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Upheaval at hand in Sounders land?

By JOSE M. ROMERO

The team that Blaise N'kufo will suit up for, perhaps as soon as tonight, might not be the team the Swiss international figured he'd line up with.

Injuries are a part of that, but N'kufo will be a veteran among plenty of youngsters when the Seattle Sounders take the field against D.C. United. N'Kufo is active for tonight's match, but he won't be in the starting lineup.

"We can't expect him to be the savior," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid told the Seattle Times.

 N'kufo's arrival should have been the big news of the week for Seattle, but it's being overshadowed by two other developments in Sounders camp: GM Adrian Hanauer's pronouncement that designated player Freddie Ljungberg is not off-limits in talks with other teams about moving him, and the Sounders taking a long look at a younger lineup in the face of a season that has not gone well.

Ljungberg did not travel with the team to D.C., according to reports, because of a bad ankle. His production has fallen off, with only three assists and no goals in 15 games, and his contract expires in November. The Sounders tried Miguel Montano, Mike Seamon and Nathan Sturgis in the midfield in a 1-1 draw at home against FC Dallas. 

Not to say that the time for the veterans is up, but Schmid might be in evaluation mode — looking at what he has off his bench in game conditions to determine if these are players that have a future with the club, and in the process the veterans sit out.

Montano, 19, has shown flashes of brilliance but didn't help his own cause with a red card in the second half. With a man down, Seattle didn't have enough to hold off Dallas in the closing minutes.

"I thought we put the right team out there. I thought we played with a lot of energy, we played well," Schmid said after Sunday's game. "We scored a good goal in the first half and had some other good changes. The red card had a big impact on this game. They (Dallas) played well and ended up scoring a great goal."

Comments

  1. Well you are right, he does not get back to defend. As far as the physicality of the league goes, is it really all that more physical on the whole or is it that the players target him that way because they can’t handle him otherwise?

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  2. So the offense can’t get him the ball?

    Fair enough without Alonso, it is not exactly a well oiled machine.

    Who do you blame for him not getting back to play defense ? Or him not being able to stand up ( literally ) to the physical MLS.

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  3. im a bit surprised people believed Ljungberg was going to be good. He was injured and fell out at west ham which hasnt had a good season in a bit….

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  4. The team plays better when freddie’s not in the lineup; in fact they’re undefeated this year when Freddie doesn’t play.

    I think it’s too easy to blame everyone but him. Even the good players on crap teams get stuff done some of the time.

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  5. I don’t think he was “asked” to take corner kicks as much as he pretty much demanded…. plus he sucks so bad in the air, it’s one less liability in the box.

    I think that’s another thing on the laundry list of items about Freddie that irritates Sigi.

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  6. IMO Freddie has been subject to some pretty poor play around him. Maybe it is a fault of his that he has not been able to raise the level around him as a leader on the pitch but I still blame a lot of the issues on the midfield and defense not getting him the ball. When he is on fire he has been amazing at controlling balls as they come in and getting free of trouble as well as burning people on the dribble. On the down side his corners, set pieces and his actual shots on goal have been horrible for someone with such a resume.

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  7. I can’t see that happening. He’s never played in MLS, and he played well in the World Cup when he got on the field, so I’m sure there will be an offer from somewhere in Europe. If he hopes to ultimately land a deal in one of the ‘big four’ leagues, a move to MLS would be counterproductive. I see him most likely in France or Portugal, or moving to another team in the Superliga.

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  8. agreed. He is not worth the DP money. His effort is good/great, but he has never quite gotten it done for the Sounders. He doesn’t seem to fit into the Sounders’ system. Also, his corner kicks are some of the worst I have ever seen. How is he consistently asked to take them?

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  9. It’s easy to overlook Sigi in this mess, We have the talent and yes we have continued to under perform.. but this is the first time I have seen Schmid step out of his comfort zone,, to me I like what I see now.. but Sigi has blown it for the Sounders by not working his bench more this season.

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  10. oooo…..didnt think about him, yea, if Boskovic is a DP, so is Feilhaber. Aarhus was relegated as well, so he will be moving.

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  11. Jose, que pasa?? Good to see you writing about the Rave Green! Josh has picked up right where you left off. I like the look of the young guys for sure. Hoping to see a little more of Estrada but he appears to have some injuries we did not previously know about. Some of the vets on this team probably need to move on realistically based on what we’ve seen the last 10-12 games — Noonan, Levesque, Vaegnas…. even Keller and Marshall look like their best days are behind them. Heresy?? Not to my eyes.

    Best from the 206

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  12. For me Freddie Ljungberg never really ended up being the player I thought he would be in MLS. His vision seemed correct in many situations but the power of his passes always ended up being all wrong killing attacks and his finishing was a mystery to me. I would expect a polished player like him to get it right more often than not with hitting shots on target. Seattle has some pretty huge $$$ to play with due to their huge fanbase of season ticket holders. Surely they can spend a couple of dollars in this transfer market and pick up better quality dp’s.

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