Steve Kelley: To win titles, teams have to gamble during the trading season

Steve Kelley takes, in my opinion, a very accurate perspective of what the Sounders are doing, and just how big of a gamble this is. It's not about Fucito v. Montero, it's about Fucito & Montero et al. v. Eddie & Montero et al.

"In their three seasons here, the Sounders really have had only two players who consistently were willing to make runs for Montero — Fucito and Nate Jaqua. Both are gone.

When they made those runs, Jaqua and Fucito pulled centerbacks away from the goal and created space for Montero to work his magic. With space, Montero is as lethal as any player in the league.

But will Johnson be as willing to run for Montero as Jaqua and Fucito were, or in his quest to impress national coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will he be all about goal scoring? Will he come to Seattle because he wants to win games, or because he wants to win a spot on the national team?"

3 months ago agtk 6 comments 1 recs |

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I appreciate that Steve is taking the time to educate himself about the game and the team.

He’s still off on a few things though. Describing Montero and Nkufo’s on field styles as “oil and water” isn’t really accurate. As I recall the arrival of Nkufo resulted in greatly improved performances from Montero, due to Nkufo’s passing and vision in the attacking third.

Again, good read and definitely nice to see Steve getting into the team a little bit.

by moyerLIVES on Feb 19, 2012 9:03 PM PST reply actions

My thoughts as well...

I know Nkufo left a bad taste in people’s mouths by the manner of his leaving, but I also recall Fredy having a bad first half of that season (people here were ripping him apart and calling for him to be dropped from the starting XI), and only began to reach his season’s peak when Blaise was on the field with him. Likewise, praising the Montero-Jaqua partnership seems only credible if you stopped watching after the 2009 season.

by regnaD kciN on Feb 19, 2012 10:10 PM PST up reply actions

apart from the ending...

how did you enjoy the play, mrs. lincoln?

by nimajneb on Feb 19, 2012 10:16 PM PST up reply actions

Well, isn't it the case that Nkufo left because he didn't want to play exactly that type of role?

Although, I recall him actually being pretty good at it when he was here.

by quacker27 on Feb 20, 2012 1:55 PM PST up reply actions

Leave it to Steve Kelley to make goal-scoring sound like a flaw

And do we really care about EJ’s motivation to score said goals? Goals are goals, I could care less if it’s for winning or to be the last thing Klinsmann thinks about when he goes to bed.

You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. Our yachts are all around you, there is no escape.

by 108Ultra on Feb 21, 2012 10:41 AM PST reply actions

I agree

I think what he’s trying to say is will EJ be snatching at any chance trying to score and miss out on playing a better pass. Still, I don’t see how making runs and scoring goals are opposites. Isn’t the purpose of a good run to get the ball at the end of it and score? It’s like he considers movement from a forward similar to setting a screen in basketball.

by connorb3 on Feb 21, 2012 5:15 PM PST up reply actions