Seattle Sounders 2015 Season Thread

[Sgt. Largent]

Becks was unique, even suburban housewives who don't even like sports knew who he was because of his brand and who he was married too.

Iba isn't even close to that level of celebrity. Not saying he can't come over stateside and have a little success. But if he thinks he's going to be warmly embraced by mainstream America and make tens of millions like Beckham doing endorsements, TV, movies, etc. I just can't see that.

I don't think any of the Euro league players coming over think they will be Becks (Ronaldo would in fairness). But they see the path that Becks followed and the opportunity.

What do you think the impact would be if Chicharito would join MLS?

Much higher profile impact because of the Spanish population. Too bad he just turned down an offer from Orlando.

http://nesn.com/2015/04/report-javier-c ... ando-city/

A Mexican star in his prime playing in the MLS? Holy moly, that'd be huge.

 

[Smurf]

Becks was unique, even suburban housewives who don't even like sports knew who he was because of his brand and who he was married too.

Iba isn't even close to that level of celebrity. Not saying he can't come over stateside and have a little success. But if he thinks he's going to be warmly embraced by mainstream America and make tens of millions like Beckham doing endorsements, TV, movies, etc. I just can't see that.

I don't think any of the Euro league players coming over think they will be Becks (Ronaldo would in fairness). But they see the path that Becks followed and the opportunity.

What do you think the impact would be if Chicharito would join MLS?

Much higher profile impact because of the Spanish population. Too bad he just turned down an offer from Orlando.

http://nesn.com/2015/04/report-javier-c ... ando-city/

A Mexican star in his prime playing in the MLS? Holy moly, that'd be huge.

Indeed. It's a shame he turned down the offer. It would have been huge for Orlando and the League.


Chicago is still televised in Mexico due to Blanco playing there for that period of time.

 

[knownone]

I don't think MLS is that far behind other leagues in technical ability. Look at a guy like Marco Pappa, he has the technical ability to play in Europe, but he's severely lacking in the tactical acumen to play at that level. On the flip side you have a guy like Inzaghi who is not technical at all, but had great positioning and timing and he had a great career in Europe.
That is the biggest difference between MLS and most of the Euro leagues. It's more than just knowing how to do something, it's knowing when and where to use that ability... That's my issue with Neagle, I understand that he's not going to weight the perfect ball every time and that's fine. What I don't understand is why he tries to dribble past 3 guys or make the same run as Dempsey further clogging the middle.

The difference between the MLS and the top leagues is MLS players have holes in their game, some more than others.

A player will have blinding speed and quickness, but below average technical ability (Neagle, Yedlin, etc.), or above average technical ability, but average to below average speed (Mauro Rosales, Pappa, etc.)

The top clubs in top leagues have no player on their starting 11 that isn't a fully formed well rounded soccer player with every box checkmarked. Speed, technical ability, decision making, pace and effort, etc.

That's why most MLS players are making 200k in the MLS instead of 2M a year in a top league. As Si has stated, you fix this by developing our own players............and the MLS also knows this, which is why now finally they're committing serious dollars and resources into things like the S2 league, homegrown players and underage DP rules.

To be fair, I'm talking about Europe as a whole, not just the top leagues. I would agree that if you're in EPL or on one of the top teams in other leagues then sure, most MLS player are not well rounded enough to make it. However, players like Mauro Rosales and Pappa have played in Europe, and if you read the reasoning behind Pappa's return it had little to do with technical ability and everything to do with his overall acumen, in other words decision making.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Pirlo, Totti, Medunjanin, Salihovic, ect... don't have much in the way of speed, or pace. Sure they make up for it in technical ability, but they are not fully formed or well rounded by your standard.

It's ridiculous to use salary as an indicator of talent. MLS by design deflates salaries and only EPL has an average salary above 2M a year. Look at a guy like Lee Nguyen, he makes around 200k a year yet there are rumors that he could move to Vietnam for 6x that amount. What about Yedlin? He went from making 50K a year to 1M a year. Most of the good players in MLS don't want to leave the states for slightly more money over seas, sometimes it's not worth it when you are established and settled.

Everything else we agree on.

 

[SeatownJay]

Former Sounder and USMNT forward Eddie Johnson is apparently retiring at 31 because of a medical issue with his heart.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soc ... lay-again/

 

[Trenchbroom]

Former Sounder and USMNT forward Eddie Johnson is apparently retiring at 31 because of a medical issue with his heart.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soc ... lay-again/

Shame. Good luck Eddie!

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It's ridiculous to use salary as an indicator of talent. MLS by design deflates salaries and only EPL has an average salary above 2M a year. Look at a guy like Lee Nguyen, he makes around 200k a year yet there are rumors that he could move to Vietnam for 6x that amount. What about Yedlin? He went from making 50K a year to 1M a year. Most of the good players in MLS don't want to leave the states for slightly more money over seas, sometimes it's not worth it when you are established and settled..

Of course happiness and quality of life is an important factor, it is with any job. Happy family = happy life.

But that's what I love about professional sports, it's really the only true meritocracy. If you are good, you will be paid accordingly, regardless of sex, skin color, where you were born, who your parents were, etc.

So yeah a lot of MLS players could go play for lower tier teams and 2nd division clubs, a lot have. But in the end if we're discussing the bigger picture of why MLS players are MLS players, it's because 90% of them have holes in their game and couldn't make the jump to the bigger more lucrative leagues in the world (or are on their way down, and now with players like Yedlin up as well).

 

[Uncle Si]

Sporting KC stadium and atmosphere are fantastic.

About 20K in a small stadium, totally enclosed except for the roof. More of a "stands" feel than layered seating. Up close rows. Great time.

 

[Smurf]

Sporting KC stadium and atmosphere are fantastic.

About 20K in a small stadium, totally enclosed except for the roof. More of a "stands" feel than layered seating. Up close rows. Great time.

Its always looked great on the telly! Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Uncle Si]

Sporting KC stadium and atmosphere are fantastic.

About 20K in a small stadium, totally enclosed except for the roof. More of a "stands" feel than layered seating. Up close rows. Great time.

Its always looked great on the telly! Glad you enjoyed it!

Soccer Capital of the US, they say.

Really rolled it out for us as well. Had us in for the pre-game meeting, met with coaches, some of the players were ball boys. Think the kids are excited for what it will look like in MN in 3 years

They had staff members at all our games as well.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Frustrating match, reminded me of the first couple of years of Sounder's soccer.............where we'd have triple the shots on goal every match but could never finish.

Yesterday's match was a microcosm of why Neagle will never be a good player, horrible touches and can't finish. I counted four perfect opportunities, every one right at Penedo.

Also still mess in the midfield, revolving door of young players isn't resulting in quality. When Oba has to come all the way back to Ozzie just to get a touch, that's a big ass red flag.

 

[dumbrabbit]

If we had Dempsey, I bet they would have finished one of those shots

 

[Sgt. Largent]

If we had Dempsey, I bet we would have finished one of those goals.

Not only finish, but help track back and create some possession and chances..........which he's brilliant at. You could tell Oba was getting super frustrated with the service he was getting from the likes of Rose, Neagle and Roldan.

Bright spots were Ozzie going a full 90 without any issues and looking like his usual pitbull self, and I thought Remick showed nicely.

 

[Smurf]

Frustrating match, reminded me of the first couple of years of Sounder's soccer.............where we'd have triple the shots on goal every match but could never finish.

Yesterday's match was a microcosm of why Neagle will never be a good player, horrible touches and can't finish. I counted four perfect opportunities, every one right at Penedo.

Also still mess in the midfield, revolving door of young players isn't resulting in quality. When Oba has to come all the way back to Ozzie just to get a touch, that's a big ass red flag.

1. Match was frustrating. But we had our best attacking game of the season.

2. Neagle had his best game of the year and set a franchise record for Shots on Goal. Penedo was out of his mind that game. Our performance diminished when he came off the pitch.

3. Oba only started coming deep later in the game. After the 75th minute he started getting super deep (way deeper than normal). Our mid field wasn't perfect yesterday, but hardly worrying. Again, we had our best attacking game of the season (maybe not finishing, but attacking movements). One problem this team has right now is the tendency to play slow. Roldan, Neagle, Martins and Alonso fixed that. They were playing really, really quick when in the attack. Rose made some good movements too. I am honestly most upset and Pappa. Every time he touched the ball he slowed the attack. He sat on the ball, and sat on the ball, did a step over, then dragged it back, then did 2 more step overs, then dragged it back, then switched to his right, and then back to his left...and then passed it backwards. IMO Pappa should have been the first player off the pitch yesterday.

Again, the youth yesterday was not a negative influence to our attack or defense, but was actually one of the biggest positives. Without Roldan on the field we have probably 5 less chances at least. He was magnificent yesterday. Remick too.


IMO our biggest issue was substitutions. This was not a Chad Barrett game. I don't know in what world this looks like a game that Chad Barrett would succeed at. Our best attacking chances have come from movement, and pace....so lets bring on a physical brute player. When he came on and Neagle departed that was it. That was game over. I would have preferred to see Mansaray come on at 65 for Neagle or Pappa. Just not a fan of the subs yesterday. Seemed like we gave up on the style of play that was working....

 

[Smurf]

I'm shocked that people think Roldan had a bad game. I felt he was one of our best players yesterday.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

IMO our biggest issue was substitutions. This was not a Chad Barrett game. I don't know in what world this looks like a game that Chad Barrett would succeed at. Our best attacking chances have come from movement, and pace....so lets bring on a physical brute player. When he came on and Neagle departed that was it. That was game over. I would have preferred to see Mansaray come on at 65 for Neagle or Pappa. Just not a fan of the subs yesterday. Seemed like we gave up on the style of play that was working....

Sigi didn't have a choice really, he was trying to inject some offense with Barrett.

Maybe if we didn't spend the first 70 minutes wearing everybody out chasing LA's possession around, then guys like Pappa and Neagle could have played the entire 90.

And while this might have been our best attacking match so far, it was arguably our worst form and spacing. But that's what happens when you play young guys, they're out of position A LOT. Thus so much possession by LA getting off 15 passes in a row before we could get the ball back. So yeah, Rose, Neagle and Roldan's workrate was top notch, but their passing, positioning and spacing was awful. How many times was Rose standing literally right next to Ozzie occupying the same space? Too many times for me to count.

All that equaled a very worn out Sounders team by minute 70. Thus the need to sub.

 

[knownone]

I'm shocked that people think Roldan had a bad game. I felt he was one of our best players yesterday.

I'm with you on this one, I felt Roldan was the best midfielder outside of Alonso. Pappa was pretty bad going forward yesterday and Rose was pretty much non existent.

You are 100% right about subs... what the heck was Sigi thinking? I don't mind Neagle for Barrett if Neagle is gassed, it just seemed like odd timing. We needed more pace and instead we slowed down.

 

[hawkfan68]

Having a finishing problem and thinking that Barrett is the solution is the first mistake. Barrett couldn't finish in a game a few weeks ago. Sounds like that trend continues...

 

[Uncle Si]

Frustrating match, reminded me of the first couple of years of Sounder's soccer.............where we'd have triple the shots on goal every match but could never finish.

Yesterday's match was a microcosm of why Neagle will never be a good player, horrible touches and can't finish. I counted four perfect opportunities, every one right at Penedo.

Also still mess in the midfield, revolving door of young players isn't resulting in quality. When Oba has to come all the way back to Ozzie just to get a touch, that's a big ass red flag.

1. Match was frustrating. But we had our best attacking game of the season.

In a game lost 1-0...

Soccer sucks sometimes

 

[SeatownJay]

Neagle with two goals so far tonight, including a beautiful chip into the far corner.

 

[hawkfan68]

Nice win for the Sounders on the road. Neagle with 2 goals and Martins with another. Defense was out of sorts in the first half but they held in the 2nd half.