Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Comments (3)
E-mail article
Print view
Sounders FC will listen to trade talks
The Major League Soccer combine ended Tuesday in Florida, and as Sounders FC representatives head to the SuperDraft in St. Louis Thursday, Seattle is involved in talks about trading its draft picks.
Seattle Times staff reporter
Coaches and staff from Seattle Sounders FC are on their way to St. Louis today for the 2009 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, which is Thursday at 11 a.m.
The MLS player combine ended Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, offering the Sounders FC contingent one last look at the crop of talent from which it will pick at the draft. Seattle currently has the first overall selection and the first choice in the subsequent three rounds.
The field observations are over and players have either gone home, back to school or to St. Louis, but the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing will continue late into Wednesday night. Sounders FC is now weighing trade offers that include shipping that top pick to another team for more picks, allocation money or veteran players.
"The lobby bar at the hotel is sort of a sociological study," head coach Sigi Schmid said Tuesday. "Different teams will have their different little corners and somebody will go over there and talk to one other team and then they'll come back and another team will talk, and everyone's sort of wondering 'OK, what are they doing? What are they doing? It's an interesting exercise."
Schmid said the Sounders are right in the thick of those negotiations.
"We have to be part of that or else we get left in the cold," he said. "Obviously we've talked to some teams and those talks are ongoing."
Trade talk could continue even until the morning of the draft.
If Sounders FC doesn't get an offer it likes, it still has the top pick. The team figures to get an impact player, someone like forward Steve Zakuani from Akron or defender Omar Gonzalez from Maryland, two underclassmen eligible to be drafted because they left college early to sign Generation Adidas contracts with MLS. Those deals are reserved for what MLS deems to be the top tier of younger talent in the country that has not yet completed college eligibility.
"I've been through a few of these," said Schmid, who attended combines as coach of Columbus and Los Angeles in years past. "Every year there's obviously some players who exceed expectations, some players who don't reach the expectations some people have of them. But overall I think this combine is a little bit deeper than the last couple. The quality of players goes deeper. It probably extends well into the middle of the second round."
Zakuani is widely viewed as the first pick, but Schmid said he doesn't know if there's a clear-cut No. 1 this year as there was when midfielder Maurice Edu went to Toronto FC with the top overall pick in 2007.
Schmid offered his assessment of the scoring-minded Zakuani and Gonzalez, a 6-foot-5 converted forward.
"Omar Gonzalez has played well. He was only here for two games because he had to go back for a school obligation. But he played well," Schmid said. "He's a big guy who's good in the air and he's a talented defender. Zakuani is a player who's got a little bit of special quality to him. He's a player who likes to take players on off the dribble. He's had some good moments here [in Florida], he's had some average moments as well."
José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
Officiating has Sounders FC ready for rough-and-tumble finale
Soccer | Chicago Fire advances to MLS Eastern Conference final
Sounders FC 'superfans' will be cheering in Houston
Sounders FC's playoff foe features players with Northwest ties
MLS | Real Salt Lake ousts Columbus with 3-2 win

Mourners gather at KeyArena for slain officer's memorial
Mourners gathered at KeyArena for the memorial service of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on November 6, 2009.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Flags were key link to cop slaying, bombings
- Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
- Briefs | Soccer: New Mexico suspends hair-pulling player Elizabeth Lambert
- McGinn pulling away as late ballots come in
- Huskies suffer another heartbreaking loss to UCLA
- Using anti-shooter tactics, civilian Army police officer brought down gunman
- Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
- Heavy snow in Cascades shuts down roads
- Consortium on verge of owning Eastside railway land
- Suspect in officer's slaying shot by police
- UCLA game thread
940 - Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
389 - Weapons, bomb-making materials found in suspect's apartment
334 - Troubling portrait emerges of Fort Hood suspect
287 - Decision day for health care in the House
200 - McGinn widens lead over Mallahan in Seattle mayoral race
183 - U.S. House passes health plan
138 - Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
98 - Huskies suffer another heartbreaking loss to UCLA
95 - Referendum 71 show's Washington's strategy for marriage equality is working
84
- Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
- Flags were key link to cop slaying, bombings
- Consortium on verge of owning Eastside railway land
- Guest columnist | Cut the South Carolina jokes, Seattle. Get ready to compete
- McGinn pulling away as late ballots come in
- Danny Westneat | Lee the Horse Logger found slow wagon shrank tumor
- Movie review | 'An Education' you won't forget
- Do It in a Day | Spend a cozy, homey day in Edmonds
- Practical Mac | With new features, Apple's MobileMe is worth the price
- 10 ways to take control of your health






