Seattle finds a new striker, RSL is now on the clock
by denz on Mar 4, 2010 11:48 AM MST
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PrintThe Sounders suffered a bit of a power outage at the end of 2009, at least their home scoring was way off the standard they started the season with and while they rebounded to score a few in their final regular season match, it was no surprise to me that they were one of many teams looking for a striker.
I am a bit confused on how a team with a DP already can sign the leading scorer from a top Dutch team with the restrictive MLS salary cap, but I am sure the details will eventually come out on the addition Switzerland National Team player and current FC Twente captain Blaise N'Kufo, who will be joining the club after the World Cup.
So far he has 9 goals in 23 matches and at 6'2" he is a real target up top for them, his age 35 could have been an issue over a full MLS season, but coming for the final few months might be just the thing that both he and the Sounders need.
I am still waiting to see if RSL will find their striker, and this should remove Seattle from the many rumors about Alvaro Saborio (check out Keepin' it Real for latest rumors and updates on him). I understand that finding a striker who fits in with the RSL "The Team is the Star" mantra can be difficult, add in the requirement that Jason and the staff believes everyone should play their share of defense (something most strikers loathe) and it gets even tougher.
Here is hoping that perhaps one of the players not on the roster that were at practice today, or some deal still in the works will bring some help up top for Real Salt Lake
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Yep
I agree we really need a big striker. We can’t rely on Findley and Espindola to consistently get the job done up front.
Campos
So I think Findley will actually have a huge year in MLS, and is my pick to win the Golden Boot in 2010. He just started to really get comfortable in his role with the team last year and the results were great.
Fabi could be the wildcard RSL needs, he was the best in 2008 at goals scored per minutes played and if he can come close to that rate of a goal every 128 minutes then RSL would be in great shape.
Campos is the key for me with our current crop of forwards with just 400 minutes of playing time he put 2 in the back of the net and had 3 assists, all while adapting to a new team and a very different style of play than he is used to. RSL has struggled with target strikers but if we can figure out how to keep Campos on the pitch (he has to play both ways to get minutes), then I expect great results from him.
Here is the problem, depth. Having 3 quality guys is OK but beyond them we are in the shallow end on forwards, while I think Tino Nunez has some real talent a lack of playing time has hurt his development. We have a number of guys in the midfield that can play up top but none of them have the talent to do so all year long or on a real regular basis in a 4-4-2 formation.
I would love to see us figure out a way to get someone who can play up top and remove some of the pressure that Robbie Findley will be feeling now with Yura gone.
Age
No need to be confused. League leading scorer or otherwise, a 35-year old striker from the Dutch league shouldn’t cost any more than $400,000 per year.
National team & League team captain
They might get away with paying him less since he will only be here a couple months but no matter the age a top scorer for a top team is worth a good chunk of change, I haven’t had a chance to look at Seattle’s cap room but without any real defined plans or limits on rosters without a CBA anything is possible. He actually looks to have gotten better with age, 15 goals or more the last 3 full seasons.
Signed for 18months plus a 12 month option
Goff reported that he would make 550k guaranteed (allocation dollars?)
But Adrian at the press conference was asked if he would be a DP. The answer was that they had 4 months to figure that out, which is good since no one knows the rules on roster limit, salary cap at this time. He said the team always tries to find the lowest cap number allowed by the league, so if it takes a second DP under the news rules (whenever that happens) the Sounders will do that, if not than they will use their remaining allocation.
The power of the pre-contract agreement
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Sounder At Heart
thanks for the update
I appreciate the update. I figured with his resume that he was going to be fairly costly, and this info adds some clarity to the situation. I wonder what this long term says about the hope of keeping Montero, who would probably be looking for a big buck deal if he can repeat last years numbers.
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