Schmezter: Titlemeister. (Jenni Conner)Are you going?
I've been wondering recently about how Seattle will respond to the 2008 club. Never before in the history of Major League Soccer has a city known this far in advance it was getting a club in the first division while at the same time having an active club in the second division.
It was such great buzz last September when over 5,000 fans packed Starfire to see Seattle beat Atlanta 4-0 to secure their fourth league championship. It was a match and an atmosphere the club could really build on.
Remember the players on the pitch afterwards chanting "one more year, one more year?" Six weeks later they got that final Seattle season, only after hearing that MLS would take over, thank you very much, the following year.
The players got what they asked for. One more year. Most of the guys who won us the title in 2007 will be back to defend it. How will Seattle respond to the return of the champions?
The 2008 Seattle Sounders are a club with a clear purpose: find talent for MLS 2009. Lesser purposes include winning and keeping soccer momentum going in the region.
For the players, I'd imagine winning will make their lives more fun, but I can only guess that for each of them job number one in 2008 is to prove that they belong for 2009. I wonder how that will play out during the tightly-packed USL-1 campaign?
Then there's head coach Brian Schmetzer. All he's done is played for the NASL Sounders, FC Seattle, and coached the current Sounders to 3 finals appearances in the last 4 years, winning twice. He's also flown to China with MLS GM Adrian Hanauer to scout players and begin building networks. He's the clear favorite to be Seattle's first MLS head coach. I wonder what happens if the 2008 Sounders under-perform? If the players are in it for themselves and Schmetzer can't unite them? Does that affect his MLS chances? Should he even be expected to juggle his line-up to test out players AND win another title at the same time?
In a few weeks the name of the Seattle MLS club will be decided, and that team will begin to differentiate itself even further from our 2008 team. Still, names aside, many of the people involved on and off the pitch with the 2008 Sounders will be a part of the MLS debut in 2009.
Yes, the players and devout fans of the Seattle Sounders do indeed have "one more year." What kind of year do you think it will be?
7 comments:
Even if things turn out right, the club may yet not win league silverware, simply because every team in USL-1 will be bringing their A game since 1) we're the defending league and cup champions, and 2) they're going to treat it like playing an MLS team, since basically, this is an MLS team of sorts.
That being said, I don't see a problem with this team being motivated. MLS jobs are on the line, and Schmetzer won't stand for any nonsense.
Huh? Public statements from MLS Seattle make it pretty clear that Schmetzer is not in line for the job but will have a role in the front office. Why the dramatic buildup with this article when there's actually no story there?
As far as the team goes - I'm with you, the downsides of creating individual incentives are that it likely means the team won't play as one. Tough season I'm afraid.
Schmetzer is indeed very much in line for the MLS coaching job. Adrian Hanauer clarified that last week after erroneous reports in both Soccer America and Sports Illustrated.
This year is no different than any other year for a D2 team ... 1) contracts tend to be year to year anyway ... 2) the goal of going up to MLS was there for the past 12 years anyway ... 3)the possibility of a USL1 team folding is always possible given the fragile nature of the league and ownership so the thought that there won't be a team the following year is always there 4) when a team is winning things always go better and when not players get more selfish regardless of the situation as they all start to look out for #1 in order to remain employed 5)this group has been together a while now from management all the way down the bench, there are no surprises at this point ...
Much ado about nothing ...
I think 2008 will be different in many respects. We'll just have to wait for it to unfold. This IS unchartered territory, Shotgun. The finality of the team and season are known *before* we even kick off.
Just gonna have to disagree ... the turnover is routinely so high and whatnot that for most of these players it won't be much different in the big picture ... a few will stick around and many will go ... just like every year.
Sorry, Shotgun...but the Sounders have already re-signed 15 players from 2007, 10 of whom were starters. That is not turn-over.
The players are going to spend the season trying to keep on with what comes next, for professional and personal reasons. Higher league, and these guys are friends.
However, some of them ar not going to be good enough for MLS, or are getting a bit old. That's very different than knowing you can comeback to a Seattle USL club in 2009. However, they all are welcome over here in Kitsap. :)
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