Super Bowl Update

By Money Mike


The 2013 MLS season is two months away and earlier today, the MLS SuperDraft took place in Indianapolis and well, it was full of surprises. There were at least two or three players that were projected to be a first round picks and weren't selected at all. We also had quite a number of trades made with teams swapping draft selections. One of those trades included Seattle Sounders FC landing the 10th overall pick from Toronto FC for their 16th overall pick. Who did they get? No mistakes here, the Sounders selected Eriq Zavaleta from NCAA National Champions Indiana with the 10th pick of this years MLS SuperDraft. Seattle also picked up Dylan Remick from Brown University in the second round of the draft (35th overall). Zavaleta is a member of Generation Adidas so he will not count against the MLS senior roster this season.

Zavaleta has spent his time in the youth ranks of Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake and the Columbus Crew and was also a member of the U.S. Soccer Residency program in 08' and 09'. If you thought Zavaleta was a forward this entire career, listen to this. During his time with the U.S. U-17 national team, he was used primarily as a defender and was a starter for the under-17's at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. He appeared in all four matches for the team, leading them to the round if 16 where he was actually sent off in USA's 2-1 loss to Italy. Overall, he made 23 appearances for the under-17's. Despite the fact that he has represented the United States in the youth level, Zavaleta is eligible to represent El Salvador in the senior level due to the fact that his father is from El Salvador and has represented them in the international level. In his two years with Indiana, Zavaleta started in all 46 games and tallied 28 goals and 9 assists and of course led the Hoosiers to their eighth National title.

I did mention his father Carlos was a member of the El Salvador national team, also his uncle Greg Vanney (some of you may have heard of him) was also a professional soccer player. Both of these guys were coached by Sigi Schmid during their career. Oh you guys don't believe me? Take a look at the video, I'll prove it to you....



Remick was Seattle's second round pick from Brown University. In his freshman year, Brown made 17 appearances and finished with a pair of goals and one assist and received the team's Britton Chichester Award, which is given to the freshman who contributes most to the team. A year later, he started all 20 games and helped lead the defense to 11 shutouts. In his junior year, he started the teams first 16 games before picking up a season ending injury. He scored two goals and also recorded two assists that year. In his final season with Brown in 2012, Remick made 18 appearances and led the Bears with seven assists. Could possibly be a left back for the Sounders, but I'm not going to talk about any of that right now since he hasn't made the team yet.

The MLS Combine was pretty interesting this year. You had players that were expected to be a potential Top 5 pick that struggled to meet all expectations and then there were a lot of players who nobody knew much about who stepped on the pitch during the Combine and made a lot of noise. I thought Sigi Schmid, GM Adrian Hanauer, Chris Henderson the Technical Director, and the rest of the Sounders FC staff that traveled to the east coast did an outstanding job of scouting these players, getting to know a little bit about them and doing whatever they can to snap them up. I'm still surprised the Sounders were able to pick up Zavaleta because he was expected to be a Top 5 pick, maybe even a no. 1 overall pick, so I don't know why anybody didn't to cash in on him but more importantly, I don't care because he's here in Seattle and he's ready to kick his pro career into high gear and hopefully Remick will have the opportunity to do the same here in the Emerald City.

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders have finally gotten the monkey off their back. Last night, the Rave Green came into the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals knowing that they needed to win in order to avoid a fourth straight early round exit, and that's exactly what they did. The Sounders defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on a stunner in the late stages of the game by Mario Martinez to advance to the Western Conference final where they will meet the Defending MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. The Conference final will also be a Home-and-Away series with the first leg taking place this Sunday at 6pm at the Home Depot Center and the second leg next Sunday at 6pm at CenturyLink Field.

In the 10th minute, Alvaro Saborio sent Ned Grabavoy in behind with a nice ball. The angle was tight however, and Michael Gspurning had the near post covered all the way and made an easy save.

Eight minutes later, RSL had a better look at goal. As a matter of fact, they had an opportunity that they should've capitalized on. Kenny Mansally delivered a great ball into the middle of the area. Paulo Jr. looked to have been offside at the time of the delivery, but he should've scored. There is no excuse for missing a golden opportunity like that one right there. Again, Mansally put that ball right where it needed to be and Paulo Jr. at the last second loses his concentration and let's it bounce off his knee and wide of target.

In the 31st minute, the Sounders had a free kick opportunity from a dangerous position. Everyone thought Fredy Montero was going to take the kick, but instead he stepped over the ball and forced the RSL wall to break which gave Mario Martinez a clear shot on goal and Nick Rimando who was the hero in the first leg, comes up huge once again as he got a fingertip to the ball to direct it off the crossbar. The Sounders had so many opportunities back in the first game and if it hadn't been for Rimando, the Sounders probably would've had at least four or five goals up to that point.

10 minutes later, RSL had a free kick opportunity of their own. Javier Morales stepped up and curled the free kick over the wall but it was too central and didn't test Michael Gspurning. That was the last opportunity of the half and the score remained as you were at 0-0.

Less than 30 seconds into the second half, the Sounders were denied again. Seattle worked the ball out wide to Christian Tiffert who whipped in a low ball into the area. An attempted clearance by Kyle Beckerman was fluffed at and the ball bounced to Brad Evans for a first time hit and Nick Rimando got down and parried it away.

On to the 61st minute of the match, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet on a free kick. RSL are a dangerous set piece team with big guys like Saborio, Olave, Borchers, etc. Javier Morales's free kick was aimed at Borchers and the ball almost bounced all the way into the net as Michael Gspurning alertly parried the ball away. Seconds later, Kyle Beckerman chipped the ball back into the box for Borchers, but Adam Johansson had him contained all the way and Borchers couldn't control the ball properly.

With 15 minutes to go, another RSL chance goes begging. Eddie Johnson's pass for Brad Evans was too hot to control and Seattle lost possession in their own area. Ned Grabavoy fed the ball to Fabian Espindola who poked it back to Saborio for a first time shot from about 20 yards away, but he didn't get enough power on it and Michael Gspurning made yet another save.

In the 81st minute, the deadlock was finally broken and it was the Men in Rave Green who got the goal. Ozzie Alonso stepped in to intercept a pass from Jamison Olave. Brad Evans worked a give and go with Eddie Johnson in the midfield to get the attack going for Seattle. Evans fed the ball to Fredy Montero in the middle of the field and about a few yards outside the box. Montero then chipped the ball to the far side for Mario Martinez who catches it on a half volley with his left foot and scores and absolute beauty to give the Sounders a 1-0 advantage. Martinez was given the start after Mauro Rosales was ruled out with an injury and what a time for him to get his first Sounders FC goal.

In the 89th minute, Michael Gspurning comes up with a big save. Javier Morales's cross to the near post found the head of Alvaro Saborio who directed it goalwards and Gspurning stood his ground and punched the ball over the bar. The Sounders had everyone back defending the rest of the way. Five minutes were added on to the end of the second half. The Sounders had an opportunity at one point in stoppage time to get a second from Eddie Johnson but he didn't get enough power on his shot. With about two and a half minutes left in stoppage time, another big defensive play help prevent yet another opportunity at an equalizer. Jonny Steele's cross deflects off the head of Adam Johansson toward the six yard area and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado stepped in and got a foot to the ball, otherwise Alvaro Saborio and Nat Borchers were there to tap the ball in the back of the net. That was the last chance of the match and the Seattle Sounders hang on and advance to the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.


Observations:

I think the Sounders backline deserves a lot of credit. Despite the fact that they were put under a lot of pressure, they were strong enough to hold their ground. Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado made things really difficult for Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Jr. and also Fabian Espindola who came on as a substitute in the 2nd half. I think people have overlooked this backline saying that they're not that good. They've had a great second half of the season since the return of Michael Gspurning and they have two clean sheets this postseason. So I'm not worried at all about the backline, and I don't think anybody should worry about the backline. They've been solid lately and their confidence must be high leading up to the conference final against LA.

Now, there have been a lot of tweets and Facebook posts regarding Marc Burch's inappropriate gesture which appeared to be directed at RSL midfielder Will Johnson. Nobody could hear what he said, but apparently a few people may have read his lips. He issued an apology to all of MLS earlier today. Here's what he posted on Facebook earlier today.....

"I want to let everyone know that I apologize for my horrific choice of words last night during our match. This is something that is inconsistent with my family values and because of that I am both disappointed and embarrassed by my level of poor judgment. I take seriously my role as a leader in the community and this is completely regrettable and unacceptable. Character matters and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

Personally I'm glad he stood up and apologized for his actions last night. We had a similar situation back in March in a match between Seattle and Houston when Houston midfielder Colin Clark used a homophobic slur which was directed at a Sounders ball boy and was suspended for three matches. I was expecting a two match ban at the least for Burch, but the MLS disciplinary committee hasn't done anything about it which would mean that Burch would be allowed to play this Sunday. I understand this is the playoffs and we can't afford to lose anybody, but honestly I think there should've been a suspension and the fact that there's nothing is a bit shocking because it appears MLS will let him slide.

The Sounders didn't put together their best offensive performance in the second leg, but the only thing that matters is who scored the most goals in a match and just so happened to be the Sounders. What a moment for GM Adrian Hanauer, Head Coach Sigi Schmid, Assistant Coach Brian Schmetzer and the rest of the Sounders FC organization to get their first playoff series win in MLS after early round exits their first three seasons. To go on the road and finally pull it off is a big moment for the Sounders and their fans. Before the start of the second leg, there were hardly any concerns about this team despite drawing the first leg at home because the fans kept believing in this team and that trend has to continue next round. I can't wait for the series, it's going to be a good one and I think the Sounders will be ready to come out give their full 90' like they've always done.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mario Martinez 1 (Fredy Montero 1, Brad Evans 1) 81'

Seattle Sounders FC advance 1-0 on aggregate.


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 51'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Christian Tiffert (Andy Rose 73'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mario Martinez (Zach Scott 87'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero (David Estrada 89')

Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran (Luis Gil 85'), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Kenny Mansally (Jonny Steele 86'); Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Will Johnson; Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Jr. (Fabian Espindola 58')

By Money Mike


The MLS regular season is over so now it's time to turn our attention to where it really counts, the MLS Cup playoffs. The Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake faced off against eachother in last years MLS Cup quarterfinal. RSL won the first leg 3-0 and Seattle won the second leg 2-0. Unfortunately, that second leg win wasn't enough to keep their MLS Cup title hopes alive as Salt Lake advanced 3-2 on aggregate. Tomorrow, it will be a rematch between the Sounders and RSL. The first leg kicks off at 7pm and will be aired regionally on ROOT Sports, locally on KONG-TV and nationally on the NBC Sports Network. The Sounders are well overdue to advance in the playoffs and perhaps this could be the year for that to happen. Since their nine game winless run in the middle of the season, the Sounders have gone 8-3-5 the rest of the way leading up to the playoffs.


Injury report:

Real Salt Lake - Salt Lake has three defenders currently on the injured list.  Chris Schuler and Nat Borchers are dealing with quad strains and Jamison Olave is dealing with a strained left hamstring.  Borchers and Olave are listed as probable and Schuler is listed as questionable.  Another player that's dealing with a quad strain is midfielder Ned Grabavoy.  He might be good to go, but I haven't heard anything yet.  Right now he's listed as probable.  Lastly, Paulo Junior has a contusion in his right foot and is also listed as probable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Rave Green, of course rookies Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade are out.  Leonardo Gonzalez has a strained right hamstring and Patrick Ianni has a right calf strain.  Both have been working their way back, but they have been ruled out for tomorrow's match.  Lastly, this is what's been concerning the entire Sounder nation all week.  Eddie Johnson left late in the first half of sunday's 1-0 loss to the LA Galaxy.  The MRI showed that he suffered a left adductor strain.  He hasn't been ruled out of tomorrow night's match, at least not yet, but there's a chance he will not play in the first leg.  Right now, EJ is listed as questionable.


Who will start if Johnson isn't available?

We've had to deal with the same situation last season with Mauro Rosales.  At least we won't have to worry about him this time.  Again, there is a pretty good chance that Eddie Johnson will not play tomorrow.  If that is the case, head coach Sigi Schmid has plenty of options on the bench with David Estrada, Sammy Ochoa, Steve Zakuani and Mario Martinez.  Estrada and Zakuani are both working to get back to full fitness, Ochoa has struggled to find that breakout moment and Martinez has had trouble settling in because of international duty.  There's a pool on Seattle Times that is also asking who should start and the results are pretty even.

In my opinion, I'd go with creativity here, so I think Mauro Rosales should push up front and Mario Martinez should get the start on the right hand side.  He's been in big matches like these before (but then again, everybody has), he handles the pressure very well, he looked pretty good in the Champions League and we saw what he did for Honduras in their World Cup Qualifying match against Canada.  So I think this match will be an opportunity for him to prove, not that he's happy to be here, but that he want's to be here and that he belongs here.  Of course that's who I think should start, but my guess is that Ochoa will probably the one that will get the nod up front with Fredy Montero.

Right now, anything but a win in the first leg for the Sounders will not work at all.  The lads are at home in the opening match of the playoffs, so here's there opportunity to come right at Real Salt Lake and put them under a ton of pressure.  If the Sounders can win by at least two goals, given the fact that RSL has struggled to score, I think this will put Salt Lake in a heap of trouble.  They have the home field in the first leg, so they have to make the most of it if they want any chance of advancing in the playoffs.

By Money Mike


The MLS summer transfer window officially closed today and normally during this period the Seattle Sounders would not make any moves, but not this time. Earlier today, the Sounders made a couple of big moves as they signed German midfielder Christian Tiffert to a DP contract. MLS clubs are allowed only three Designated Players and the prior to the deal, Seattle's three DP's were Fredy Montero, Alvaro Fernandez and Mauro Rosales. To free up that last DP slot, the Seattle Sounders traded Alvaro Fernandez to the Chicago Fire for Allocation Money. Remember Fernandez was originally linked with a loan move to Fredy Montero's former Colombian club Deportivo Cali, but that deal eventually fell through. That looked to be the only move they made, but it appears that 22 year old Honduran international Mario Martinez has signed with the Sounders on loan from Real Espana, but that deal hasn't been confirmed yet. Martinez is currently with the Honduran national team in London for the 2012 Olympics.

When I got up earlier in the morning, I read on Seattle Times that the Sounders reportedly signed Christian Tiffert as a Designated Player which was confirmed at that time by his club 1. FC Kaiserslautern and his agent. Since then I've been keeping track of all the reports regarding this. What the Sounders would do to free up a DP slot. Then about 12:30, the Sounders say the deal wasn't officially done yet which almost makes you wonder if the deal would ever be completed. Then about 1:45, I read a tweet that stated that there was a big trade to announce and it apparently involved the Sounders as they traded Fernandez to Chicago. The former German under-21 international is a talented player, very good on the ball, but he's coming off a disappointing season. Obviously it wasn't just him, 1. FC Kaiserslautern absolutely sucked last season which saw them Relegated from the German Bundesliga.

Alvaro Fernandez has left the team after making 55 league appearances for the Rave Green and scoring 13 goals. When Fernandez joined the team in late July 2010 following the trade of Freddie Ljungberg, Fernandez was almost an unknown because at the start of his career, he's been traveling everywhere looking for a club. I mean, he spent time with seven clubs in his first five seasons of his career and following the World Cup there was a report saying that the Sounders were gonna sign Fernandez and following the Ljungberg trade, the Sounders used a DP tag on him. He didn't get that much playing time late in 2010 however because the Sounders still had a young kid named Sanna Nyassi. In 2011, Fernandez started the first two games but then he was dropped to the bench and a lot of us were beginning to think that his guy is useless, but then we lost Zakuani to a major injury, Fernandez stepped in and scored nine goals which is his career best. 2012, has been a rough year for Flaco, but he did score in his last two matches. Fernandez finishes his Sounders career with two U.S. Open Cup titles in his resume.

I think the Sounders front office did a great job today. Tiffert is a guy who brings leadership to this team, much like Mauro Rosales, considering he was the team captain over at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Fernandez will be missed in Seattle for sure, but with Zakuani close to 100% and the struggles that Fernandez has gone through, I think the move had to be made.

By Money Mike


Already seven MLS teams have been eliminated in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Seattle Sounders will hope they don't become the eighth MLS team to be knocked out as they host NASL club Atlanta Silverbacks tomorrow at the Starfire Sports Complex in Takwila at 7:30pm. The Sounders of course have won three straight U.S. Open Cup titles and are looking to make it four, but it sure as hell won't be an easy task. Especially the way things have gone so far in the third round as seven MLS clubs including Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy have been eliminated. This match was originally scheduled to be played to Atlanta, but the Sounders and the Silverbacks agreed to move the match to Seattle.

It's been four years since these two sides last met. As a matter of fact, the year before, both Seattle and Atlanta met eachother in the 2007 USL First Division Championship which took place at Starfire and Seattle crushed the Silverbacks 4-0 to win the title. A month later, Seattle was awarded an MLS franchise. Now when you look back at that time, a lot of folks haven't heard much about the Sounders and I didn't start following the Sounders until 2005 and soccer wasn't really that big a deal at the time. The popularity level dropped since MLS kicked off its history in 1996 and someone like me who has played soccer for a couple of years, it's really disappointing. Since 07', the popularity level of Soccer in America reached new heights. I mean, this past Saturday the USA-Scotland match in Jacksonville drew a big crowd and believe it or not, the majority of the fans were USA fans. So it's been a while since we've seen the Sounders and the Silverbacks square off.

One thing to keep in mind is that Sigi Schmid won't use his original starting 11 at this stage. We might see a few starters in the 11 as well as some reserve players. So I'm guess we'll see guys like Andrew Duran getting the start. Christian Sivebaek looks like he'll get the start as well. I'm expecting Bryan Meredith to get the start in net although I wouldn't rule out Andrew Weber. This is my guess of course.

This will be the last of Seattle's eight game stretch in the month of May. After a stretch of four straight MLS matches without a win, the Sounders will look to end with month with a win in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and get ready for the month of June where they only have four MLS matches scheduled. The Sounders won't be back to business in MLS play until June 16th when they travel to face the Montreal Impact. Up until that point, they have the Atlanta Silverbacks to deal with tomorrow and if they win this one, then they'll have another Open Cup match on June 5th. They also have a reserve match this friday at Starfire against the Whitecaps. The reason I bring that up is because Steve Zakuani is expected to play in that one. We've heard so many times that Zakuani was aimimg to make his return sometime during this stretch. Other then those three matches, the Sounders will have a much needed break after a long month.

By Money Mike

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.

By Money Mike



The Sounders have made yet another move this offseason. Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek joins the Men in Rave Green after five seasons with FC Midtjylland. With the 23-year old joining the club, the roster as it stands currently sits at 27 players. Remember though, the Sounders are still in talks with Cordell Cato, which would make 28. Now you have two more spots available on your roster. The MLS SuperDraft takes place tomorrow, so the question is do you consider drafting another midfielder, or maybe pick up a forward because the Sounders have enough depth in the midfield and there's very little depth in the forward position.

Sivebaek is the son of former Danish international defender John Sivebaek who played for Manchester United and was part of Denmark's international squad that won the European Championship in 1992. Sivebaek of course began his career in the youth ranks of FC Midtjylland in 2006 at the age of 16 and signed a professional contract two years later. He has made 80 league appearances for Midtjylland and scored 6 times for the club. He's also represented Denmark at the Youth Level, however he has yet to make a senior appearance.


Thoughts on this move:

Once again, I'll give the Sounders front office a thumbs up. He's a good attack minded player that will fit in with this team. This is a much different team compared to last years. One of the reasons of course is because our back line is stronger with outside backs Marc Burch and Adam Johansson joining the Sounders back in December. Everything's just about in place for the Sounders and I'm looking forward to a new season.

By Money Mike



Coming into this offseason, GM Adrian Hanauer said the main focus was signing a Goalkeeper and a couple of outside backs after Kasey Keller retired, James Riley was taken by the Montreal Impact in the Expansion Draft before being traded to Chivas USA and Tyson Wahl was traded to the Montreal Impact. You can consider all those holes being filled in now. The Sounders already signed Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning and selected Left Back Marc Burch in the Re-Entry Draft. Now the Sounders have signed a Right Back. Earlier this morning, the Sounders have signed Swedish international Adam Johansson after his contract with IFK Goteborg expired.

According to reports, Johansson has agreed to a three year contract with the Seattle Sounders and will join the club in late January due to the fact that he was called up by Sweden. Otherwise he would've joined camp on time.

Johansson began his professional career with local club Vastra Frolunda which is also where former Sounder Erik Friberg, who revealed this signing with a series of Tweets, began his footballing career. Johansson spent three seasons with Vastra Frolunda and made 66 appearances for the club with a goal to his credit. He joined IFK Goteborg in 2005 and didn't feature regularly in this first two seasons there. In 2007, Johansson finally established himself as a starter for Goteborg. Johansson started 24 of 26 matches as Goteborg won the 2007 Allsvenskan title. In his seven seasons over there, he made 129 appearances and scored one goal.

Johansson has also capped 9 times for the Swedish national team. His first cap came January 2009 against the United States.


Thoughts on this move:

Well I would still consider looking for another Right Back in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft because Sweden qualified for EURO 2012, which means he could be in consideration for that squad that will participate in the European Championship in June. That was the question I had with myself on Michael Gspurning, but Austria didn't qualify so I don't need to worry about that. Anyway, this is a great move. This guy comes in with good technical ability and should help meet one of the biggest offseason goals for the Men in Rave Green which is better possession from their fullbacks.

By Money Mike



Well there's no confirmation of this deal, but according to Trinidad and Tobago Express, it looks like the Seattle Sounders have or will sign Trinidad and Tobago U20 international Cordell Cato who was on trial with the Sounders last summer. Right now, I found five sources regarding this move. The Sounders are set to have a three day combine in Trinidad and Tobago from January 2-4 and I would assume that Cato will attend the combine. If the deal is confirmed, Cato will join the Sounders on a one-year contract with an option of an additional two years and will be listed as a Developmental player for the Seattle Sounders. Again, I have found five links regarding this deal which has yet to be confirmed. This would be the Sounders third signing this offseason and I would expect a few more to be made when the International Transfer Window for this winter opens in January.

Cato's agent Evans Wise, a former MLS player, told reporters that they still need to complete some final documents as well as a medical before the deal can be made official. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer and Technical Director Chris Henderson said pretty much the same thing along the lines, saying that nothings official yet.

Hopefully this deal will be completed soon. Of course it's only a one-year developmental contract, but I think Cato will stick around longer than that. He's an exciting young player with a ton of potential. I mean, I haven't seen him, but Hanauer has seen him, Henderson has seen him and the coaching staff have seen him play obviously because he was on trial, so they know a lot more than I do, but hearing what Cato brings, I think he's gonna be an exciting player to watch in the future. I'll have more information about this deal soon when it's officially completed.

By Money Mike



The Seattle Sounders earlier today have signed their first player this offseason. The Sounders acquired Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning who, in case you guys didn't know, actually visited Seattle during the summer. Gspurning spent four days here in Seattle last summer, checking out the city as a possible destination after his contract with Greek club Skoda Xanthi was due to expire on December 31. Gspurning also attended Seattle's Champions League preliminary round match against San Francisco FC. After his four day visit in the Emerald City and the fact that he lost his starting job at Skoda Xanthi, Gspurning felt like he had to sign with Seattle. The 30-year old goalkeeper will officially join the club in January on a multi-year deal following the end of his contract with Skoda and an International Transfer Clearance.

Gspurning began his career in Austria Wein's youth system before being promoted to the senior side in 2000, however he never made an appearance for them. He moved to DSV Leoben in 2001 and spent three seasons there. He made 62 appearances during his say with Leoben before moving to ASKO Pasching where he spent two seasons as a backup making only seven league appearances for them as well as a few UEFA Cup appearances. Gspurning left Pasching in 2007 to join Skoda Xanthi in Greece. In his four seasons, before losing his starting job, Gspurning made 89 appearances and currently holds the Greek SuperLeague record for the longest road shutout streak at eight. Gspurning so far has capped three times for the Austrian national team.


Thoughts on this move:

Good move. With Kasey Keller and Terry Boss retiring and the fact that Josh Ford and Bryan Meredith were rookies and aren't quite ready to become a starter at this level, the best option was to sign Gspurning who is a solid goalkeeper and a good penalty-stopper. And again, Gspurning thought it was the best option for him to sign with the Sounders after his four day visit last summer. Good move by the Sounders front office, who have done a great job bringing in new players and making this team stronger and more competitive.

By Money Mike


The Expansion Draft took place today with the Montreal Impact joining Major League Soccer in 2012. The Seattle Sounders yet again lose a key player. As a matter of fact, they lose two key players. The Montreal Impact selected James Riley before trading him immediately to Chivas USA in exchange for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen. The Impact also acquired left back Tyson Wahl from the Sounders for allocation money, which can be used to buy down player salaries in relation to the salary cap. Former Sounder midfielder Sanna Nyassi was also taken by Montreal in the Expansion Draft. If all the speculation is true, it looks like there is another trade involving the Sounders and the Montreal Impact with Miguel Montano heading to Montreal, but there is no information at this point.

Riley joined the Seattle Sounders in 2009 having been selected by them in the Expansion draft. In his three years here, Riley made a total of 84 league appearances and scored one goal and assisted on nine others. He was voted Defender of the Year for the club and was also voted the clubs Humanitarian of the Year the past two seasons for his contributions in the community. Riley became a fan favorite here in Seattle for all of his hard work not only on the pitch, but in the community as well. With him gone, the Sounders also lose that veteran approach that Riley brought to the team. Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said that there are going to be some changes defensively, but I didn't see this being one of them nor did the rest of the Sounder nation here in Seattle.

Wahl was another Sounder selected in the Expansion draft prior to the 2009 season. He's received some critisism from fans about his work rate a few times during the 2011 season, but you can't deny the fact that he was the most improved player on this Sounders team during the 2011 season making 23 appearances, scoring one goal and two assists. He got more playing time in 2011 than he did in his first two seasons combined here in Seattle and he got more playing time here in Seattle than he did in his three seasons with the Kansas City Wizards. This guy emerged as a weapon with dangerous crosses on set pieces. Another huge loss defensively for the Sounders.


Thoughts on Riley and Wahl leaving/Who do you go after in the transfer window?

In all honesty, I'm upset about these two guys leaving the Sounders after all the hard work on the pitch. The positive sign is that these two had a combined salary of $150,000 in 2011, so the departure of these two should give the Sounders more money to spend during the offseason.

Now there have been a couple of questions regarding home-grown talent. If you want to look for a replacement at right back, draft DeAndre Yedlin who, of course, is a defender and obviously a big deal with the University of Akron. In case you guys haven't kept track of the Sounders FC Academy, Yedlin is a native of Seattle who spent a couple years in the Sounders youth system. Yes he's only a freshman at Akron, but how often do you see a freshman defender make 22 appearances with one goal and six assists? How often do you see stats like that. I think he should enter the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and I think the Sounders should draft him in the first round. If you want a find somebody at right back, get somebody who has been in you're youth system, who knows about the team, and has prooven himself that he's ready to take his game to the next level.

Now with Wahl gone as well, who do you replace at left back? There was a rumor a week ago about Joachim Thomassen signing with the club. He's listed as a midfielder, but he can also play left back. So with Tyson Wahl now with Montreal, maybe the Sounders should consider picking up Thomassen.

By Money Mike



Ever since Blaise Nkufo was released, the Sounders have pretty much had their struggles up front. GM Adrian Hanauer said that the Sounders will pick up a striker during the international transfer period for MLS. We had Cilian Sheridan on trial in the hope of acquiring him on loan, but he didn't like the offer and then he went to Portland and he was close to signing with them on loan, but the deal fell through at the last second so he's now in Scotland with St. Johnstone F.C. We were in talks with Djibril Cisse, but he ended up joining Italian side Lazio. I don't know what happened that resulted in a failure to sign Prince Tagoue. When the transfer period closed a couple weeks ago, the Sounders came away with nothing. Now today, all prayers have finally been answered, the Seattle Sounders swapped Allocation ranking spots and also traded their Third-round pick of next years MLS SuperDraft to the Chicago Fire to pick up former U.S. U-20 forward Sammy Ochoa. After Chivas USA, the Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC said no to the 24-year old striker, the Chicago Fire were next in line at no. 4, so had the Sounders, who were no. 6 in the Allocation ranking, not swapped positions, Ochoa possibly would've ended up in Chicago (or maybe they would've passed). With this pick-up, Seattle now drops to the bottom of the Allocation ranking, which is no big deal, it's not like they'll go bankrupt for that. This is probably the third time this year that Chivas USA were first in line to picked up a player via Allocation. They said no to Benny Feilhaber, who was later picked up by the New England Revolution, and they said no to Freddy Adu, who is now with the Philadelphia Union.

Ochoa began his career in Mexico with Estudiantes Tecos in 2006 and played for them until the end of last season. So he was there for five years, and you have to question why he only played 27 matches and scored only two goals for the club. You can see they barely gave him a chance. Ochoa trained with the Sounders a couple months ago and he scored in a reserve match against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was a member of the U.S. U-20 national team at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, who were coached by the current leader of the Sounders, Sigi Schmid.

Born in Mexico, Ochoa moved to Riverside, California and attended Riverside Poly High School. He is the younger brother of Jesus Ochoa who plays for USL club LA Blues and was part of LA Galaxy's MLS Cup Championship team in 2002.


My thoughts on this move:

When Ochoa signed with Major League Soccer back on Wednesday, the first comment came from a Sounders fan via Facebook. This person said, "3 goals in 5 years? No thank you." I disagreed with that statement. This guy has full potential that he has still yet to show. Sigi knows about this kid because he coached him at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Considering the fact that we have failed to acquire a forward during the transfer period, Ochoa was probably our best option. If it involved losing a draft pick or maybe even a player, so be it. This is a good pick up, I think he's gonna fit in very well with this team and score a lot of goals.

Right now, we currently have 30 players on our roster plus Miguel Montano who is currently on loan with the Montreal Impact in the North American Soccer League. I'm pretty sure Montano isn't expected to return until the end of the NASL season which is late September-early October, bottom line is, add him, that makes 31 players in total, which is one over the limit, so there's a chance that one of our players could be on their way out. Will it be Montero? No. Rosales? NADA. Fernandez? No way. I don't know who will be packing when Miguel Montano returns, but I'm pretty sure it could be Taylor Graham or Mike Seamon. I got a pretty bad feeling that David Estrada might be sent packing. But again, a good pick up for the Seattle Sounders.

By Money Mike