Seattle Sounders 2018 Season

What happened to Roman Torres? Is he injured? Couldn’t find anything on his status. Kim Kee-hee is a huge liability. Less Kim plays the better.

hawkfan68":r5hdkk9j said:

What happened to Roman Torres? Is he injured? Couldn’t find anything on his status. Kim Kee-hee is a huge liability. Less Kim plays the better.

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Torres has a hamstring issue and is most likely out until after the WC. Kee Hee was one of Seattle's better players today. This team is desperately in need of a true striker and a winger with speed.

SeatownJay":2s1lq5rc said:

hawkfan68":2s1lq5rc said:

What happened to Roman Torres? Is he injured? Couldn’t find anything on his status. Kim Kee-hee is a huge liability. Less Kim plays the better.

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Torres has a hamstring issue and is most likely out until after the WC. Kee Hee was one of Seattle's better players today. This team is desperately in need of a true striker and a winger with speed.

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Kee-Hee must have had a better 2nd half in the match (I missed it) because he was horrid the first half. Marshall had to cover his arse several times as his marked guy was beating him. Luckily the Timbers couldn't capitalize on those.

Honestly, until Lodeiro is back to full health and we do something in the summer transfer window.....................just run out the young kids like we did Wednesday against Toronto.

At least it brings some speed and energy to the lineup, as opposed to just watching a lifeless offense do nothing.

The draw for the 4th round of the US Open cup took place today. Sounders will play at Sacramento Republic on June 6.

SeatownJay":2vjvoss6 said:

The draw for the 4th round of the US Open cup took place today. Sounders will play at Sacramento Republic on June 6.

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Honestly shocked its not Portland.

1-0 down and you bring on full backs. Wtf schmetzer. Piss poor management and a piss poor squad this year. Get a forward, any forward for god sake. Painful to see how futile we are up front.

Fans deserve better. Its been brutal this year. Rsl are bad this year. Dempsey has also clearly lost a step. I know we've struggled without Lodeiro but it shows the lack of quality in the squad.

Glasgow Seahawk":3r3jlmu6 said:

Fans deserve better. Its been brutal this year. Rsl are bad this year. Dempsey has also clearly lost a step. I know we've struggled without Lodeiro but it shows the lack of quality in the squad.

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So Dempsey is standing around and trotting at a slower pace than he was before?

JustTheTip":sansez55 said:

Glasgow Seahawk":sansez55 said:

Fans deserve better. Its been brutal this year. Rsl are bad this year. Dempsey has also clearly lost a step. I know we've struggled without Lodeiro but it shows the lack of quality in the squad.

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So Dempsey is standing around and trotting at a slower pace than he was before?

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He was never the fastest but he has lost some pace which is to be expected at 34/35. Combination of that and poor service/lack of creativity from the midfield/lack of an actual winger/lack of a forward.

Jordan Morris.
Nico Lodeiro.
Victor Rodriguez.
Osvaldo Alonso.
Will Bruin.
Roman Torres.
Gustav Svensson.
Henry Wingo.
Hadwalla Bwana.


ST:
Felix Chenkham (S2 promotion)
Clint Dempsey

Outside Midfielder:
Wolff Eikram
Lamar Neagle
Harry Shipp

Center Midfielder:
Cristian Roldan
Alex Roldan
Jordy Delem

RB:
Kelvin Leerdam
Jordan McCrary

LB:
Nouhou
Waylon Francis

CB:
Chad Marshall
Kim Kee-Hee
Tony Alfaro


This team is not built to survive that many crucial injuries AND a world cup break. We literally put out the 18 players we had available. AND THEN 1 OF THEM GOT HURT.

This team is physically destroyed, Mentally deteriorating, and incapable of playing any style of attacking soccer.

We can't beat anyone with Pace...because we didn't have much before the season...and its all Injured now.

We can't beat anyone with technical skill, because all we have left is a 35 year old Clint Dempsey and a horribly inconsistent Wolff Eikram.

We can't beat anyone by lobbing balls into the box.....even when we put 33 year old Chad Marshall up top.


This team is in a HORRIBLE situation.

Unless your last name is Roldan, there is a good chance you've been injured, inconsistent, underwhelming, and/or down right horrible.


We brought in Eikram....great, He's gonna get time to keep V-Rod and Lodeiro fresh...especially during the world cup break...and we brought in Jordan McCrary and Waylon Francis for depth at FullBack...Garth really thought that was going to improve upon a team that layed an egg in the MLS Cup Final (again, if we're being honest). Oh, btw, the team assist leader went off to Germany get relegated to the 3rd division.


and then...in the first CCL series of the season...We lose our most Dynamic Forward for the season....with MONTHS of the transfer window being open.....AND WE DID NOTHING.

Yep. We'll manage into the summer window with Will Bruin and a smorgasbord of "Creative Attacking Midfielders" behind him....

Oh...wait..NVM...they're all broken and our single best performance of the season was on the road, against Toronto...where we played 5 in the back, packed it in, and stole a victory.


WE HAVE SCORED 7 GOALS IN 10 GAMES. FEWEST IN THE LEAGUE. AND ITS NOT CLOSE.

I'm a pretty optimistic person...but Unless this team signs a MASSIVE striker in the summer window....We'll miss the playoffs for the first time ever. I mean, we're gonna have to sign a player that makes everyone else around him better. Like Oba did, like a young Clint Dempsey did...like Carlos Vela is doing for LAFC.

I hear Javier Hernandez and Ronaldo are looking for moves away from their clubs...make the signing Garth. I dare you.

The best thing for the Sounders would be for Lagerwey to leave the team. Each year they have been getting worse and the slow starts have been consistent under his watch. This year the team is going to be so far behind that even a monster 2nd half isn't going to be enough.

If I was Adrian Hanauer, I'd fire Lagerwey. As the GM of this team, he's destroyed the depth of the team and hasn't done enough to improve the offense. They struggled offensively last season too.

Smurf":1ngvb70g said:

WE HAVE SCORED 7 GOALS IN 10 GAMES. FEWEST IN THE LEAGUE. AND ITS NOT CLOSE.

I'm a pretty optimistic person...but Unless this team signs a MASSIVE striker in the summer window....We'll miss the playoffs for the first time ever. I mean, we're gonna have to sign a player that makes everyone else around him better. Like Oba did, like a young Clint Dempsey did...like Carlos Vela is doing for LAFC.

I hear Javier Hernandez and Ronaldo are looking for moves away from their clubs...make the signing Garth. I dare you.

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I heard this refrain from a handful of people over the weekend. But honestly, top attacking players are not choosing the MLS anytime soon. The payday (Gio in Toronto makes 130K a week, tops in MLS with Kaka) is nothing compared to what they get overseas

The only way the MLS will be able to start to attract top tier attacking players is to stop wasting all that money on older ex-stars and start giving it to young and developing potential. Until then you're hoping aging internationals some how solve goal scoring issues. LAFC and Atlanta have done a nice job so far. LAFC have just 6 players over 30, 4 of them central defenders (about the end of their prime). They have 10 players 22 or under. Atlanta just 4 players over 30, and 10 under 22.

Atlanta's top earner is on 44k a week and is a 24 year old midfielder.

Hernandez is on 93K/week. Lodeiro, top earner in Seattle this year, is on 45K/week.

I dont think there is an easy fix for Seattle

Uncle Si":yrofbnwj said:

Smurf":yrofbnwj said:

WE HAVE SCORED 7 GOALS IN 10 GAMES. FEWEST IN THE LEAGUE. AND ITS NOT CLOSE.

I'm a pretty optimistic person...but Unless this team signs a MASSIVE striker in the summer window....We'll miss the playoffs for the first time ever. I mean, we're gonna have to sign a player that makes everyone else around him better. Like Oba did, like a young Clint Dempsey did...like Carlos Vela is doing for LAFC.

I hear Javier Hernandez and Ronaldo are looking for moves away from their clubs...make the signing Garth. I dare you.

Click to expand...

I heard this refrain from a handful of people over the weekend. But honestly, top attacking players are not choosing the MLS anytime soon. The payday (Gio in Toronto makes 130K a week, tops in MLS with Kaka) is nothing compared to what they get overseas

The only way the MLS will be able to start to attract top tier attacking players is to stop wasting all that money on older ex-stars and start giving it to young and developing potential. Until then you're hoping aging internationals some how solve goal scoring issues.

Hernandez is on 93K/week. Lodeiro, top earner in Seattle this year, is on 45K/week.

I dont think there is an easy fix.

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It's not an either or thing, the MLS is trying to attract the younger stars, thus the under 24 DP rule where only 350k of the under 24 DP counts against the cap............but it's an uphill battle, because every big league on the planet wants these young stars, and the MLS knows if they do get one, it'll be short lived, so it's hard for a club to commit that kind of salary for one year, maybe two tops.

IMO the MLS is fine, it's thriving and expanding as any young league should. Good mix of well known stars, younger stars and homegrown players.

The Sounders just got caught with their pants down after Morris got hurt. There was no forward depth on the roster to pick up the slack, and now they're paying the price until the summer transfer window opens. It's only been compounded with Lodeiro being gone and V-Rod being hurt in perpetuity.

Sgt. Largent":mivps1ew said:

Uncle Si":mivps1ew said:

Smurf":mivps1ew said:

WE HAVE SCORED 7 GOALS IN 10 GAMES. FEWEST IN THE LEAGUE. AND ITS NOT CLOSE.

I'm a pretty optimistic person...but Unless this team signs a MASSIVE striker in the summer window....We'll miss the playoffs for the first time ever. I mean, we're gonna have to sign a player that makes everyone else around him better. Like Oba did, like a young Clint Dempsey did...like Carlos Vela is doing for LAFC.

I hear Javier Hernandez and Ronaldo are looking for moves away from their clubs...make the signing Garth. I dare you.

Click to expand...

I heard this refrain from a handful of people over the weekend. But honestly, top attacking players are not choosing the MLS anytime soon. The payday (Gio in Toronto makes 130K a week, tops in MLS with Kaka) is nothing compared to what they get overseas

The only way the MLS will be able to start to attract top tier attacking players is to stop wasting all that money on older ex-stars and start giving it to young and developing potential. Until then you're hoping aging internationals some how solve goal scoring issues.

Hernandez is on 93K/week. Lodeiro, top earner in Seattle this year, is on 45K/week.

I dont think there is an easy fix.

Click to expand...

It's not an either or thing, the MLS is trying to attract the younger stars, thus the under 24 DP rule where only 350k of the under 24 DP counts against the cap............but it's an uphill battle, because every big league on the planet wants these young stars, and the MLS knows if they do get one, it'll be short lived, so it's hard for a club to commit that kind of salary for one year, maybe two tops.

IMO the MLS is fine, it's thriving and expanding as any young league should. Good mix of well known stars, younger stars and homegrown players.

The Sounders just got caught with their pants down after Morris got hurt. There was no forward depth on the roster to pick up the slack, and now they're paying the price until the summer transfer window opens. It's only been compounded with Lodeiro being gone and V-Rod being hurt in perpetuity.

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It will be an either/or thing very soon. the MLS is not "thriving." It is expanding, which will only make things more difficult in terms of finding these types of players to help the league. How many of these players do you think there are out there? It will not be able to continue to throw money at some of these players and try and attract and keep up and coming talent.

the sounders did not get caught with their pants down by one injury. They got caught by having an unbalanced roster. Morris' injury has exacerbated that.

The Summer transfer window will be interesting. Because again, what will the Sounders be able to attract to actually help goal scoring? What will they be able to offer in terms of wages? And is that player (Has Ibra changed the Galaxy's fortunes on the field) be worth the cost?

It might be best to pretend you are starting over, really. Look where Atlanta and LAFC are in the standings

Uncle Si":2x4hz0i1 said:

It will be an either/or thing very soon. the MLS is not "thriving." It is expanding, which will only make things more difficult in terms of finding these types of players to help the league. How many of these players do you think there are out there? It will not be able to continue to throw money at some of these players and try and attract and keep up and coming talent.

the sounders did not get caught with their pants down by one injury. They got caught by having an unbalanced roster. Morris' injury has exacerbated that.

The Summer transfer window will be interesting. Because again, what will the Sounders be able to attract to actually help goal scoring? What will they be able to offer in terms of wages? And is that player (Has Ibra changed the Galaxy's fortunes on the field) be worth the cost?

It might be best to pretend you are starting over, really. Look where Atlanta and LAFC are in the standings

Click to expand...

it used to be an either/or thing, but it has changed over the past 5-6 years. Much bigger influx of younger stars and homegrown talent. Almost double the numbers from even 5 years ago.

btw, expansion IS thriving when you're a niche league that makes it's money on expansion fees and attendance.

If you're comparing MLS to the top leagues as a barometer, you'll never be happy with what the league is doing. That'll never happen, because we'll never have the national sports fan interest in order to push the league's TV ratings to the point of massive TV contracts and profitability.

And that's just fine, it's a great soccer product for a 4M salary cap and 3 DP slots, that now routinely challenges the bigger Mexican Primera clubs in CONCACAF, with five times the payroll.

Certainly not perfect, lots of things to work on. But the antiquated criticism of MLS just being a retirement home for Euro stars is stale, old and flat out wrong. Those DP's make up a fraction of the players now.

What makes MLS exciting is also its weakness. I love the fact it incorporates salary caps and drafts to make it competitive like other north American sports. Smaller franchises have a chance to be champions.

European competition is becoming boring and predictable. Basically- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and a sugar daddy team like Man City, Chelsea, PSG.

On the flip side due to the low salary cap in comparison to other leagues it hinders what players the league can attract and effs over the Sounders, Atlanta etc who get big crowds. If MLS could attract America's best athletes from a young age, the US would be world cup favorites. The likes of LeBron James and many NFL players are athletic freaks that would probably be good at any sport if they had played it from a young enough age. The issue is the money is not there to attract them. Soccer is also a very much a middle class sport in the US and only attracts a specific part of the population. It isn't necessarily in other parts of the world, although in Europe i'd say its gentrifying.

Glasgow Seahawk":1n1foq82 said:

What makes MLS exciting is also its weakness. I love the fact it incorporates salary caps and drafts to make it competitive like other north American sports. Smaller franchises have a chance to be champions.

European competition is becoming boring and predictable. Basically- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and a sugar daddy team like Man City, Chelsea, PSG.

On the flip side due to the low salary cap in comparison to other leagues it hinders what players the league can attract and effs over the Sounders, Atlanta etc who get big crowds. If MLS could attract America's best athletes from a young age, the US would be world cup favorites. The likes of LeBron James and many NFL players are athletic freaks that would probably be good at any sport if they had played it from a young enough age. The issue is the money is not there to attract them. Soccer is also a very much a middle class sport in the US and only attracts a specific part of the population. It isn't necessarily in other parts of the world, although in Europe i'd say its gentrifying.

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That's because the MLS could never survive a non-parity cap based competitive system like other well established high payroll leagues. It'd be like every other league, dominated by the same 6-7 clubs...........which would be good for us, because we'd be one of them. But it's not good for a league trying to grow.

I'm not crazy about the playoff style format, but it certainly served us two years ago coming all the way back to make the playoffs and winning the Cup.

I think in the beginning it was to appeal to the American sports fan that was used to sports with playoffs, but now that the league is well established, I wouldn't be disappointed if we went to single table or a two table league with one final Cup Championship match.

Sgt. Largent":1aahfz9o said:

Uncle Si":1aahfz9o said:

It will be an either/or thing very soon. the MLS is not "thriving." It is expanding, which will only make things more difficult in terms of finding these types of players to help the league. How many of these players do you think there are out there? It will not be able to continue to throw money at some of these players and try and attract and keep up and coming talent.

the sounders did not get caught with their pants down by one injury. They got caught by having an unbalanced roster. Morris' injury has exacerbated that.

The Summer transfer window will be interesting. Because again, what will the Sounders be able to attract to actually help goal scoring? What will they be able to offer in terms of wages? And is that player (Has Ibra changed the Galaxy's fortunes on the field) be worth the cost?

It might be best to pretend you are starting over, really. Look where Atlanta and LAFC are in the standings

Click to expand...

it used to be an either/or thing, but it has changed over the past 5-6 years. Much bigger influx of younger stars and homegrown talent. Almost double the numbers from even 5 years ago.

btw, expansion IS thriving when you're a niche league that makes it's money on expansion fees and attendance.

If you're comparing MLS to the top leagues as a barometer, you'll never be happy with what the league is doing. That'll never happen, because we'll never have the national sports fan interest in order to push the league's TV ratings to the point of massive TV contracts and profitability.

And that's just fine, it's a great soccer product for a 4M salary cap and 3 DP slots, that now routinely challenges the bigger Mexican Primera clubs in CONCACAF, with five times the payroll.

Certainly not perfect, lots of things to work on. But the antiquated criticism of MLS just being a retirement home for Euro stars is stale, old and flat out wrong. Those DP's make up a fraction of the players now.

Click to expand...

Yet, many of those DPs make up a huge chunk of the salaries being given out. So no, it's not an "antiquated" criticism. it's directly holding the league back from attracting better players, with the likes of Rooney and more to follow. And while you can be satisfied it is directly challenging the Mexican clubs in CONCACAF, the Mexican clubs employ rosters almost entirely of Mexicans and their nation is in the World Cup.

I'm not comparing it to the top leagues in the world. I am, however, at a lot of games and can certainly see that if it wants to support the growth potential of US soccer as it says it does, it needs to improve its product. To do that, it needs to attract or hold on to its young attacking talent. To do that, it needs to stop paying David Villa and Baston Schweinsteiger, etc. 5 times as much as the next best paid player. Those next players are not "stars" either. They are not household names. It's a start, but asserting them as anything more than potential is the same as ignoring the negative impact the older players have on the league.

Expansion is not "thriving" either. Business people willing to put a team together does not mean the league's revenues will suddenly go up. It means they are willing to hope the new market takes off. If it doesnt (MLS teams have failed in the past).

It also means one more team vying for what already is a limited player pool.

You can continue to excuse away both the business model and product as "niche." But considering the investment in the sport and its capabilities, its probably time to quit treating it like a kid that needs to be nurtured and celebrated for minor advances and let it really start to move forward. If you want to focus on expansion as thriving, then it certainly shows the league is not "niche" and is cashing in on the high water mark of the sports popularity here. Why not take advantage of it.

if not.. the next Sargents, McKennies, Pulisics, Weahs will skip from their academies over the domestic league and straight to Europe while MLS teams will still be hoping 33 year old forwards are willing to play in a "glorified rec league" for an easy payday.

A couple clubs are trying with the way they are building a club, and the results are apparent.

Glasgow Seahawk":11bbclvs said:

What makes MLS exciting is also its weakness. I love the fact it incorporates salary caps and drafts to make it competitive like other north American sports. Smaller franchises have a chance to be champions.

European competition is becoming boring and predictable. Basically- Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and a sugar daddy team like Man City, Chelsea, PSG.

On the flip side due to the low salary cap in comparison to other leagues it hinders what players the league can attract and effs over the Sounders, Atlanta etc who get big crowds. If MLS could attract America's best athletes from a young age, the US would be world cup favorites. The likes of LeBron James and many NFL players are athletic freaks that would probably be good at any sport if they had played it from a young enough age. The issue is the money is not there to attract them. Soccer is also a very much a middle class sport in the US and only attracts a specific part of the population. It isn't necessarily in other parts of the world, although in Europe i'd say its gentrifying.

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Like Leicester?

Is European competition as boring and predictable as the MLS product on the field?

Soccer attracts from every nook and cranny in the country. DAs and MLS academies are reducing the socio-economic disparity as well by copying the models of Europe. Many travel clubs, however, are very expensive. the bigger issue is the vast size of the country and trying to locate these kids and get them to the right organizations.

Every country has athletic freaks who dont play soccer. If England's rugby players did soccer instead, would they be unstoppable? It's not as simple as saying "you're 6'9".. here's a soccer ball, kick it over there, we are winning the world cup now"

The money issue is a misnomer as well. The Champs league final drew more American viewers than any sporting event in the cycle outside the Super Bowl. The sport is massive in its popularity, is growing immensely at the youth side again and will reap the benefits in the coming years. There are more professional opportunities in the sport of soccer than any sport outside Baseball. (currently 9 professional soccer leagues in the US, as well as being paid as reserves for MLS teams)

the sport is on the rise. I just wish the MLS would do a bit better with that.