November 24, 2008 by f4denz.

Venturing off my Real Salt Lake focus, I thought it would be interesting to see which 10 players I would take if I were the GM of the Seattle Sounders FC. They already have their number one keeper so I need a back up, they already have their main offensive midfielder and a quick but unproven player to work the side, and they brought with them their number one striker for the successful USL side. If you want to see the list of available players click here.

I am not going to put these players in any particular order because it doesn’t matter, they get 10 players and no more than one player from any team:

Eddie Gaven, Columbus Crew(midfield/forward)- Eddie is only 22 years old and can play in the midfield or up front as a striker, he already has over 120 starts in MLS and has 28 goals and 25 assists talk about a foundation player.

Diego Jimenez, New York Red Bulls(defender)- Signed by New York late in the season but if you want a major reason why New York made it to the MLS Cup, Diego is that reason at just 22 years of age he was rock solid in the Western Conference final and with just 6 starts he is a bit of a wildcard but he could be a huge part of a new clubs back line.

Ian Joy, Real Salt Lake(defender) – Ian is a solid player with good international experience, he is a fan favorite and would be a great asset to a new club. He is only 5 foot 9 inches but he has good speed and understands how to move up the wings in support of the attack, he is just 27 years old and one heck of a nice guy off the pitch and a fireball on it.

Rohan Ricketts, Toronto FC (midfielder)- One of the few bright spots for TFC and I am amazed that he is available, he is just 27 years old but brings good experience from his playing time in England. He scored 4 of Toronto’s 32 goals and had 4 of their 25 assists, he has great pace and would really be a compliment to Freddie.

Facundo Erpen, Colorado (defender) – The 25 year old defender from Argentina has the ability to play all four back line positions and knows how to contribute to the attack. He was a MLS All Star in 2006, with the new 24 man roster Seattle will need players who can fill in at multiple positions and Facundo can do that, including playing defensive midfielder.

Patrick Ianni, Houston (defender)- Young, big, and quick the 23 year old could play the back line or perhaps work as the defensive midfielder for Seattle. I have heard rumors that Seattle is looking at Nate Jaqua, but to be honest I think it would be a mistake to pick up a very inconsistent striker, there must be a reason that in 3 years he has gone from Chicago to LA, then to Houston, then to Austria and then back to Houston, but is now left available. Do the smart thing and take a very good Ianni.

Lawson Vaughn, Chivas (defender) – When healthy he was a solid part of the Chivas defense that was very good early in the year, the 24 year old has played in 48 matches since being drafted in the 2006 Supplemental draft. He started 22 matches last year for Chivas and 11 starts his rookie year of 2006. A nice player who can play a number of defensive positions would be a great player to have available on your roster.

John Cunliffe, San Jose (forward) – John has been waiting for a team to give him a chance, not sure how much more he could do with 5 goals in under 900 minutes over two MLS seasons, he has taken 26 shots, with 11 being on goal. Those are good numbers for a young striker and playing with a great attacking midfielder could be the break he has needed. At just 24 years of age, John is a player that has always looked impressive when get gets playing time, but too often is stuck behind other strikers, give him a chance and I am willing to bet he will not only impress but provide some great offensive chances.

Khano Smith, New England (midfielder) – Speed Kills and Smith has great speed and may be one of the fastest players in MLS and while he often plays midfield for New England for the Bermuda National team he is a striker. 8 goals and 11 assists in his MLS career that has seen him get 54 starts and play in 85 matches.

Francis Doe, DC United (forward) – Francis is another player that despite good numbers when given a chance, just seems to never get a break. He has 4 goals and a assist in under 900 minutes of MLS action, but also has played well for his national team (Liberia) and in the 2008 African Cup qualifying stages he scored two goals.

Wildcard pick:

Marcelo Gallardo, DC United (midfielder) Depending on if the FO brass of Seattle can work a deal with him, and if he is healthy, how could they not take Marcelo Gallardo the 32 yr old showed early in this season that he can be a real asset to a team as he scored 4 goals and had 3 assists in just 15 matches this season with DC United.

I tried to really go for some young players with great upside, but simply haven’t gotten a shot to really perform in MLS. Big names like Jimenez, Erpen, Ricketts, and Gaven would provide a good backbone of a squad and up the Seattle roster to half strength with their 4 current signings and 10 players from the expansion draft. That still leave room for the Super and Supplemental draft, as well as some international players or trades.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Posted in The soapbox | 1 Comment »

November 24, 2008 by f4denz.

Down to 24

So part of Garber’s state of the league address last week included a move to a 24 man roster, with just 4 slots for developmental players and the death of the Reserve Division (I think this is a horrible move for the league and development of talent in the US, but more of that tomorrow). In response RSL has released players prior to the announcement of the 11 protected players, gone are Kenny Cutler (RSL original), Nik Besagno (RSL’s 1^st draft pick), Dustin Kirby. Part of this move was the graduation of Nik from Generation Adidas, which if he were still part of the program he wouldn’t have needed to be protected.

Protected

Here is the official list of 11 that were protected by RSL:

• Kyle Beckerman
• Nick Rimando
• Javier Morales
• Jamison Olave
• Will Johnson
• Yura Movsisyan
• Robbie Findley
• Nat Borchers
• Robbie Russell
• Chris Wingert
• Fabian Espindola

RSL still has 3 players on the Generation Adidas program:

1. Chris Seitz
2. Tony Beltran
3. Alex Nimo

That means that RSL is leaving 11 players unprotected and remember we can only lose one player from this list (it doesn’t mean that Seattle will take any from RSL’s roster):

1. Andy Williams
2. Nathan Sturgis
3. Dema Kovalenko
4. Kenny Deuchar
5. Ian Joy
6. Clint Mathis
7. David Horst
8. Brennan Tennelle
9. Kevin Reiman
10. Kyle Reynish
11. Tino Nunez

With the list of exposed players, I think Joy and Kovalenko are probably in real danger of being selected, as is Kyle Reynish as a back up to Seattle’s number one keeper Kasey Keller. This list isn’t far off of my original list, I am a bit surprised that we would leave a talented youngster like Sturgis exposed, but after a year and a half with the team and almost all of that time injured I can understand it. According to what I read on the SL Trib website putting Andy on the unprotected list was a move that in deference to his family situation. I really hope Andy stays and I believe should be allowed to finish his career with RSL.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Posted in The soapbox | No Comments »

November 24, 2008 by f4denz.

Just minutes before the announcement of who RSL will be protecting in the Expansion draft comes this news from Behind the Shield:

Sorry to all the forwards out there in MLS, but you will still be at risk of suffering “The Olave” next year. Garth just dropped us the news that RSL has purchased the rights to the massive Colombian from Deportivo Cali and signed him to a contract extension that will keep him in Salt Lake through the 2012 MLS season.

After joining the club in the offseason the 27-year-old defender solidified his spot in the center of the RSL backline just a few games into the 2008 campaign. Olave was an integral part of Real’s reversal of fortunes this year and the club is glad to have him on board on a more permanent basis.

Still waiting on the list of protected players which should be coming soon.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Posted in The soapbox | No Comments »

November 24, 2008 by f4denz.

OK, So I was a huge slacker this weekend and didn’t finish my post, so some of this might be a bit disjointed.

MLS Cup

First up is this weekend’s MLS Cup match, and while Real Salt Lake missed being a part of the match by one goal, the league championship is always an important date and when the comish gives his state of the league address (I will be doing a more in depth review of that on Tuesday).

Columbus has won the Cup and it was a great match to watch, exciting and upbeat tempo by both sides. I did think it was interesting how many empty seats there were, perhaps the league needs to do a better job of controlling how tickets to their big match are handled. I found a number of Galaxy season ticket holders purchased a bunch of tickets with the hope of reselling them for stupidly large profits, and a large number of the empty seats were ones that people tired to gouge prices on. I am actually happy that nobody bought them; perhaps it will discourage this type of behavior in the future.

Some FO awards

Yup a couple of the RSL front office staff were among the league award winners this season:
Best XI, New Season Ticket Sales:

Steve Peterson (Real Salt Lake)
Andrew Lukanich (Real Salt Lake)
Rookie Salesperson of the Year:

New Season Ticket Sales, Andrew Lukanich (Real Salt Lake)

Expansion Draft

Next up will be the MLS Expansion draft, this year it will take place on Wednesday the 26th and we will find out which MLS players will be joining Seattle Sounders FC. Already on their roster are: Sebastien Le Toux, Kasey Keller, Sanna Nyassi, and their DP Freddie Ljungberg, RSL didn’t lose a single player to San Jose in last year’s Expansion Draft, but I don’t expect that will be the case this time around.

Teams announce the 11 players they are protecting on Monday by 3pm EST, I will post the list as soon as it comes out. I am currently looking for the Generation Adidas information and which if any RSL players may no longer be in the program and how that could impact who we protect.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

November will also see Houston try to qualify for the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions cup, the day before Thanksgiving, a win of CD Luis Angel Firpo should secure a spot for them as the only MLS team with a shot. DC United didn’t get a single win, and only managed one draw in their group.

2009 schedule

The 2009 schedule news will come shortly after the expansion draft and how will having another Western Conference team impact the schedule? There will be fewer teams that we face 3 times, as the league moves to 15 teams and a 30 match schedule. This will mean only room for us to have 2 opponents that we face 3 times, my guess will be Colorado and Chivas, but it could be San Jose. I don’t expect the full schedule to be released until January, but it was the first week of December that we got the news about opening days, home openers and big matches like LA and Chicago.

SuperDraft

January will bring the Combine and the SuperDraft, but RSL has moved most of their draft picks so I don’t expect a lot of action in this seasons draft. Towards the end of the month RSL will likely once again journey to California or Florida to begin their off season training, this is also the major opening in the FIFA transfer window and could see RSL busy once again in the international market place. Last season we brought in Joy, Borchers, Olave, and a few others that didn’t stick, I expect we will see a number of fresh faces in RSL’s preseason camps.

2010 World Cup Qualifiying

We will also see both 2010 World Cup Qualifying continue, can’t wait to find out where the Feburary 11^th USA vs. Mexico match will be held. Hopefully RSL will be able to secure one of the qualifying matches, here is the list of Qualifying matches for the US squad.

I would love to see that Sept 5^th match be held at Rio Tinto, it would be a great birthday present from the team to me.

Anyhow that is it for now, I will post the protected lists later this afternoon.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Posted in The soapbox | 1 Comment »

November 19, 2008 by f4denz.

The image is a hyperlink to the announcement site. You can see the video of the link there.

Posted in The soapbox | 1 Comment »