Major Link Soccer - All Dried Out Edition

by Dizzo on May 17, 2011 11:00 AM PDT in Sounders: MLS Regular Season

I hope everyone is dried out from the storms drenching Qwest field this weekend. The 1-1 tie against the Portland Timbers was a bit of a let-down for sure, but it was a decent result considering the huge hit injuries have had on the Seattle Sounders. One thing that certainly wasn't a let down was the massive tifo put together by the ECS for the match. Assistant coach and former USL Sounder head coach Brian Schmetezer, who would love to buy everyone in ECS a beer for their hard work. Top of the list is Rob Scott, director of tifo for ECS, whom deserves a huge amount of credit for getting the tifo put together. Scott estimates the tifo took about 26,000 square feet of cloth and roughly 3,200 man hours of work.

You can catch video and photo highlights of the game as well as video of the march to the match. There are also photos from the Sounders Reserve match.

A Special Visit for Alonso: Four years ago Osvaldo Alonso made a risky decision. The young midfielder walked out of a Houston department store and in the process left everything behind including his friends and family back in Cuba. Since the decision to defect, the young Cuban gotten married, started a family and been the rock of Seattle's midfield. This weekend must have felt like the culmination of all his hard work as his grandparents were able to leave Cuba to visit their grandson. They were just two in a crowd of thousands, but I'm sure their presence meant the world to Alonso.

Fernandez Called Up: The recent contributions of Alvaro Fernandez for the Sounders haven't gone unnoticed back in his native country of Uruguay. The Uruguayan national team looks like they plan to call up Fernandez for an international friendly on May 29th against Germany. The game is a warm-up for the upcoming Copa America tournament.

Beasley Considering MLS Move: USMNT midfielder DeMarcus Beasley is supposedly considering a move back to MLS. Beasley's career has stalled in Europe and is considering returning to North America to get it started again. Chivas USA would be the first in line for Beasley's services should he return to the U.S.

Injuries Strike DCU Front-line: The injury bug hit DC United this weekend during their 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids. Strikers Charlie Davies and Josh Wolf both left early in the first half with injuries and will likely be out of action for a couple of weeks. DCU midfielder and designated player Branko Boskovic underwent ACL surgery yesterday and will likely be out 6 months.

Columbus Sign HGP: The Columbus Crew have joined the growing list of teams signing home-grown players. Forward Aaron Horton, who spent one season at the University of Louisville, will join the Crew as their first home-grown player. Seattle, Portland and San Jose are the only teams in MLS whom haven't signed a home-grown player.

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HGP

Just curious, which player would be most likely to sign as the first HGP for Seattle and what’s their game like?

by Jackington on May 17, 2011 11:30 AM PDT reply actions

There's been a lot of speculation that Seattle is close to signing a HGP

A name that a lot of people have floated as a first HGP is DeAndre Yedlin. He’s a great, young RB that likes to get forward. He would fill a position where the Sounders don’t have much, if any, depth. I thought the Sounders decision not to draft a RB during the draft was a signal that they view Yedlin as the future of the club at that spot. However, Yedlin was accepted into the University of Akron. He’ll probably get regular playing time there and Caleb Porter does an excellent job of preparing players for MLS. It might be smart for both the Sounders and Yedlin if he spends a year or two at Akron improving his game.

Sean Okoli is another player who could make the jump to the Sounders. He’s a striker with decent size and has gotten call-ups for the U-18 team. We could probably use some more depth at striker with all the injuries we have. Still, I don’t know if he would be ready for anything more than some sub appearances in the Open Cup and Reserve games. He’s slatted to go to Wake Forest for school which is also a good program if not on the same level as Akron.

I’m sure there are others, but those are the two that come immediately to mind due to the team’s needs and their strong performances.

by Dizzo on May 17, 2011 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

O'dea lost to Glacier Peak last night

So hopefully we will get to see him in the reserves game this weekend.

by TheTank123 on May 18, 2011 8:22 AM PDT up reply actions

It would be cool to see Yedlin play

I’m sure they’d much rather give Yedlin some time with the reserves than play a guest just to fill that RB slot. It’s a shame though that his team got knocked out early.

by Dizzo on May 18, 2011 9:34 AM PDT up reply actions

Beasley

I really hope DeMarcus does come home. People forget how much potential he was showing before getting off track with injuries.

by Derek Young on May 17, 2011 11:40 AM PDT reply actions

I have the opposite problem--I remember him and Landycakes as the young gems of the '02 World Cup, and know little about his stalling out.

He’d probably generate some buzz if he comes back. I wonder if Chivas would spend the money to get him. It’d be kind of neat if he fell all the way back to Chicago in the allocation order.

by yuniform on May 17, 2011 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Who was it that VAN signed?

by agtk on May 17, 2011 4:17 PM PDT reply actions

I believe it was Russell Teibert

He played for their academy team. He’s been phenomenal playing on the wing for them.

by Dizzo on May 17, 2011 4:38 PM PDT up reply actions

That's the difference that Montreal and Vancouver have

they have Academies already.

It actually should be a requirement for every expansion team to start an Academy at least two years out.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on May 17, 2011 4:48 PM PDT up reply actions

That would limit expansion options considerably

For example, I doubt the Union could have put together an academy team before joining MLS since they didn’t have a NASL team to act as an organizational focus. They still don’t have a proper academy team preferring to work in partnership with local development clubs like FC Delco. I think the NY Cosmos have an academy should they be able to pull together the financial backers needed for a proper bid for the 20th spot. I can’t think of any others that would be able to do it.

by Dizzo on May 17, 2011 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions

It doesn't limit MLB when they expand

Arizona started their minor league system several years before joining bigs

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on May 17, 2011 5:23 PM PDT up reply actions

im so happy for alonso!

and his grandparents can stay up until october! it will be a much needed visit for both alonso and his grandparents

by Sandra_R on May 17, 2011 5:58 PM PDT reply actions

Did you see the comments from John Spencer?

He is calling out the Sounders for whining. So, what is his solution? To whine even more.

This is my favorite of the several quotes he had. “It was like they had 50 excuses written down before the game about why they didn’t beat us three- or four-nil at home,” Spencer said. “Of the four players [Schmid] mentioned, three of them wouldn’t have made the [starting] team anyway.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundersfcblog/2015079487_john_spencer_blasts_sounders_f.html

by Coug1990 on May 17, 2011 7:36 PM PDT reply actions