Marcus Hahnemann and the goalkeeper puzzle

As a Seattle native, Marcus Hahnemann has been targeted as a potential Sounder in MLS almost since the team was announced. As somewhat of a response, three-ish weeks ago he wrote, "...let me shout it loud and clear. Playing for the Sounders again is an attractive proposition but there are only two things on my mind right now. No 1: keeping Reading in the Premier League. No 2: having a better campaign in the top flight next season." This was, of course, absolutely the right thing to say. 

However, thanks to a Fulham away win, Reading were relegated from the Premier league today. So who knows what is on Hahnemann's mind now. With Reading going down and probably choosing to offload some of their pricier players, SSFC might have just been given a very good opportunity to sign the 36 year old keeper. 

The USL Sounders already have a very strong goalkeeper in Chris Eylander, who was one of USL's best last year (and just held league-leading Portland to a scoreless draw last night). So keeper is not necessarily a position of need. But Eylander has publicly said that he would love to play understudy to either Hahnemann or local boy/Fulham keeper Kasey Keller (who almost certainly will be staying at his club next year). If Hahnemann is ready to come home, the Sounders will find a way to make it happen. It all depends on him at this point, and the rest of us will have to wait and see. 

Le Toux official and other related things

Thanks to David at Goal Seattle we learned that Sebastien Le Toux is the first Sounders FC signee sometime last month. Well, apparently word just got around to the newspapers, because it wasn't officially announced until yesterday. (No idea on the contract information, but we'd guess 80k to 100k a year for 3 or 4 years). While that is no new information, there are a few things to be learned from this announcement.

- The internet is your friend, as far as breaking news goes. We had the official team name figured out ahead of time and Goal Seattle had the Le Toux thing way ahead of time. And it's not just us. As we get further into the internet age, bloggers are being able to get information about any number of subjects much faster than newspapers and get it online immediately, while a print paper may take a week or more to get a story printed. It is and will continue to be a big shift in the way the public gets their information.

-To complete this signing, SSFC signed Le Toux, then immediately loaned him to the USL Sounders for the remainder of this season. Huh.

- Here's USL Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, via the Indirect Kick blog. "We’ve developed him on the USL level. Now he’s made the jump to Seattle Sounders FC. We hope to do that with six, eight, 10 of (the USL Sounders) and hopefully we can have a good nucleus of the team for ’09." All we're going to say about that is if they seriously think 8 or 10 guys can go from the USL to MLS, the 2009 season is going to be a very painful one to watch. For some perspective: Le Toux, last seasons USL MVP, only wound up on the Sounders after he was cut from FC Dallas. Let's hope this quote from Schmetzer is just motivational and not an insight into the strategy of SSFC.

San Jose's forward problem, and how Seattle can avoid one of their own

A little more than a month into the MLS season might be a bit early to declare the season lost for the San Jose Earthquakes. From their 5 matches they have garnered a win and a draw, and have looked well ahead of where last year's expansion team, Toronto FC, were at this point last year. They focused on building from the back, and thus they have an average-MLS-caliber defense and a very good keeper in Joe Cannon. But they made a sacrifice to do so, and that sacrifice is on the offensive end.

San Jose's forward corps is basically made up of bench players. Kei Kamara and Gavin Glinton, the two normal starters, are nothing special at all. Glinton in particular has been wildly unproductive thus far, putting just 2 shots on goal even though he's been given 4 starts. Newly acquired Peguero Jean Phillippe is sort of an unknown quantity, though his skill level probably lies somewhere in between 'meh' and 'decent.' They've even resorted to trying rookie winger Shea Salinas up front. Needless to say, the production has been less than spectacular. They have just 2 goals in 5 games, and what we've seen of their attack has not impressed us at all.

What San Jose has shown us is this. For 2009, the Sounders cannot afford to try and build their striker corps through the expansion draft and with the best of their USL side. Of the two main current Sounders forwards, Sebastien Le Toux probably projects to be a midfielder or winger in MLS, and Roger Levesque is aging and definitely not MLS starter quality. So they will need to look abroad for at least one and probably two good strikers. We can optimistically assume that some young forward will be signed out of Africa or South America due to Adrian Hanauer's travels. So let's look to Europe.

Three obvious names are out there. Cam Weaver, former Sounder and current striker in Sweden. Preston Zimmerman, a local 19 year old playing for Hamburg SV. And of course Thierry Henry, who has recently said that the only EPL team he would transfer to would be Arsenal, somewhat of an unrealistic proposition given that club's tight financial drawstrings. Yet Mr. Henry is probably going to be shown the door at Barcelona this summer. Don't get your hopes up, but that possibility remains out there. That would be the best way to avoid having a boring, unproductive San Jose-esque offense come 2009.

Tickets, please

You can buy tickets for the Brazil-Canada match May 31 as of now. Technically, only season-ticket holders are able to do so, but even if you're not one, go to the Ticketmaster website, find the match and enter the code of SOUNDERSFC. We won't tell if you won't.

Also, for the clever fans who already have their season tickets locked up, seat selection is now available. (That information's been emailed to you, of course.) The link here lets you see the view in Qwest from each section, as well as price and stuff. We'll probably be in section 139 or 140, and the supporters groups will be chanting, cheering and getting their drink on in sections 121-123. Ticket prices are actually quite reasonable, starting with under $300 for the 18-game season package, so we'll play advertiser and tell you to sign up if you haven't already. Really, if you're a soccer fan, why wouldn't you?

(Tried to link a picture of the seating map, but it's taking like 20 minutes to upload for some reason, so instead you can view it here.)

O Brasil vem a Seattle!

The match is booked - Brazil will play Canada in Qwest Field at 7:30 on Saturday, May 31! With World Cup Qualifying coming up for both countries, they should be fielding something very close to their full sides. This is obviously most exciting for the Brazilians that may be playing in the Emerald City, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most Seattleites to see Ronaldinho, Robinho and a host of other superstars. 

We aren't thrilled about the ticket prices - the cheapest are going to run 35 dollars - but that's a minor negative to a fantastic situation. Besides, the match shouldn't have any problem selling out the entirety of Qwest.  The Mariners have a daygame that day, so parking won't be ridiculous. And hopefully in a month's time, the Sounders will have some gear adorned with their new logo for the 67,000 soccer fans to get their hands on. Now all that's left is to get our hands on some tickets - available Monday for all you commoners not already signed up for Sounders 09 season tickets. Probably Saturday for those that are.

Cuban connection?

We've got word that three defectors from the Cuban U-23 national team - keeper Jose Manuel Miranda, midfielder Yordany Alvarez and defender and former captain Yenier Bermudez - are probably on their way to Seattle to try out. Sounders fans may remember a similar situation, as three years ago Cuban striker Maykel Galindo defected, joined the Sounders and scored a few goals while battling injuries. He has since gone on to start for Chivas USA and has scored 13 goals over the last 2 years in MLS. Are Miranda, Alvarez and Bermudez potential MLS players? Hard to say.

We're still trying to get more details on the situation of these three players, but here's the jist of it. The three Cubans tried out for the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA over the last week or so, but were unable to sign contracts basically since they don't currently have identification. Quite possibly, when they get said identification in the coming months, Seattle will be fighting with the two Los Angeles clubs to sign these promising players. Someone should introduce them to the Mariners' Cuban shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt when they arrive. Or maybe buy them a sandwich from Paseo.

And from the LA Times, here's the back story on Miranda, Alvarez and Bermudez. It's really a fascinating one.

(MONDAY NIGHT EDIT: Still no word on whether or not the three are in Seattle yet, but the Sounders have definitely been talking with them.)