Competing for 3 Developmental Slots

by Sounder At Heart on Feb 19, 2009 10:22 AM PST in Major League Soccer Comment 4 comments

There are now 33 players in camp or with MLS rights held by Seattle Sounders FC. Most of those are competing for a Senior Roster slot, one of 20. All players currently under contract EXCEPT Steve Zakuani are currently slotted as Seniors and can not be Developmental Players.

So from the list of guys in camp, who can qualify for the remaining Developmental Slots?

Bojang, Mandou D 20 (11/18/88) Gambia 6-1 165 Ports Authority
16 Brown, Evan D 21 (5/1/87) Raleigh, N.C. 5-11 165 Wake Forest (NCAA)
32 Clark, Jeff F 22 (1/13/87) Yorba Linda, Calif. 5-11 155 Concordia (NAIA)
Forrest, Kevin F 24 (11/3/84) Edmonds, Wash. 5-11 170 Colorado
31 Fucito, Michael M 22 (3/29/86) Westford, Mass. 5-9 165 Harvard (NCAA)
Hurtado, Jhon Kennedy D 24 (5/16/84) Palmira, Colombia 6-0 183 Deportivo Cali (Colo.)
29 Karkas, Jared D 22 (8/7/86) Upland, Calif. 6-0 160 Azusa Pacific (NAIA)
34 Oliveira, Vini F 20 (8/5/88) Edmonds, Wash. 5-11 165 Bellevue (NWAACC)

One or two of those might be good enough to justify a Senior Slot (Hurtado is most likely going to get a Senior Slot), but of those 8 at most 4 will make the club. It is a tough life, but the worst case is that they most have now trialed with an MLS club, possibly even a trip to Argentina out of it.

These young players are competing really for pride, and not money, as the Developmental Player's salary is low, and any of these guys would likely make more money in USL-1 than they would in MLS as a DV player.

Brown has gotten a ton of PT at LB, and so seems likely to be on the roster and a regular if he agrees to the small contract. Karkas and Fucito both had to deal with injuries and so their attempt at making the 24 has been stunted. Oliveira got his shot through the SuperSearch. Bojang and Hurtado are the result of Hanauer's year long search for international talent, while Forrest and Clark have come up through the US collegiate system.

Sometimes the math won't work in our favorite player's favor.
Sometimes it will

Best of luck in the battle for those final places on the roster boys.

A related post is the look I had at playing time in the California section of training. Brown got serious time.

0 recs | Comment 4 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

http://www.soundersfc.com/News/Articles/2009/02-February/Brown-signing.aspx

Evan Brown signed. No word if it is as a Developmental Player or not.

by Dave Clark on Feb 19, 2009 2:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I thought Oliviera won a spot on the team. Does he have to still make the team?

by TL on Feb 19, 2009 9:57 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Turns out that the team has told him that he will have to make the final roster just like any other player. With the decrease in roster size since the SuperSearch announcement it kind of makes sense, but sucks for Vini.

The good news is that he’s fighting for a DevPlayer slot, and so should be judged against this list, and not guys like Jaqua and LeToux.

by Dave Clark on Feb 20, 2009 7:15 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well the super serch say, that it would be a guarantee spot on the roster. What is going on with this business SSFC. thay dont know how to folow up with what thay promissed to Vini Oliveira and the Seattle comunitee, this is going to look realy bad.

by Jonh on Feb 21, 2009 11:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs