In all the hoopla surrounding the Seattle Sounders offseason moves, there has been one player that seems to have flown under the radar more than any other: Servando Carrasco. During the midfielder's rookie season, he became better known for the person he was dating than anything he did on the field. But that's probably unfair, and something that could very well change this year.

While it wasn't a perfect season -- Carrasco's most memorable moment was probably a tackle on Chicago Fire midfielder Patrick Nyarko that earned him a retroactive red card -- the Sounders did go 4-1-2 during the seven games he started. He showed himself to be a hard-nosed player that was capable of some nice, long passes, but also tended to butt up against the line of aggressive and out of control.

With central midfielder looking to be one of the Sounders' most shallow positions -- only Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso have played there extensively -- Carrasco is poised to be see even more of a featured role this year. His biggest area for improvement was probably the speed with which he makes decisions. He also tended to drift into the similar space as Alonso, which left the Sounders open to counter-attacks. Still, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid seems to think he can be a useful player, even if his skill set can seem redundant when he's paired with Alonso.

"He’s somebody who’s a little more comfortable playing deeper," Schmid said. "I know he’ll say ‘hey I can do the other role as well’ but one of his big strengths is his ability to open the game up. He’s a good striker of a long ball. He has that vision to find the wingers on the far side of the field. When he’s in that deeper position that allows that strength to show through a little more."

Having something to prove seems to suit Carrasco just fine.

"You just have to come out here and fight everyday," Carrasco said. "Nothing is for granted. You have guys coming in here who are in their rookie season who are hungry to play. You have to be prepared to compete with those kind of players and you have to use that to improve."

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The beep test is a progression of short runs where the testee is to pace themselves to turn on the beep, not faster, not slower. It tests not speed, but endurance, and today a few players showed quite well. Andy Rose and David Estrada each won their heats, while Mike Seamon and Cordell Cato came in second in their rounds. Seamon said later he was third overall. Like most work in Seattle Sounders FC's preseason camps, there is a competitive nature to things, but Dave Tenney made clear that part of this exercise is to establish a baseline for other fitness work over the next couple weeks.

A lot of guys, their starting points are a lot better than they were last year. I think that's a testament that those voluntary workouts that we were doing at the beginning of January that you could see them pay dividends from that.

Dave Tenney said those voluntary weeks of training are like Europe's first couple weeks of official training he mentioned last week. He said as well that they have to bring in players that have the right base of training so they can do the rest of the work with the team. The beep test is a solid judge of fitness for midfielders, but not the best way to judge forwards and centerbacks.

Coach Sigi Schmid said that the performance today will help guide the team's plan for a couple players over next few weeks.

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One of the issues with depth charts and roster math is how to place players who can fill many roles. With Adam Johansson in Qatar for the opening of training camp, Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid gets to test a bunch of different options at the right back role. One thing quickly clear when asked was who the leader in that role is:

Obviously Zach Scott is somebody who can play there. So we know he can always push out there and play, so it gives us a chance to look at some other guys at center back—[Andrew] Duran and [Tim] Pontius. We’ll probably look at Duran at outside, as well, because he’s shown that he can play right back. We’re looking at Roger Levesque back there still because he’s done an adequate job and he’s always been the guy that’s sort of been that answer to any question. Do we need a forward? Do we need a midfielder? What do we need? Roger’s always willing to jump and do the job …and he looks very comfortable at right back right now, more comfortable than he was last year when he first started doing it.

There's other depth that's being tested there as well. Both David Estrada and Amadou Sanyang filled in at times. Each provide a different style of utility player. In Estrada you get a kind of young Levesque--high energy, converted attacking player, on ball skills. In Sanyang's brief moments of play he's been a defensive stopper. His experiences as a defensive mid and center back make him more like a Scott.

Estrada at practice today gave a very Levesque answer when asked about his role flexibility, which last year included time as a CAM with the Reserves:

I try to get as much as I can from each position. If I'm going to play that's what I'm going to do; to be able to be consistent and add to the team.

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The United States is running out of chances to find some solid form before World Cup qualifying starts in summer. Tonight, they take on a Panamanian team they really should beat and they will be returning to the 4-4-2 that Jurgen Klinsmann has seemed so intent on doing away with. Chris Wondolowski will start alongside Teal Bunbury at forward.

Neither Jeff Parke nor Brad Evans are in the starting lineup, but they will likely be on the bench. It looks like Klinsmann is going to give Michael Parkhurst and Geoff Cameron a second look at center back, which makes sense after their strong performance against Venezuela. Ricardo Clark will start with Jermaine Jones in the central midfield.

Enjoy

Panama starters: Mejía; Algandona, Dasent, Vázquez, Rodríguez; Waithe, Sánchez, Gómez, Quintero; Rentería, Pérez.

United Sates starters: Rimando; DeLaGarza, Parkhurst, Cameron, Loyd; Zusi, Clark, Jones (capt.), Shea; Wondolowski, Bunbury

The Seattle Sounders have added a PDL team to their youth development program, partnering with the Tacoma Tide and rebranding the team as Sounders FC U-23. The team will be coached by current Sounders academy director Darren Sawatzky and play somewhere in Pierce County, although a permanent home has not yet been determined.

"The intent is to fill one of the gaps in development that we felt we had at this time," Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said. "Most importantly for us, it's to bring some of our academy grads who are in university back for the summer so we can observe them, maybe train a day or two with the first team and to just keep tabs on those players."

"Secondarily, there's the potential that a player who doesn't make our team can stay in the area and train and get games with a PDL organization and keep tabs on them."

Hanauer noted that while the U-23 team will be fully amateur, meaning that players can not be paid, the Sounders host several youth camps that could help supplement any non-soccer income players may be receiving. More likely, the team will be heavily stocked with the likes of former Sounders Academy players such as DeAndre Yedlin (Akron), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest), Nick Palodichuk (Duke), Ryan Herman (Santa Clara) and Troy Peterson (College of Charleston).

"For a lot of these guys it's a place they can come back to," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "It's also an opportunity to watch other college players play some of their summer soccer. It becomes a logical progression, it bridges that gap from the Academy teams to MLS and becomes a great enhancement for the college players."