A Schmetzer Christmas for all

Longtime fans of the USL Sounders recieved a double early Christmas present at the start of this week. The first was a bit of a slip by new coach Sigi Schmid, with him mentioning that Chris Eylander would be playing understudy keeper to Kasey Keller. Eylander, both a Sounders fan favorite and one of the teams best players, had been considered a must-sign. If all goes well, he should be ready to take over between the pipes in two or three years time.

The second gift, however, was even better. USL Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer was given an assistant coach spot in the new Sounders regime. He led the Sounders to two USL titles, which nicely parallels the two Schmid has won in MLS. He also was the man many USL Sounders supporters strongly wanted for the Sounders FC head coaching job, but this way makes more sense. He needs to learn the ins and outs of MLS, an extremely complex and unusual league. Plus, as I suggested earlier, Schmetzer will immediatly become the heir to the Sounders FC coaching throne, should Schmid leave in two years or five.

So the longtime fans have been duly rewarded. Could any other former USL Sounders make the jump up - Taylor Graham? Kevin Sakuda? Kenji Treschuk? With only 10 roster spots left, and five probably tabbed for young prospects, the chances are slim. I'll take a look at that on Monday. Until then, happy holidays, and may you all recieve something rave green.

*CHRISTMAS EDIT* Holy crap do the new jerseys look awesome in real life

Latest Sounders signing is super... but Sigi's not the savior

Tomorrow the Sounders will unveil the worst-kept secret since... well, their last major announcement, the signing of Ljungberg as Designated Player. Funny how these things leak ahead of time.

In any case, at 11 AM PT Sigi Schmid will officially be given the reigns to Seattle's newest sports franchise. He will immediately inherit a fan base nearly large enough to fill Columbus Crew stadium to capacity. Many of these fans have high expectations - after all, Sigi did just mold the Crew into the best team in MLS this year. But those should be tempered. Sigi does have the pieces necessary to recreate his success with Columbus (and the Galaxy prior to that), but it will take time. And he might not be in Seattle long enough to finish the job.

As Crew blogger Bill Archer points out, Sigi has long had his eye on the US National Team job. He has twice coached the U-20 USA team, and having accomplished just about everything possible in MLS - and some of it twice - there's only one challenge remaining on his coaching checklist. Plus the Nats job would allow him to be based out of his current residence in Southern California. If being close to home was a factor in his choosing Seattle over Columbus, it certainly would be if the USA job became available. And should the current USA coach, Bob Bradley, be fired after the 2010 World Cup, you'd have to expect Sigi to want to take over.

So would two years be enough time for the silver-haired Schmid to create a winner in Seattle? His track record is mixed. His first year Galaxy squad were the regular-season's best team in 1998, but his first two years with the Crew produced zero playoff appearances. So it might not be crazy to expect a playoff team in 2010, but maybe a touch optimistic. As for 2009... well, we can dream.

To avoid running the risk of appearing like too much of a downer, here are three reasons that Sigi's signing is still a big positive.

- If Sigi adds on USL Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer as an assistant, two years might be the perfect period for Schmetz to learn the ins and outs of MLS. Then when Sigi goes, Seattle has a perfect replacement lined up.
- Sigi's biggest strength is his knowledge and usage of young American players. His record with international players is a bit more mixed. But GM Adrian Hanauer has a notoriously good eye for int's, having signed Le Toux and Nyassi as well as Maykel Galindo a few years ago. The two should compliment each other.
- Sigi was the best coach available. You can't argue with that!

Meet the Sounders new coach

Sigi Schmidt is one of the best coaches in MLS history. He led the Columbus Crew through the regular season with the top record in the league, and finished the year off with a victory in MLS Cup 2008. It was the first ever for the massive bananas of Columbus. With his contract expiring after the season, Sigi was always a candidate for the Sounders job, and those rumors were fueled even more with the news that Schmidt was in talks with Sounders brass. Sigi wants to be on the west coast. Sigi wants money. We can provide both.

Now today comes the announcement that Schmidt will not be returning to the Columbus Crew next season.

I wonder where he could possibly be heading.

A guide to understanding front office-speak

The expansion draft is over and done with, and if you've been living under a rock for the past 5 days, here's a link to all our new players. Not surprisingly, following the draft, Adrian Hanauer and Chris Henderson took the opportunity to talk up each of their choices. But what did they really mean? Here's a rough translation.

Quote: "Without getting in to too much detail, Nate (Jaqua) definitely, from the Northwest, liked the idea of coming to the Northwest. Nothing was certain until it was certain in terms of the expansion draft."
Translation: Yeah, there was a pre-arranged deal for Jaqua to come to Seattle.

Quote: "We felt this group would blend well with the players already under contract, and those players we have in our crosshairs for the future, and guys who we’re pulling the wagons on as we speak."
Translation: We wanted to draft a supporting cast for Ljungberg and Sigi Schmidt.

Quote: "Whether all ten of them will be there or not, I guess that’s certainly a question. We will have more players vying for a roster spot than roster spots available. So I hope they’re all there, but at the same time, we are going to try to bring in as much quality to fight for roster spots as possible."
Translation: I am not going to tell you guys anything about how this team is going to be constructed. You can torture me like Westley in The Princess Bride, but I still won't tell whether or not we trade Sturgis.

Quote: (On Peter Vagenas) "He’s been a winner at every level. To have Pete come up to Seattle, I think his veteran leadership is going to be very important for us."
Translation: Sigi wanted him. Get off my back, okay?

Quote: "When you compare Gaven and Evans, first, they’re both very good players. We’ll start with Evans. He’s an exciting central player. I think he was a very big part of Columbus’ championship run. He can score. He’s a competitor. He has a great desire to improve as a player. He’s not afraid to shoot from distance, and that was an important piece for us as well."
Translation: We took Evans over Gaven because getting a young quality starter for 33k a year is totally ballin'.

The mystery of the missing coach

November 26 - MLS Expansion Draft

January 18 - MLS Draft

January 28 - Sounders FC Training camp begins

2nd or 3rd week of March - Inaugural Sounders FC home match
??????? - Head Coach is announced

As you can see by the above timeline, the expansion draft is fast approaching. In under 2 weeks the Sounders will add 10 players and finally have enough to construct a full side. The question, however, remains - who will be doing the construction? Logic suggests that it might be a good idea to have the coach in place prior to the draft, so an announcement should be coming soon. Like we haven't heard that before.

Adrian Hanauer is notorious for playing events close to the chest and not wanting information to leak ahead of time, so who knows how far along in the process the Sounders are. They may not have had the chance to interview one candidate, current Columbus head coach Sigi Schmidt, who has been linked with the job by multiple online sources. But since his side is heading to MLS Cup next Sunday, he'd presumably be unable to interview for a new team in between. And reportedly the Sounders were denied permission to speak with him. I've never thought Sigi ever had a chance of happening, anyways. He's about to have a bunch of money thrown at him by Columbus ownership, and he's crafted the Crew into the best team in the league over the last few years. I think he stays put.

The other major candidates are currently part of teams who already are out of the playoffs - Brian Schmetzer (Seattle) Preki (Chivas), John Spencer and Dom Kinnear (Houston), Paul Mariner (New England). All crashed out last week, save for the USL Sounders who went out in the first round of their playoffs. I would not be in the least bit surprised if some or all of those names are going through the interview process this week. With that timeframe in mind, the new coach very well could be announced as soon as next Monday, or in the days following.

Oh, you want a prediction? At the risk of sacrificing my stellar prognostication reputation, I think Preki gets the nod.

The coaching candidates

Within a month or two, the first-ever Sounders FC coach will have been anointed. The Sounders front office has a list of potential candidates, but they won't tell anyone who is on it, save the one blindingly obvious possibility. It might not be current Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, however, because they 'want someone with MLS experience.' If he doesn't get the head job, I fully expect Schmetzer to be named as assistant coach. With that in mind, here are my top 5 most-likely coaching candidates for the Sounders.

Preki
Current job: Head coach, Chivas USA
Northwest connection: 1 year with Tacoma Stars, good friend of Brian Schmetzer
Positives: Knows MLS extremely well and would have great insight on current players in the league, would work well with Schmetzer as an assistant coach, is relatively young, could coach an attacking style.
Negatives: Controversial among Chivas fans – has been criticized for tactical decisions and a perceived inability to motivate. His squad has underperformed this year.
Random fact: Is the only 2-time MLS MVP (’97. ’03) and the all-time MLS leader in points.

Brian Schmetzer
Current job: Head coach, Seattle Sounders (USL)
Northwest connection: Born here, grew up here, played here (1980-83, 85), coached here (1988-present)
Positives: Knows the city of Seattle and many Sounders players, already works well with GM Adrian Hanauer, has proven USL track record of success, is loved by USL Sounders fans.
Negatives: Reportedly the Sounders FC want someone with MLS experience, and Schmetzer has none. Might not be able to deal with the egos of big-money star players.
Random fact: Before coaching the Sounders, he simply ran his construction business and coached his son’s youth team.

Fernando Clavijo
Current job: nope
Most recent job: Head coach, Colorado Rapids
Northwest connection: Coached Seattle Seadogs (1995-97)
Positives: Has coached with Schmetzer before, is good at developing young players.
Negatives: Was not very good in his time with Colorado, little team success, perennial underachievers. Not a good tactician. Hated by Rapids fans.
Random fact: Once coached an indoor team called the Florida ThunderCats. I kid you not.

Peter Nowak
Current job: Assistant coach, U.S. National Team
Northwest connection: none
Positives: Great all-around coach, knows MLS and US players extremely well, won an MLS Cup in 3 years as D.C. United head coach.
Negatives: Underperformed as coach of USA Olympic team this summer. Probably isn’t interested in Sounders job.
Random fact: Captained the Polish national team for 3 years in his playing days.

Paul Mariner
Current job: Assistant coach, New England Revolution
Northwest connection: none
Positives: Regarded as the top assistant in MLS, works very well with players, has stated his desire for the Sounders job, would provide an opportunity for countless ‘Seattle Mariner’ puns.
Negatives: Has not been a head coach at a level higher than youth soccer, might not be able to coach the attacking style of soccer Seattle wants.
Random fact: Scored the winning goal for England in a do-or-die match that sent them to the 1982 World Cup.

Other possible candidates include Crew coach Sigi Schmidt and Houston assistant John Spencer, but I don’t think either of them will take the job. Sigi is probably happy with league-leading Columbus, and Spencer probably would prefer the Colorado job, as he was a fan favorite there in his playing days.

The verdict? I'd prefer Preki or Nowak, but I expect Mariner to be named the head coach eventually. And that's not a bad thing, he's a very strong candidate. But, as always, we will have to wait and see.