Charleston Battery) - Undisclosed

* Immediately traded from Montreal to Chivas USA for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen.


Keys to the season:

My keys for this season, starting with the Toronto match on Saturday, leave the Champions League loss behind and continue to play your game. I can't blame any of this on the coach, we had to push forward, we had to come at them, but Santos was able to find our weakness and they are able to take advantage of it. Look, Santos is a very good team, they're unbeaten at home this season, they've completely dominated the Champions League as well. One bad loss does not mean that we have a bad team, and yet we have a bunch of ignorant fans that are stupid enough to push the panic button before the start of our MLS campaign. Play your game, and your game only.

Another key, defensively the backline needs to tighten up. Last season, the opposition found some openings and almost 90% of the time, they took advantage of it. Hurtado has looked a little sluggish, but remember last season he returned from a season ending ACL injury he suffered in 2010. As for Leo Gonzalez, this guy has disappeared. His one on one defending has been absolutely pathetic. He better step it up, otherwise bench him and start Marc Burch. As a matter of fact, I think that would be the best option because I think Burch is a better one on one defender than Gonzalez. Bottomline is, if you want to get past the first round of the playoffs, don't give your opponents any good looks at goal. If they can do a better job, which I think they will, than we'll make it out of the first round for sure and perhaps make it to the MLS Cup final. No reason not to believe we can't do it this year.

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.