Falk sounded off, and has really represented what a majority of fans are thinking. The Sounders haven't done enough in the off-season. They haven't added any names. And yet, is that an indication that they have wasted an opporutnity?

Are we really going to think that a surprise draft pick (David Estrada), a resurgent former 2nd Team All-American (Mike Fucito) and a precisely tuned offense are going to get this team to be the offensive power that we once that it should be?

I actually think so. There are some numbers to back it up, but they lack significant size.

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This is not the complete schedule for Sounders FC. Most of you know that, but I should remind you that there will be the US Open Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League as well as 3 friendlies tagged onto the following schedule.

It is notable to me that though 1/3 of all league matches are on TV this year, only 9 will be of Sounders. A "balanced" TV schedule would have been 10. A schedule that would have featured the team and city with the best MLS TV ratings should have had more. This is an MLS miss.

MLS added the Philly SSS Opener to the ESPN2 schedule. Seattle now is evenly represented on National TV.

Also notable are the reduction in weeknight games, this year down to 15%. This is due to a bit less crowding from FIFA dates, and just a wise move to get more people inside the stadiums. You should expect a bump in attendence overall from this alone.

Philly has the anti-Sounders schedule due to their stadium issue. Their 3rd Home Game is against the Sounders on June 27th, a Sunday (MLS still fixing their online version of schedule).

Also notable is that the Sounders/Seahawks conflict lead to only a tiny weighting towards road games. In September/October there will be only 3 home games and 5 away. It could have been worse. Throw in August and its only a 5/6 split in favor of traveling.

Sounders have a double week early, and both matches are roadtrips. Kind of long ones at that. At Dallas on a Thursday followed up by at Toronto. At the end of that first 6 matches of March/April Sounders need to be at 10+ points. They are facing clubs that are generally lower to mid-level teams, with the at Salt Lake being the only one where I expect a poor result. Also, several teams historically start slow as they don't bring in their full squad until the end of the Primary Transfer Window. It is great that one of the shortest/cheapest roadtrips is the first one of the year.

The Second Six gets more difficult with only the loans of Donovan and Beckham making it a bit easier. By the time the World Cup starts Seattle fans should have a good picture of what kind of team has come back to defend their single trophy and effort towards a multi-Cup year.

Full Regular Season Schedule after the jump. I have included the date change that MLS has indicated will be made to the @Philly match.

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Many fans have pointed out that the lack of signings is an indication that the Sounders offense will struggle again. I think this is a simplistic look at the coaching process, particularly with a coach who is accomplished at developing talent. It also ignores the trials and tribulations of expansion. From today's quotes from the coach we see that Sigi sees the same issues that we all see, and he is setting the team up to improve by improving their technique. He also sees one key player who could take a few steps forward.

 We want to improve certain aspects of our game. We want to be able to play a little quicker. Not to play in a hurry, but to play quicker. We want to be able to be more aggressive in the box. So we want to gear our game towards that. So a lot of what we did yesterday in terms of making them get a shot off at a certain time. Today we were working on good diagonal runs, getting points for playing balls to be people in the end zone. It’s all about, can we play a little quicker? Can we get behind defenses? Can we be more aggressive in the final third of the field? Because obviously defensively last year we were amongst the best in the league. Offensively we can add another five, six, seven goals to our offensive production. That makes all the difference between finishing where we did and maybe finishing as Supporters’ Shield winners

Even the minor improvement he sees in five goals likely puts Seattle into first. Just 1 win is all it would have taken, and if those 5 goals are randomly distrubeted the chances that they hit the more than 1/3 of matches that ended in a draw would have been enough.

But what excites me more is that there is a focus on getting off more shots, getting faster, being more aggressive. I enjoy that game, not because it leads to more goals, but because it requires more skill and more tactical knowledge and it forces the opponent to react to you; because you have defined the game.

That's what I called Sigi's Game.

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This according to Goff at the Wa Post.

Forward David Estrada, Seattle's first-round draft pick from UCLA, has signed with the Sounders.

And so now the roster is starting to get full without players getting cut to make room. Here's the current training list with only the guys under contract listed

Goalkeepers (3): Terry Boss, Chris Eylander, Kasey Keller
Defenders (8): Taylor Graham, Leo Gonzalez, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyrone Marshall, James Riley, Zach Scott, Nathan Sturgis
Midfielders (6): Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Stephen King, Freddie Ljungberg, Sanna Nyassi, Peter Vagenas
Forwards (5): David Estrada, Nate Jaqua, Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani.

Players there are classified by the team as reported to MLS (eg Zakuani as Forward). Now you long time MLS fans will note that only Nyassi is sure to be a Developmental Player (if that still exists in the new CBA), and it is possible that Estrada is as well.

That's 22 of 24 slots filled.  I have heard no reports yet of Tyson Wahl being resigned yet (he was a Free at the end of year). So things are getting a bit dicey for the remaining trialists and Wahl. Either 1 senior and 1 developmental or 2 developmental slots are all that are open. For more than two on the following list to make the squad they are going to have to bump a Senior player from last year.

Keeper: Patrick Lane
Defender: Lamar Neagle, Tyson Wahl (Senior only), Jamel Wallace
Midfielder: Mike Fucito, Josh Gardner (Senior only), Jakob Yakir Lusky, Michael Seamon
Forwards: Tye Predido, Jarrod Smith (Senior only)

Now with Seamon and Predido going back to school that does mean that the other guys get a slightly larger window of opportunity. February 15th we will probably see a set of cut-downs, as that is the day before they fly to Spain.

Of course I'm assuming a 24 man roster with the 20+4 format of last year. That could change, or player could get a long-term injury forcing them on the Injured List (max 4 players) for the first six matches allowing another player to make the roster.

When 2009 opened the Ljungberg focus was two-fold; would he be healthy and would he take the American version of the game seriously? For 2010 we won't have those questions. We know that Ljungberg will be fairly healthy, a reasonable expectation would be for him to have 25 starts this season. We also know that he may just be taking the game here too seriously.

Freddie just might have some anger management issues. These tend to show up during what he perceives as a poor call and led to all but one of his yellows, and his only red. While that spirit can be a benefit it must be channeled. The Sounders are a better team when he's on the field and paying attention and there is no evidence that complaining to the referees improved things for anyone in the Rave Green.

The questions we are left with concerning 2010, now that camp has its most famous attendee, will concern with how Freddie is used within the arrow as well as how well he can work with his teammates. Last season saw a bit of issue when Freddie didn't see the expected pass or run. This may be less apparent with a full season, and a nearly full training.

Last season Freddie spent time as a CAM (early season 4-diamond-2), the Right Wing and as a Withdrawn Forward. It actually turned out that Freddie was a bit better without the ball at his feet for a long period of time, like as a CAM, but when he picked up the ball further forward things went much better. This is part of why I think the Freddyain (two guys named Freddy) will be the strikeforce for 2010.

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Sometimes flair and foot skills can stun the opposition and amaze the crowd. At their best these moves create space for a shot/pass or enable dribbling an opponent entirely. Often times they are really just opportunities to show off a little bit. But there is a bad case, and it isn't just about poor execution leading to change of possession, the bad case is when that flair slows a fast player down so much that they lose the opportunity.

When I think about the things that Montero needs to do to make that next step. This is issue #1. He doesn't need to try 5 or more stepovers in a single attack. Nor does he need to be come an expert at the volley. Fredy just needs to take a touch or two,maybe three and shoot or pass. He's actually fast when he wants to be, but the stepover inevitably slows him down.

The other area where he could improve would be in his tactical awareness. His inability to work well with Freddie Ljungberg was the biggest symptom of this. The clearest example is when he literally stole the ball from his own teammate. Hopefully having a second full season with Sigi helps this, because Montero has talent, and that shooters mentality.

Because he does shoot. A lot. More often maybe than some would like, but honestly with the offensive issues that the Sounders had last year I would have liked more players to take the imperfect shot rather than attempt to find the perfect one. He was right at the team average with 39% on Target and right at the team average in converting shots with 13%.

Next season Fredy won't be a newcomer. A s a known quantity he will need to take that next step forward, or two. As in season one he could make the adjustments and be one of the best forwards in the league, or he can continue to be adequate.

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"Don't Panic"

Seriously, an over-focus and over-passionate fanbase can get riled up. New Media, and Old Media can fall into it as well. In all of our attempts to discover everything, to dig into the dirt looking for gold and finding tin, we sometimes stare too hard, think too much and forget that the Players and League want the same thing - you to pay to go to games.

Today you got an 11 day stay of work stoppage.

Press Release below the break

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Last year Chris Henderson had to find 24 players players to craft a winning expansion side. This year, he had to find less players and I started off asking if that helped him focus.

Chris Henderson: Last year was very unique, we needed every position. But this year we could focus our time and our energy. Now you have guys that have 40 or 50 games together and that's much easier to build upon.

DC: When you are looking for talent to add are you looking for team needs or the best player rather than a need?

Henderson: If its the Draft and college talent you are looking for the best player, rather than position. But right now we are also looking for 2011 and 2012. We are looking to the future. We want to make sure that when we present a player in front of Sigi next year that we already have looked at him for the next two years.

DC: You want to share where you are looking for players?

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