we need to find a RW that can stay healty. If we do then you will see tiffert in middle where he bleongs and no evans in there. love mauro, mauro is a player that can get you into the playoffs, but he has to be able to comtribute IN the playoffs. zakuani last night looked like his old self. I would like to see new RB and LB as well.
Berbatov salary is 50k BP per week so that will put him on same level as Henry and Marquez from NYRB. USA tax system will leave him more money in savings than UK tax system. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Dimitar-Berbatov-Fulhams-biggest-signing.html
good call Joe, this would be a good replacement for montero. Unfortunatley i dont think we can afford him even though he's cheap.
One of the things to keep in mind is our international slots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_International_Roster_Slots
I love how much emphasis the Sounders put on this. Maybe other teams do as well, but we seem to be damn quick about it. Scott very good points all around. Tommy all a matter of opinion I may have rose colored glasses when thinking back on Riley, it may of course be fondness for how he handled Mr Magoo... or that he rarely missed a match.... Perhaps I should not say superior, when what I mostly mean is that IMO he fit and understood our system better than AJ.
Even still, if we lose a couple of our green-carded internationals, I would expect we'd have to fill them using international spots. And yes, Gspurning got his green card so we have two slots. But if we lose, say Leo and Montero, we'd have to drop an international player to get another. Most likely Tetteh. It isn't something to just discount. It's something that we've got to deal with. We can't just go out and sign 3 internationals. It's one of the main reasons why I'm pretty sure we'll keep Montero.
I'm calling it now, Evans to RB and Johansson to the bench or out. I really don't see where Evans fits in the midfield if we have Alonso, Rosales, Tiffert, Zakuani, and Martinez and we know he has pics of Sigi, so he needs to start somewhere. I would also like to see Johansson not be our starting RB. I think he was a slight upgrade on Riley this year, but he was going so far forward so often that he was frequently caught out of position. not to mention his silly turnovers. I'm also going to assume that Rosales is still with the team next year, but Hanauer spends some allocation money to drop his salary cap hit to below DP levels. Rosales is largely responsible for our successes and failures in the last two seasons and i think he'd be hard to replace during the winter transfer window. I will also say that if we lose Montero that I think Martinez could fit in quite well up front. However, I would prefer that we throw a giant pile of money at a DP on the level of Keane/Henry. We've gone on the cheap for strikers and that resulted in a revolving door of crap for the guy next to Montero until EJ came in. Now I'd like to see an upgrade on Montero and that is going to take money. While Gonzalez had a resurgence in his skills this season, I really do think we need an upgrade at LB. So burch and, maybe, Gonzalez out and someone with some speed in. Other than that, done. I like the Ianni/Parke/Hurtado revolving door at CB, Gspurning is a beast at goal, midfield with Zakuani, Alonso, Tiffert, and Rosales is done for starters, and EJ up top is a lock for FW.
Montero is still our best player. Creatively, in possession, and shooting from distance. Aaaand he's 25. ******** all of you haters. Each one of you will eat your (typed communications) by the end of next season. And for those of you who want Berbatov...you ********ing think Fredy is lazy and streaky? And you want the Continental? You're all out of your ********ing minds.
I actually thought Fredy was excellent Sunday. I lost count of the number of times he singlehandedly won back possession from LA's defense in their end of the field. Sure, he didn't get many looks at goal, but he made a lot of people around him more dangerous. He and Eddy looked very good together - the best I think I've seen them look as teammates all season. I'd love to see them have another full season together.
The Berba would make all the "but he works real hard" crowd lose their shit if he came to Seattle besides he aint leaving Fulham. I would like to see Freddy Adu or Benny Feilhaber brought in to add some creative spark. Mauro is getting too old and I would like to see some creativity in the team.
I'm incredulous at the Chicken Littles essentially blaming Montero for our playoff failure. Short of an all-time legend like a Thierry Henry or Robbie ********ing Keane the only person I'd want to replace Fredy with in this league is Wondo. Which don't hold your breath isn't happening. Further, I'd be willing to bet that Fredy ends up scoring more goals in his career than Wondo. I recognize we're all pissed that LA advanced but that had more to do with shit defending and terrible tactics in LA, Johansson being Johansson, Estrada not finishing, and a couple of PK calls that we were on the wrong side of.
I want to know how many of those clamoring for a new defensive line have ever played in a defensive line... I don't see Seattles defense as the weak link in this chain. We finished the season with the second best "goals against" average in the league. And certainly Big G was a factor in that but I really don't seem him get challenged THAT much. And if that is because he is organizing the backline... they are still doing the legwork. Where I think the Sounders struggled this season is in creative attack. 5th best "goals for" average in the league this season. Our attack is often predictable. Without Mauro's service to Eddie's head that "goals for" ranking would drop much further. Though that proved a potent combination, our offense cannot be a one-trick pony. I was thrilled to see Stevie Z doing his thing. Brilliant. And I would love for Mario to stick around long enough to get really integrated with the starting 11.
I haven't really read anyone blaming Montero. But I think there is a sense that finishing 7th in the league and 3rd or 4th in the cup tournament isn't really good enough. I have always defended Montero. But I'm at a loss as to where this team gets DP slots to go after players like Henry or Keane or such without getting rid of its current DPs. I'd love to hear your suggestions for how we go from being seventh best in MLS to best.
What Scott said. I don't have a problem with Montero staying, but I do think we need to let him move forward with his career. I think Montero's development has peaked in MLS and he needs better coaches and better teammates to develop further. I'm also not interested in replacing Montero with a player already in the league, but would prefer we blow $5-$6 million on bringing a "creative goal scorer" in to replace Montero. I also think the Sounders have advanced to the point that we need to start "going big" as far DPs go. Without CCL at the end of next season to worry about, I think we can afford to say "screw depth" and try and make a run for SS and/or MLS Cup next season.
How did Sounders offensive/defensive perfomance compare to the other 3 teams in conference championships? What sticks out to me is the 0.75 goals per game. Hard to win a tournament scoring less than a goal per game. Defense (despite abismal first leg in LA) looks average. I'd say we need more offensive Ka-Pow.
My sources close to me tell me that Seattle Sounders are close to signing Honduran International, Wilmer Crisanto, from C.D. Victoria
. Screw that. If he's under contract, then he plays for the Sounders UNLESS Seattle gets ginormous compensation for him. As far as we know, he hasnt been sulking around complaining the Sounders arent letting him leave for the big payday in Europe ( or Russia). He hasn't been a cancer in the clubhouse. He appears genuinely happy to be here. It's all fine and dandy for people to say, "it's the right thing to do to let him move on," but Freddy signed the contract. Right now, the pairing of Montero and EJ seems to work pretty well (when both are on the field together). The problem seems to be getting the ball to them, which is more of an issue with the midfield, especially the wings (when Rosales is absent).
One of the directors in the back-office of C.D> Victoria confirmed to me that Wilmer Crisanto will play with the Seattle Sounders next season in the MLS.