Considering that SSFC has an open slot and Fucito and Karkas are not on the roster, I don’t think that they appear to be in the teams long range plans.

However, I never followed MLS before this year. I understand that SSFC still holds the rights to both. If Karkas for example, had been added to the roster and subsequently in July, the team added a player (let’s say an international free agent) and needed to free up a roster slot and released Karkas, would Seattle still hold his rights?

If not, that could be the reason that neither are on the roster.

I say we get Roberto Carlos and clone a younger version of him. He’d have everything we need: a fast wingback with a good free kick.

Also, let’s get a pony.

Seriously though, a player in the Roberto Carlos mold would be perfect for us.

Coug, the rights are only held until they are signed. A release would set them free. But both were/are finishing up school – Fucito at Harvard, Karkas at Azusa Pacific. Both players joined the team during their last spring break even. I will have more about Jared Karkas this week, as I caught up with him.

Carlos, I love the Roberto Carlos idea, well except for his price. Adu fits your mold for a kick taker by the way. Any interest in him for the RW? That would improve depth at Forward as well.

With the IR there are between 1 and 3 slots available, though some of those will disappear as Eylander, Graham and J.Smith get healthy.

Thanks Dave. I think then, the major reason that they haven’t been signed it to keep the teams options open. I don’t think either is ready to play this year. By not signing them, they are to borrow a college term, “redshirting” them. They will probably challenge for spots on next seasons teams.

Fucito would have been a top 20 pick if he hadn’t had the hammy issue, then again, he gets a degree from Harvard on June 4th. Would you pass that up for an MLS minimum?

But either of these guys provides deep cover, which while Seattle could use, isn’t going to push them to make a run for the 2009 triple.

Yeah, I don’t like the idea of paying big bucks for Roberto Carlos; I like the idea of signing a very fast left back with a killer free kick. Roberto Carlos himself probably wouldn’t be value for money.

I have to confess I don’t know enough about Adu’s play to really have an opinion one way or the other. If he’s really a clear cut upgrade in the free kick department, then it might be worth taking him. As you know, I really think free kicks are our biggest need right now. If we have someone who can consistently put the ball on frame from 30 yards in then the current game plan for playing us goes straight to hell. The top teams in MLS have good goalkeepers, but giving a team a bunch of free shots on goal is really testing your luck. For example, if we had a truly exceptional free kick taker, then I think we come out of the Chivas game with at least a point, if not three.

As for RW, if I’m understanding you correctly, he’d replace Seba, who would rotate in at forward? I like the idea of Seba playing forward, so anything that helps that to happen would be a good thing.

Adu could play a withdrawn forward, rightwing (not mid, basically a rightsided Zakuani) or center attacking mid. His kick on setpieces is potent.

While it would likely push Seba to the bench it would mean that the depth at forward and mid gets stronger.

That sounds good to me. While I think he’s starter quality, I think Seba could be our Super Sub and could imagine him coming on for Jaqua or Montero in the second half to run tired defenses to death. That could be huge in helping us either kill games off, or rally back if we’re down.

The Man Who Takes Every Free Kick as a Penalty

What do you think the price on Juninho would be? According to Wikipedia, he has requested to become a free agent.

Here’s the link again, since somehow the comment engine mangled it:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-ldeStp0-xGg/the_man_who_takes_freekick_as_penalty_kick/

Ah, Juninho Pernambucano. Now, there’s a dream signing for any team.

I think his price would be very, very high. His skills aren’t exactly a secret and there are a lot of teams who would pay a lot of money to sign the best free kick taker in the world. He’s a huge insurance policy against rough play. Foul too much and you could be watching the ball sail into your goal, even from over forty yards away. If I remember correctly, Juninho’s longest goal from a free kick was from 52.5 yards away. That’s just mind-blowing.

Signing him might not be an impossibility, but it would be extremely difficult, and in no way realistic. First we’d have to somehow acquire a second DP slot, because there’s no way that we’d get him for a regular MLS salary. We have almost enough room for a second DP, but we might have to juggle some things around. Then we’d need to somehow convince him to play for us when he could play pretty much anywhere in the world. I think Paul Allen would have to write a very large check.

Having said all that, if he somehow managed to sign Juninho Pernambucano, then I think I would need to start a new religion to worship Adrian Hanauer. The man would have proved beyond a doubt he’s a god.

Wow, to say I didnt just wet my pants thinking of Adu playing for the Sounders would be an out right lie. Freddy Adu is phenomenal! If anyone hasnt seen this guy play yet, just look on youtube for him working every national team hes played against. Do you think a signing like this is even being looked at? Or is it just a nice thought? If it’s possible, sign me up! This guy would add so much to our attacking presence, he would surely be a fan favorite! Ok ok, (inhale, exhale) I’m done.

Letting myself get a little optimistic here, it seems like Juninho could be possible (even if very unlikely). Assuming that the high end of Dave’s numbers are right and we have ~350k available under the cap, we’re only 75k away from the 415k hit that a designated player makes against the salary cap.

I don’t know what’s involved in trading for a DP spot, but if we were able to get one, it seems like a high DP salary amount over the 415k would be possible, since the only real limit would be on available cash. With its attendance, Seattle must be pulling in a lot of money — I’ve heard we’re projected to be profitable already this year.
I’d think this means it’d be possible to get up towards 10M for a DP. (I could be very wrong.)

Juninho is 34 now, so he’s unlikely to be picked up by anyone in La Liga or the EPL. He’s said himself he’s likely to go to Vasco da Gama in Brazil, Qatar, or maybe Japan.

http://www.imscouting.com/global_news_item.aspx?id=1663

What are the salaries like for big players in those leagues?

I was able to find out that Juninho’s 2008 contract was worth €4.56m, which I think comes out to about 6 million USD.

http://lyon.theoffside.com/player-news-and-rumors/top-50-football-player-salaries-in-the-world.html

So, not likely, but, pretty possible?

It’d make for an incredible addition in playoffs! That’d be exciting.

Actually, I didn’t realize that a 2nd DP only counts 335,000 against the salary cap… and I heard elsewhere Seattle was rumored to be looking for a 2nd DP spot.

Seems like a 2nd DP could be quite realistic.

I am not 100% on this, but I thought I remember reading before the season that a 1st DP counts as $400,000 against the cap and a 2nd DP slot counts as $250,000 against the cap. Perhaps Dave can ask his contacts at SSFC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_Player_Rule

That says 1st counts $415,000; 2nd $335,000

A second half of season DP may count for only half that value (Beckham’s loaner reduced the cap hit).

It would take a trade with one of the teams that has no DP though in order to get the slot.

The big question would be who could we talk into a deal? Here’s the list of DPless clubs (in current league position order):

Chivas USA
Toronto FC
Colorado
Kansas City
Houston
Real Salt Lake
New England
FC Dallas
San Jose

No one with serious playoff aspirations would agree to give us a second DP slot: they could be completely screwing themselves over in the playoffs if we acquired a player like Juninho. That means you could probably scratch off everybody above New England for sure. That leaves New England, FC Dallas, and San Jose. I think New England is still iffy because I don’t know if they’d throw in the towel early.

That leeaves Dallas or San Jose as the most realistic targets for a trade for their DP slot, but then what do we give them? I’d love to say Vagenas, but that’s not going to happen. I’m not familiar enough with what those teams need to know what we have that they might want.

Chivas and Salt Lake both have already dealt their DP slots already.

Ah, well. Doesn’t change the picture too much for us, since I don’t think either of those teams would have dealt to us in any case.

I’ll say it again though: if Adrian somehow managed to sign Juninho, I’d start a cult.

Dave,

I might be missing something, but I don’t see your count. Both sites give us 24 players and four development players. Can you explain where we have an extra senior roster spot?

Thanks Dave, for the clarification. Very exciting, because I believe we are lacking a true finisher. Montero is going to be, but is still figuring out the way. I think Ljundberg is a fantastic player, but he is a playmaker. He needs a complimentary player to work his magic. It definitely does not matter how famous the player is, as long as he is either a true finisher, or maybe even a set piece master. I remember reading that the Sounders are the only team in MLS to utilize a sort of computerized form of scouting, through a European company. This company is used by teams, such as Valencia and more. I believe that Hanauer and the Owners, are serious about taking things to another level. If we truly have an open spot and have, or can make enough wiggle room in the cap. I am confident that we will see someone who comands alot of money and will be a huge addition to the team in July. Please, keep posting topics like this and please continue updating us on this particular topic. Best in-depth site around.

Actually, call Beckham the English Juninho. Juninho has played for Lyon since 2001/02. In that time he’s made 344 appearances and scored 100 goals, for a goals per game of 0.29. Beckham played in 326 matches and scored 61, for a gpg of 0.19. That’s around 9 goals in 30 games for Juninho and 6 for Beckham. Add in the fact that Juninho’s scored from beyond 40 meters three times, from 41 meters in 2006, 45 meters in 2007, and 48 meters in 2008. Notice that the trend is getting longer, so he’s probably due for a 50 meter free kick this year. Also note that those numbers are meters, in yards it’s 44.854, 49.23, and 52.512. Since Qwest’s field is 110 yards long, that’s the equivalent of scoring a free kick from almost the halfway line. And note that these are free kicks, where the keeper has all the time in the world to set himself and his defense. Given all that, if I have to pick one, I’d pick Juninho every time.

Now, the question is, is it at all possible to sign him? Our set piece problems would pretty much instantly disappear if we had Juninho and the current strategy for playing the Sounders would instantly become suicide. Dave can probably tell us how many fouls we’ve suffered within 35 yards of the goal. Now imagine converting 20% or more of those free kicks into goals.