Sounders Camp Opens with Four Potential Roster Battles
by Dave Clark on Jan 24, 2011 8:21 PM PST
in Sounders: MLS Regular Season
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With training camp opening to the general media (that includes us) there will be plenty of interviews with the newer players. The team will get to reacquaint itself/each other with their methodology, the lack of significant churn means that most of the likely 18 are players who have been on the roster for at least a year. There will certainly be fierce battles for the end of the bench, but the thing is there are some questions in fandom as to who will be starting.
Over the next two months there will be games, scrimmages and general practices that will start to define the direction of the team in the early months of the 2011 quest for a treble. So as we pay attention to the preseason here are the contests for starting roles.
Center Mid - The "Not Alonso" role will be contested by newcomer Eric Friberg, designated player Alvaro Fernandez and now healthy Brad Evans. Who ever wins this will be expected to be both an offensive and defensive player at the same time. All three are capable of starting. Over these next weeks watch to see which of these men start most often, where and what they add that the others do not.
Right Wing - Basically the same set of men as above, except there may be the off chance that Mike Fucito gets the chance to be a second inverted winger opposite of Zakuani. He also displayed in his late season opportunities the ability to provide some set-play service.
Left Back - Sigi likes his attacking fullbacks. We see it in James Riley on the right, and early in Leo Gonzalez' time in Seattle we saw it quite a bit. Somehow after scoring a goal we saw less of attacking Leo. He's also lost a bit of his ability to defend one-on-one. Challenging the Costa Rican national will be two of Seattle's off-season additions. Michael Tetteh will get forward even more than Leo or James do, but probably lacks some defense as he's converting towards defense. Danny Earls might not have been the best left back with Colorado but the youngster did get 15 starts and over 1400 minutes.
Centerback - While Julien Baudett won't be starting in camp this week, he probably was not going to challenge any of the three quality starters that Seattle has. Sure there are questions about the health of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, particularly concerning when he'll be 100%, but if he's 90% he's one of the better defensive players in the league. Which of the other two options partner with the Colombian. Jeff Parke and Patrick Ianni may find that they platoon as either can be a non-league player at RB or CDM.
Oddly enough with the rest of the likely starters, and the backup keeper likely to be Terry Boss Seattle has 17 of their 18 settled. Who takes that last spot will be competitive, but will have less influence on matches won than the decisions on those four starting roles.
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What happened to the Kufo Jaqua Debate?
Or was that only over who should be protected? With them both coming back, is Blaise the clear superior option? I tend to think: yes, but maybe I was seeing different things last year.
That
was mostly over who should be protected during the expansion draft.
I don't think there's any debate over who is the primary starter
You don’t DP a bench player. Despite the fact that the Sounders did that with Alvaro, but that likely had more to do with a mid-season joining than a judgement of talent.
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I agree with this comment Dave...
but how can you then have Fernandez challenging for a role this year? Isn’t that center mid spot his as a DP, now that he’s here from the start of the season?
There's only 1 midfield spot to fight for
I think Fernandez, Alonso and Zakuani will all start (baring injuries). That leaves one midfield spot. My guess is Brad Evans takes the last midfield spot probably at center mid.
by Dizzo on Jan 24, 2011 9:25 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
i agree
but i think they might be cautious with evans (like hurtado) and bring them back slowly and I wouldnt be surprised if by the start of the season they still arent starting.
that's how I've wrapped my brain around it
- If Flaco plays wide, then likely Evans and/or Friberg in the center with Alonso.
- If Flaco plays in the middle, then likely Fucito out wide.
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Are you accounting for Jaqua in your 17 of 18 spots?
Just because this post may not contain a pun, I have not surrendered my pun-alienable rights.
No
While I think he could be in the 18 regularly, I expect him to start 100% of non-League matches.
But he could be the 18th.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Do the Sounders need to have 2 Target Forwards in the 18
So that if Nkufo is hurt in a match or needs to be spelled, there is still one in the match?
I don't think the need for 2 TFs is that drastic
I don’t think Jaqua will be in the 18 simply because he is a TF to spell Nkufo, but only because he is one of the best 18. Whereas you generally NEED a backup keeper, there are plenty of shifts the Sounders could make to adjust to a game w/o a target forward and still be successful.
Fucito with late-game speed and creativity
Roger with persistence and pressure
Friberg/Evans in a shift to a semi 4-5-1, hoping to build w/o hold-up play
Parke as CB, Ianni to Mid, Alonso pushing offensively
Of course, as we saw last year, the Sounders are substantially more successful WITH a TF than without one, but we also saw some limited success at times without one. If Nkufo gets injured, I fully expect Jaqua to see plenty of time in league play, but I don’t think we keep him in the 18 simply because he is TF insurance.
I think we'll see OBW in the 18
I think we’ll see O’Brien White get into the 18 for both league and CCL games quite even if he doesn’t get on the field too often. He’ll get his 30 minutes as Sigi’s regular sub at the 60th minute mark to help keep Nkufo and Jaqua fresh.
by Dizzo on Jan 25, 2011 12:42 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
So two out of three make the 18 sort of situation?
I think you are stealing minutes from the legend of Fucito with that pick.
That’s my guess. I’m personally optimistic about OBW. I think a combination of injuries and the general disfunction of Toronto did him in. He’s in a much better situation here and don’t see any reason he can’t provide meaningful minutes off the bench.
by Dizzo on Jan 25, 2011 3:16 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
From the Did you know file
OBW and Josh Ford played together
Ford interview up probably tomorrow AM
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Sounder At Heart
I honestly hope he turns out to be of good enough quality
that he’ll be in the 18 multiple times this season. I’m not sure I see that happening yet, though. He’ll see some reserve game action and probably some fill-in time, especially while Jaqua is still injured, but he hasn’t been all that impressive to date.
All soccer players look worse in Toronto. It’s like a funhouse mirror that makes objects look crappier than they really are…
by Dizzo on Jan 25, 2011 3:18 PM PST via mobile up reply actions 3 recs
It's not about the talent
The offense needs to find chemistry. DP, not DP, it doesn’t matter. What ever finds the spark on the field is who will start. I’m really hopeful that Fernandez can settle in this year. He showed real sparks of creativity on and off the ball last year. If we can get that on a consitant basis this year, the sky is really the limit.
If he's a bench player this year it is enourmous waste of Cap space and a limited resource
So while it won’t matter for game-to-game decisions, Alvaro not starting would be an indictment against the organization.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
If that's the case
If that’s the case, isn’t not having Jaqua on the 18 man roster pretty bad too? I think his 2010 salary was $238k….that’s a pretty hefty chunk of cash for a non-starter :~/.
I think Dave's point is that Fernandez takes up 3 limited resources while Jaqua only takes up one
Fernandez takes up a DP slot, Salary, and an International slot.
Jaqua just takes up Salary.
I would expect both to play a large amount this year, Fernandez as a regular starter and Jaqua as a non-MLS starter and MLS sub.
i feel like jaqua is going to get a pay cut this year
last year when we started the season jaqua was our starter in target forward. so when his contract was made he was a starter.
I'm pretty sure Jaqua took a pay cut
If I remember correctly he was making $150,000 the last time MLS salaries were released to the public.
by Dizzo on Jan 25, 2011 1:21 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I do not think I would go as far as say it was an "indictment against the organization."
Scouting is an inexact science. What I think would be an “indictment against the organization” is if Fernandez doesn’t adapt to MLS and be worthy of his salary and DP status, they do not correct the mistake quickly and move onto another player.
Other thing
If I remember right, the main reason Fernandez is a DP is because of his transfer fee. If say his initial contract was only 1.5 years (since he came in the middle of last year), then correct me if I’m wrong, but the transfer fee would then be eaten up, which might let us take the DP designation off of him?
its a little more nuanced that some of these comments are making it out to be
its isn’t a matter of “starters and backups” its more a matter of “regulars and reserves”. What we are going to see is a typical of the squad rotations you see at some of the bigger European clubs. Injuries will happen. Suspensions will happen. 3 matches in a week will happen. Jaqua is going to get regular time with this team. Fernandez will get regular time with this team (probably at more than one position). Fucito will get regular time with this team, as will Evans and Friberg. What we are going to learn between now and May (yes, May) is how it all fits together…
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
by malcontentjake on Jan 25, 2011 9:54 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
All good points Jake
I think there will be several full time starters (Montero, Zakuani, etc.), and several interchangeable starters (Evans, Friberg, etc.) from game to game. I believe this team really wants to do well in all three competitions and will substitute freely this year to stay fit the entire season and then pare it down to the main starters at the end of the competitions.
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