Let's actually talk about stuff. Us while old heads still matter. Like if one of these years our epic nonchalance about early season will result in missing the playoffs. This club is adrift. Garth not for USA. Garth for retirement. I am tired of hearing about how wonderful everything is. And Schmetz is a cool guy who can't figure out tactics.
Torn.. It seems like your comments are a bit of an overreaction, but I understand where it is coming from. The f**k the first half of the season technique is torn right out of the pages of the LA Galaxy and was very effective for them. It's also been effective for the Sounders as it has led us to 2 MLS Cups, but it is nerve racking as it can lead to slim margins for error at the end of the season... Compare that with the Sounders under Sigi where the Sounders came in strong, challenged for everything and then crashed at the end of the season and it does seem like the approach under Garth is more "effective" with regards to challenging for the MLS Cup. As for this season, the injuries this season have really hurt the Sounders. Most of them there wasn't really anything the Sounders could do about. However, to not sign a striker once it became apparent that Morris was out for the season is really troubling. Our only "real" hope prior to the summer transfer window is to hope that the offense kicks off if/when V-Rod gets back and he can link with Lodeiro and put Dempsey into a really expensive sub..
We have missed several windows now. Garth is just not getting it done. And Brian either needs to go to a 3-5-2 to provide Deuce defensive cover or use him as a super sub. There is no effective spot for Deuce in a 4-2-3-1. . Did anything happen today to prove me wrong? I have not seen the game yet because of the epic f**k up of including Spokane in the black out, which does not improve my mood.
And just generally, there is no justification for a 4-2-3-1 based on what the Sounders have. We have four million two way midfielders. Zero wingers. Good fullbacks. A good target striker and a good withdrawn striker. That's what we have. It screams 3-5-2. If Garth and Brian hate the 3-5-2, they need to stop stocking their team to fit that system.
And the Sounders are shitting on Spokane. It turns out that I am blocked from Sounders on ESPN Plus because the YouTube thingy is available in Spokane. But YouTube does not carry the Spanish channels. And the Sounders have never bothered to get themselves on SWX. So to watch the Sounders, I have to have two subscriptions and never get to watch them on an actual TV. And I have seen the replay. Everything I said before is true.
Player's union put out the salaries for this year. The Sounders are currently in 8th place with a total guaranteed salary of $11.4 million. Dempsey took a major pay cut (down about $2 million), Nouhou seems like a steal at league minimum of $54,500, VRod is making a lot more than I was expecting. FirstLastBaseGuaranteed NicolasLodeiro$1,800,000.00 $2,302,500.00 ClintDempsey$1,100,000.04 $1,650,000.04 OsvaldoAlonso$1,100,000.04 $1,141,667.04 VictorRodriguez$999,999.96 $1,087,499.96 RomanTorres$575,000.04 $645,000.04 KimKee-Hee$500,004.00 $632,004.00 KelvinLeerdam$500,000.04 $575,000.04 MagnusEikrem$480,000.00 $546,666.67 WillBruin$350,000.00 $351,666.67 GustavSvensson$350,000.00 $350,000.00 ChadMarshall$325,000.00 $341,250.00 StefanFrei$275,000.00 $281,250.00 JordanMorris$222,000.00 $234,500.00 CristianRoldan$154,000.00 $191,000.00 HarryShipp$174,999.96 $174,999.96 WaylonFrancis$165,000.00 $171,666.67 LamarNeagle$96,000.00 $99,000.00 JordanMcCrary$67,500.00 $67,500.00 BryanMeredith$67,500.00 $67,500.00 CalleBrown$67,500.00 $67,500.00 TonyAlfaro$67,500.00 $67,500.00 JordyDelem$55,654.20 $55,654.20 HenryWingo$55,650.00 $55,650.00 SeyiAdekoya$55,650.00 $55,650.00 AlexRoldan$54,500.04 $54,500.04 HandwallaBwana$54,500.04 $54,500.04 NouhouTolo$54,500.00 $54,500.00
Last night's tactical shift seemed to help a little. I hope they use the same set up against the Dead Trees. If Oz is back, they probably don't give up 20 something shots in that set up and keep more possession.
But was that because Toronto is just bad at defense? We clogged their offensive channels with the 5-4-1 line-up and frustrated them quite a bit (and yes, Ozzie would have rocked), but I'm not sure our attack would have been nearly as good if Toronto wasn't over committing itself on the attack and largely leaving themselves exposed to the counter attack.
Much too much has been made in this recent kerfuffle about how much the Sounders spend. They spend roughly the same as Atlanta. The problem is how well they are spending. Not enough youth, speed, players on the rise you can get a big transfer fee for if they move on.
Youshou, still think I am overreacting? One transfer window after another, Garth has not gotten it done. It's nice he says the team is willing to spend. There is zero evidence he can get somebody to say yes. He and Brian won with Adrian and Sigi's team. But my real problem is a customer service one. I can ride out poor results, but things have gone from bad to worse with the broadcast set up in EWash, and I need to be able to speak to an actual human with the FO Tuesday morning. If they want to keep shitting all over Spokane, well, there are other teams to root for.
I’m not sure anything has changed since my post that you are referencing.. Well, except the injury bug has gotten worse. I’ll just quote my previous post since it already covers pretty much everything I have to say on the topic. The only change is that we’ve now lost Lodeiro, Torres, Alonso(again), and Bruin to injuries.. The Sounders are really bad offensively, some of that due to Garth failing to bring in a striker to support Morris and push Dempsey onto the bench, but most of that is due to injuries. I don’t see how signing a DP striker would have changed much this season. Maybe a couple losses become draws, but losing Lodeiro killed any creativity we had in the midfield. Especially with VRod being injured all season and Eikrem not really panning out.. As for Eastern WA, preaching to the choir here.. I’ve been complaining about the lack of an Eastern WA broadcaster since the inaugural season.. Now they even seem to have lost Root.. You’d at least get games on Root when the Mariners weren’t playing, but not this season.. I’m in EWA this weekend, turned on Root and got to watch two really bad Major League Rugby teams.. The game didn’t even involve the Seawolves, instead I watched teams from Houston and Utah play in a half empty high school football stadium, miss tackles, screw up scrums, and cough up the ball whenever they were tackled.. It was dismal..
Not unlike watching the Sounders play then. A ray of hope with Bruin, Shipp and Rodriguez back in the lineup. Still, we are horrendous to watch.
Honestly, we’re nothing offensively without Lodeiro.. Hopefully he’ll be back after the WC break and we can actually start looking halfway decent.. If we can get the offense working, it’ll do wonders for the GAA...
Yes.. but he’s been injured for over a month and rumors abound that he wants to return to Boca Junior. Until he shows up on the field in a Sounders uniform, I’m not going to assume.
Well, that was better, and against a D.C. team that looked not unuseful and better than its record indicates. What are these things called goals? Getting Lodeiro's usual industry and invention back is nice, but if he's got his shooting boots back, so much the better. Perhaps all is not lost yet. Kim's strong performance is encouraging. Having a minimum three starting quality center backs after the WC is important, plus Svensson as the Beaver. It was critical to get the win before the break. If we can get a point Wednesday (not an easy task), then it starts to look possible.
One of the many people Garth has tried and failed to sign just scored a goal in the World Cup. It isn't cheapness that is the problem. Cheap ass Houston is doing well. It's that these guys just aren't getting it done.
Ok, so, anybody hearing anything about Ruidiaz confirmation and ETA? I guess if it ain't on SAH, there's no word. But his job at the World Cup is done. Understandable if he needs time off. It's just the Sounders need help yesterday.
Ruidiaz's situation is "complicated". Morelia has already announced that they agreed to his transfer to the Sounders, but the Sounders have not announced that they have transferred him from Morelia. I'm not sure why there is the disparity, but, there ya go.
That being said, none of the teams Sounders are on advanced out of the group stages, so they should all be back in the relatively near future.
I wonder where the Mexican fans chanting "Daehan Minguk!' at the end as I was at the USA-Poland game in 2002.