Hints
There is still word that Freddy Montero and Sounders FC are linked. He's a center mid and forward, young (21 as of opening day). He would seem to be coming here as a stage to crossing the Pond and playing in Europe.
Nate Jaqua played 66 minutes in Houston's first leg 1-1 draw of the Western Conference Semis last night. He finished the season with 11 starts, 3 subs for 4 goals and 4 assists in league play. In CONCACAF Champions League action the Dynamo are 1-3-1 and their last game will determine if an MLS team makes it out of the Group Stage. Jaqua started four of the matches playing full games in two of those. He has one goal so far in the competition. His first name is listed as Johnothan often at the CCL site.
Allegations
Here are updates on a few of the older rumors of players linked to Sounders FC
Barcelona has played 9 matches and sits atop the table. Henry has only 5, come on in 2. He has 3 goals and two assists in league play. In Champions League play he has 2 starts, 1 sub and no goals or assists. It has now been a full month since Henry played 90 minutes, yesterday he was subbed on in the 49th minute and had an assist. I am fully confident that Henry will be leaving Barcelona in January.
Monaco sits 14th in the French table after 11 matches. Adu has five appearences, all as a sub and nothing on the board to show for it. His longest appearences are at 12 minutes. His last appearence was on the 18th of October. Monaco is 1-1-3 in games that Freddy has put boot to pitch. Benefica isn't getting any benefit from this loan and Freddy hasn't gained a thing from playing in Europe, as he hasn't been playing. The only winner in the Adu saga has been Real Salt Lake as they have now made the playoffs and have a win.
Nakamura is Japanese and so everyone thinks he's coming here. Everyone except for Nakamura, Celtic and Yokohama Marinos. Word is that the Marinos are going to pay a huge transfer fee to bring him back. Considering that Celtic has him under contract and he's leading the team towards another SPL title just forget about this one people. If he goes anywhere its home.
Things That Should Be Said
Khalifan did not score this weekend in al-Sadd's 2-2 draw to remain second in their table. (Link to Khalifan primer). He should still be of interest to any MLS team.
There are several rumors concerning transfers within the English FA of Defenders, an area where Sounders FC have needs as their only sigings are attacking players so far. So far all of these are much higher than the 4 Million dollar max that any MLS club has paid for any player.
So forget about Nedum Onuoha of Man City, Kyle Naughton, and Fabiona Santacroce. I don't care that they are all young and would be extraordinary in MLS. They are outside of the current league salary and roster structure.
Speaking of salary and roster structure, Garber was interviewed as part of the RSL/Chivas match pre-game and was asked what changes to expect concerning the league's November meetings. He expects changes in the league calendar in order to have fewer matches conflict with FIFA international dates and he expects changes in how teams qualify for SuperLiga (everyone's favorite exhibition tourney). When asked about salary cap, roster issues and potential DP rule changes he mentioned that the league won't make changes on this until the CBA is renogiated with the Players Union.
In the quest for Seattle Sounders FC manager with an international record of success the following players make today's BBC gossip as likely to take over clubs soonish - David O'Leary, Alan Curbishley, Gareth Ainsworth, and Sam Allardyce. That's not a huge list of success, most are hanging out waiting and will likely get picked up by lower level clubs. None give me any greater feeling of likely USOC or MLS league runs than Schmetzer.