Expansion Draft: Who To Protect

Think there could be any official clause (or unofficial team agreement) in the Montano loan that Montreal would only select him in the expansion draft? That way they get to see if they like him (ie, not waste a pick) and we limit our roster risk?

 

Could be.. Wouldn't be the first time that teams made a deal with the expansion team to protect the rest of their players by sacrificing another.

 

1. Rosales
2. Alonso ***Note, I think he'll be gone***
3. Zakuani
4. Montero
5. Neagle
6. Parke
7. Hurtado
8. Fernandez
9. Friberg
10. Evans ***Note, I hate this but they will protect him
11. Wahl ***Note, a LB is harder to get than a RB, so Riley should be safe

Protecting OBW is a mute point, his career might be over. Fucito while tenascious, doesn't score. Jaqua, Noonan, Graham, and Gonzalez better be gone next season. Montano is gone on loan. Seamon has disappeared along with Estrada. Ford is just another backup. Boss is a slghtly better backup. Scott and Ianni are tough, and one might go. Pfh.

 

thought it'd be interesting to revive this topic as the regular season winds down. Does anyone still think we shouldn't protect Montero (16 goals in all competitions) or should protect Ianni (fallen behind Scott in the pecking order)?

my list
1. Montero
2. Rosales
3. Zakuani
4. Fernandez
5. Alonso
6. Fucito
7. Parke
8. Hurtado
9. Riley
10. Friberg
11. Evans
Tetteh's GA so is not exposed

I could see us losing one of:
Neagle - young and promising, I'd hate to see him go
Carrasco - I'm a big fan of him b/c he can come in for Alonso and we need someone in that role to make the team tick

and then protecting the other one

The only others that would make sense for Montreal to pick are:
Ianni - a solid CB, but 4th on the depth chart these days
Wahl or Gonzalez. Montreal won't draft two LBs so we'll still have a starter and Tetteh

I don't think we'll lose White (injury makes his future uncertain) or Ochoa (not proven) and I don't care if we lose the others. We'll need to find a GK no matter what.

 

I don't see any glaring changes needed. The only one I'd consider is putting in Neagle for Ianni.

 

I think Riley will get snapped up if we don't protect him. Then we'd have to find a starting RB, b/c as much as I like him at CB Zach Scott is not a starting RB. Riley isn't the greatest in the world, but he fits in well with the system.

If you were Montreal who would you pick from your proposed non-protected list? Obviously this will depend on what the 17 lesser teams in the MLS do as well, but since we invented squad depth, we have the best players to plunder

 

It depends on who is available on other teams and what Montreal's needs are. If you go strictly with the list that I had, Montreal would be crazy to pass up Neagle. If you swap in Neagle for Ianni, then I'd think they'd go after Carrasco first, with Ochoa, Ianni, and Riley being distinct possibilities.

Any way you look at it, we're going to lose someone that is someone we want to keep, but that's the price we pay for being one of the deepest teams in the league.

Also, I'm not sure the Sounders can lose more than one player in the draft. I believe last year was only because there were two expansion teams.

 

If that's true I hope they opt for Ianni to partner Riveros. I don't dislike Ianni, but Scott, Gonzo, Wahl and possibly Sanyang can all play CB

 

Given that Montreal has already signed a centerback and are rumored to be signing another I would expose Ianni and protect Neagle. My list looks like this:

1. Rosales
2. Montero
3. Alonso
4. Zakuani
5. Flaco
6. Hurtado
7. Parke
8. Freebird the Red
9. Riley
10.Fucito
11. Neagle

I still think we lose a player in the scenario either Evans or Wahl would get picked and although that is a loss of depth we have replacements built in. Now if Ochoa rips off a couple of good games or Evans can stay healthy for the next 5 games they could move up but as of now that is my list.

 

I'm not sure if we'd have to protect him, but I'm now in the camp of wanting to retain Brad Evans. If he was left unprotected, do you think Montreal (coached by former d-mid Jesse Marsch) would take him?

 

I think the transfer window opens after the expansion draft so we would have to protect Flaco if we wanted the transfer fee and additional allocation money that comes with it.

 

looks like everyone is picking from same core of 12 players. 2 forwards, 7 midfielders and 3 defenders.

1. Rosales
2. Montero
3. Alonso
4. Zakuani
5. Flaco
6. Hurtado
7. Parke
8. Friberg
9. Riley
10.Fucito
11. Neagle
12. Evans

Carrasco, Ianni, Ochoa and Wahl have gotten honorable mentions

so far the odd men out have been
me - Neagle
Yoshou - Riley
edwardgr - Fucito
Neemtree - Evans

 

I think Marsch would probably take Evans if available he's young, cheap and domestic and an established starter. For me it came down to either Evans or Friberg and I think Erik is a better passer and keeps better possesion in the mid field. Evans is more of a scoring threat but with the myriad of scoring options and Alosnso's development as a offensive threat I think it more important to have someone in the midfield who is a better distributor at this point.

 

Carrasco is probably a better replacement for Evans than for Friberg. so I can see the logic in leaving Evans exposed to protect Neagle

 

i think evans would do better on another team, not unlike letoux, please leave him open

 

I think Neagle has more than proved himself worthy to stay. If we let him (or Fucito for that matter) go, I guarantee we will regret it.

 

Montero, Fucito, Ochoa...Zakuani, Neagle, Alonzo, Friberg, Rosales, Fernandez...Hurtado, Parke.

There is no reason (other than the fact he's one of "Sigi's boys") that Evans should be kept over any of those mids.

 

There are so many ways this could go, it's impossible to predict. You could leave Evans exposed but under almost all the scenarios here, we are leaving both young GK exposed. Montreal might want one of them over an oft-injured mid. Jaqua or Noonan could get picked because they want a veteran with good club house leadership and strong on field work ethic. It really depends on Montreal's philosophy of teambuilding. They might want a piece they can use to get allocation $$ or make a trade with.

So trying to decide what bait to dangle is pure crapshoot. I remember thinking after year 1 that Philly would definitely take riley who we left unprotected to protect Marshall. Yikes! Instead they went for Le Toux, who many here had written off as being over his head in MLS. And all Riley has done is anchor the right side admirably ever since. And all Le Toux has done is prove that Sigi never used him right.

Then there's payroll/salarycap implications, the need for an experienced GK, all that will factor into who gets protected.

Here's what makes me curious. aside from whomever is selected in expansion draft, who do we think will not be with the Sounders next year.

My list:

Montano
Jaqua
Noonan
OBW
Gonzo?

 

Ochoa? I'm excited about his potential and what he's shown in his cameos (3 games, 64 minutes across all senior comps), but unless he gets some starts between now and then and tears it up I doubt Montreal will take the gamble on him if we left him unprotected.

that said I didn't see him in Mexico, so I don't have a lot of data. hopefully he's start on Saturday since FM17 is suspended

 

Leaving Evans unprotected means having to find a new player to take penalty kicks.

Seriously, is he the only Sounder who can score 2 consecutive penalty kicks?

 

sounders have never relied on pk's to win a game, which i find awsome, but, would be a cherry on the top and additional armorment if we did find a player that was talented at their position as well as able to take pk's consistently.

 

So take this as my uneducated opinion. Been following Sounders for 2 years now, but only really got into them in the last 4 months, and only been into soccer for a few years. I've been thinking about this too though, and here's who I'd protect...I hope it's not too offensive-oriented or ignorant of possible attrition.

1. Alonso
2. Zakuani
3. Montero
4. Fernandez
5. Rosales
6. Riley
7. Hurtado
8. Parke
9. Fucito
10. Friberg
11. Neagle

 

Why no Ochoa? He's cheap young we could easily lose him and be back where we were after N'kufo left.