I think this really is a make or break game for us. If we are going to have ANY shot at making the playoffs, we need no less than all three points.
Sorry, that was just copied and pasted from every pre-game thread since May. Who wants to try and put a lineup together? Here's my take... Kirovski-Arce Johnson-Smarte-Grabavoy-Salinas Denton-Ayres-Roberts-Gray Gustavson
I hope to see Arce and Gustavson to see what they've got. I missed the Season Ticket-holder open practice, but heard there was an impressive food spread. Since they're using the same phrase, "Light Refreshments" I'm hoping for good eats. Otherwise, although it's not against some fancy-pants European team, I figure it's as good a way as any to spend a Tuesday night, even if I do have to drive an hour+ from Monterey.
Hope springs eternal. As long as you're not expecting Prime Rib and exotic mushrooms you won't be disappointed but plan on Spam with little toothpicks in it. If Frank plays any starters in this snoozefest he should be horse whipped.
I would like to see us start our "marginal" game-day guys and then fill in the rest of the team with players we haven't seen much of. Starting with something like this: ------------Arce--Cunliffe --Johnson-----Kirovski---Salinas -----------------Gray Hatzke--Cochrane--Ayers--Smarte --------------Gustavson And making several changes at half to give playing time to the remainder of the Dev squad.
Will there be a 2008 MLS Expansion Draft with Seattle Sounders FC picking from scratch just like the San Jose Earthquakes did in 2007 or will the current group of Seattle Sounders playing in this game simply be "promoted" with several additions made to the roster? If it'll be the latter, then this game would be a good opportunity to see a chunk of next year's Seattle team. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
They'll go through an expansion draft. If they're smart, they'll try to pick up one or two of the best current Sounders, as I'm sure the Seattle fans would love to keep a couple of their favorites.
I'm sure you're right, though wouldn't the current Sounders be considered outside of the MLS expansion pool? Still, hasn't Seattle Sounders FC already signed Kasey Keller and Sébastien Le Toux for next season? GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
True on all points. I'm sure they can sign as many current Sounders as they'd like. Realistically, not many would be MLS quality.
I remember reading that the Sounders FC of the MLS have the right to the USL Sounders back when we were scouting USL talent. We should have had the rights to those players, but Seattle is a special case. Between the cream of their current crop and an expansion draft they should get a good fast start.
I live in Washington so the Sounders have become my USL team. They are actually a pretty decent side, not playing well recently but the team has some quality. I thought all you season ticket holders might want a list of a few players to look out for. First of is Le Toux, Played as a defender in France but was converted to a striker for the Sounders, good skill on the ball and fast, really fast. Then the O'brien brothers, Ciaran and Leighton, only one will be one the field because they are almost the exact same player, they run the offence if it gets going and have great vision, in my opinion both are better than Ned at running the attack.Taylor Graham should anchor the defence and has had two great years for the sounders. Last and certianly not least is Chris Eylander, amazing young goalkeeper. I would have expected him to start next year for the Sounders FC if they hadn't signed Keller. enjoy the game. It should be better than you expect.
Thanks for the info LittleJon. Many here will be familiar with Leighton O'Brien. He played for our team back when they were named the Clash. The other two Sounders with and Earthquakes connection I know of are Noah Merl and Roger Levesque.
Some other previous players with experience with Seattle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Russell_(soccer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Waibel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Kinnear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Ching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Burpo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Medved
I'd like to see more of Gustavson as well. He's an decent keeper, or at least he seemed to be from the Honduras game.
Agreed. We've had a decent start so far, but Seattle's expectations will definitely be higher out the gate in terms of talent than ours were. At least once we came back to reality in the second or third week of the season.
One advantage Seattle will have over the Quakes, RSL, Toronto & Chivas will be that they already have a team in place, Even if they only keep 4-5 players from the USL squad they will be more ahead on the playing field. Most teams bring in 4-5 new players into a club each year and this coupled with 1/2 a team (already in place) along with Kasey Keller (recently signed) ,they could end up doing very well.
I didn't think I'd be able to go, but as of right now I'm there for the game... is this Bonus Game "A" or Bonus Game "B"?
Some of you may remember Ciaran as playing for the Rapids in the first game of the season against the Galaxy, and was red carded for a hard tackle on Ruiz that put the Fish on the injury list for many weeks. I believe he is now just on loan from the Rapids. Eylander is a quality shot stopper and I fully expect him to make the Sounders FC squad and be groomed to take over for Keller and be a star in MLS. Letoux is also a great player, who never stops running up front. He puts in 110% and you rarely see him complain. I believe he has 18-20 goals for Seattle this season in all competions. And Taylor Graham was actually in pre-season camp for the Quakes this past spring, and did not plat that badly for them in exhibition games.
Yes, they have Le Toux and Keller (from Olympia, WA) and that's good. However, there are not many current fans up there. They've signed an amazing number of season ticket buyers for next year but are still playing before little crowds at Starfire this year. USL and MLS are, obviously, not the same thing.