SOUNDERS FC: Photo Gallery of the Match

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SOUNDERS FC: Photos from the Match

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SEAHAWKS: Wilson traded, Polumbus picked up

BREAKING: 
The Seahawks have traded cornerback Josh Wilson to the Baltimore Ravens for a conditional 2011 draft pick.
Wilson will be returning to his prior home where he was drafted out of the University of Maryland in the second round (55th overall) in 2007. Last season Wilson started 11 games. His three career interception returns for touchdowns ranks second in team history.
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SOUNDERS FC: Fredy Montero Player of the Week

SOUNDERS PRESS RELEASE: 

RENTON, WASH. - Seattle Sounders FC forward Fredy Montero was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for Week 22 of the 2010 MLS season. Montero scored the first goal against the Chicago Fire to tie the game at 1-1 in the 36th minute. His second strike came in second half stoppage time to give the Sounders a 2-1 victory.

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SOUNDERS FC: Sanna called to Gambia

SOUNDERS PRESS RELEASE
RENTON, WASH. - The Seattle Sounders FC announced today that the Gambia National Team has called in midfielder Sanna Nyassi for Saturday's African Cup of Nations qualifier with Namibia in Banjul, Gambia.

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SOUNDERS FC: Seattle extinquishes Fire 2-1

Written by Galen Helmgren

Saturday’s match is a game that will haunt Freddie Ljungberg. In his first game at Qwest Field since being dealt to the Chicago Fire, the Swede’s new team was only two minutes from snatching a point on the road against Seattle. A last minute header by Fredy Montero bounced past Chicago’s rookie goalkeeper, spoiling Ljungberg’s return while posting a 2-1 victory for the Rave Green.
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SOUNDERS FC: Photo slideshow of the Match

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SOUNDERS FC: Photo from the win

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SEAHAWKS: It's do or die for Deion Branch this season

The Seahawks have had their fair share of busts. Rick Mirer, Brian Bozworth, Koren Robinson, and I could just keep going on and on. They all have been classified as a "bust" because they either a) got paid a lot and didn't perform or b) got drafted high and didn't perform. There is one player who falls into category "A" that needs to prove himself this season not to be labeled forever a bust.

Deion Branch.

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Many of his critics have already labeled him as a bust so far and want to cut him because of the amount of games he has missed (17 out of 64) along with his high salary of $5.47 million this year. On the flip side, every year his diehard fans say, "OK, this is his breakout year guys!" What do I think?

I'm with the critics.

Let me explain. Last year Deion had 45 receptions to go along with 437 yards. That would be a decent year by most standards, but because of his high salary, a lot more is expected of him. To put his paycheck into perspective, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers is getting paid less than Branch (4.4 million) but racked up 65 receptions and 982 yards. Strike one against Branch.

We obtained Branch through a trade with the Patriots. He was coming off a 70 reception season so Tim Ruskell was convinced that he would be worth a 1st round pick and a new contract.

He wasn't.

He was somewhat worth it his first season, catching 53 balls, but missed two games. And the rest, as they say, is history. And by history I mean 3 more injury riddled seasons where he missed 15 games and averaged 3 touchdowns. The saddest thing is the draft pick the Seahawks gave up turned into Pro Bowl safety Brandon Meriweather. Strike 2 on Branch.

Deion is 31 years old and probably has already passed his prime, which makes a "bounce back" season kind of unlikely for him, despite is strong showing in the first two preseason games thus far. I would be happy to swallow my words and see him turn into his old self and get 70 catches and 900 yards, but I just don't see it happening. This "rant," if you would like to call it that, is more directed to franchise destroyer Tim Ruskell than to Deion Branch. Branch was just a victim of getting overhyped and not being able to meet impossible expectations. Nonetheless, if Deion doesn't produced this year, It'll be strike 3 for him and he will be out (of town).

Reach Nathan Parsons at nextseasonsports@gmail.com Read more

SOUNDERS FC: Match Preview

SEATTLE SOUNDERS PRESS RELEASE: 
Sounders FC vs. Chicago Fire - August 28, 2010 at 7:30p.m. PT on Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field; Seattle, Wash.

The Seattle Sounders FC aims to reestablish its midseason momentum, as it will play the second of three home matches over an eight-day span of great significance in separate competitions when it resumes MLS play against the Chicago Fire on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.


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SOUNDERS FC: Slideshow of the match

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SOUNDERS FC: Fall 0-2 to Monterrey

Sanna Nyassi was the Man of the Match.

SOUNDERS PRESS RELEASE:

 
SEATTLE - The Seattle Sounders FC fell to Mexico's CF Monterrey, 2-0, in round two of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage in front of 22,513 on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field on Wednesday night. 

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SOUNDERS FC: To host Chivas de Guadalajara

Mexico's Popular Club Were 2010 Copa Libertadores Runner-Up

RENTON, Wash. - Seattle Sounders FC will host Chivas de Guadalajara, an 11-time champion, one of Mexico's most popular teams and the 2010 Copa Libertadores runner-up, on Tuesday, October 12, on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, it was announced today. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT and the match will be televised live on TeleFutura.
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SOUNDERS FC: About Monterrey

(Courtesy of CONCACAF)
Club: Club de Futbol Monterrey
Founded: 1945
City: Monterrey, Mexico
Stadium: Estadio Tecnologico
Manager: Victor Manuel Vucetich
Qualification method: Mexican Apertura winner
Previous Champions League appearances: None
Honors: Mexico league - 3 (1986, 2003, 2009); Copa Mexico - 1 (1991); CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup - 1 (1993)
 
Official Web site: http://www.terra.com.mx/rayados

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SEAHAWKS: BREAKING: 'Hawks pass on Jackson

Those hoping for a legitimate Pro Bowl WR may have to wait a little longer as the Seahawks have reportedly passed on trading for San Diego's Vincent Jackson.

Speaking on 710 ESPN this afternoon, John Clayton reported that Vincent Jackson and his agent were asking for a five-year $50 million deal with $30 million guaranteed, which was too much for Seattle.

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"John Schneider basically said, 'Thank you very much. We'll move on to the next thing," Clayton said.

Seattle did confirm the signing of another free agent today, that of former 49ers WR Brandon Jones.

Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
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SEAHAWKS: It's Time for John Carlson to take the next step.

The Seahawks have never really had a stud Tight End in their history, maybe the best being Jeremy “butterfingers” Stevens. So when the Seahawks selected John Carlson in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft, I thought, “This is great, he really fills in our Tight End spot!” And boy was I right. He set a Seahawks record his rookie year with 55 receptions and tied the Touchdown record with 5.

But it's time to step it up.

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Carlson has been thought of as the next Jason Witten because of his awareness and his catching abilities. But his second season was almost identical to the first, with him catching 51 passes and 7 touchdowns. So that causes somewhat of a concern that with barely any improvement, he might have hit his ceiling. I am not suggesting that this is true, but it does put pressure on him to improve.

Most Wide Receivers and Tight Ends improve the most from their second season to their third season, as evident in other players. Tony Gonzalez upped his touchdowns from 2 to 11. Steve Smith went from 54 receptions to 88. And it goes on and on. So in my opinion, for this season to be a real success for Carlson, he needs to haul in around 65 balls while catching around 8 touchdowns.

You might be thinking I'm being a little harsh. Well if you look at this new system Pete Carroll is putting in, it's really setting him up to succeed. The Hawks will run something called a "Two Tight End Set" a lot, which essentially has our No. 2 Tight End (Chris Baker) doing most of the blocking so the No. 1 (John Carlson) is more free to catch passes. We very rarely did this last year, resulting in Carlson staying on the line to block most of the time.

Another reason for Carlson to succeed is he is one of the only reliable targets on the team. Besides him, you have T.J. Houshmendzahdeh, a most likely to get injured Deion Branch, and two young, inexperienced guys (Deon Butler and Golden Tate). So Carlson will most likely he Hasselbeck's safety blanket, as Jason Witten is to Tony Romo.

Lastly, Carlson won't be in Gregg Knapp's offense, which didn't run double Tight Ends and forced him to block. Carroll's staff has made a commitment to change that and free him up.

All this to say, John Carlson is primed for a breakout year and if all goes right, he should exceed his rookie numbers and really show Seahawks fans what an elite Tight End really looks like.

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SOUNDERS FC: Nine-game unbeaten streak ends in Honduras

After being banged around at the Olympic Stadium by Marathon of Honduras for the first 17 minutes of Thursday’s match, the Seattle Sounders drew first blood in what ended up being a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Marathón. In other words, Seattle’s unbeaten streak of nine matches (6-0-3) over all competitions has ended.

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Seattle scored the go-ahead goal when Fredy Montero pushed the ball up the right flank to the Marathón end line where he toyed with his defender until he cleared enough room to make a cross to Blaise Nkufo. The Swiss striker flicked a one-touch pass behind his back to the far side of the goal box where Roger Levesque calmly pounded the ball toward the near post, behind a defender and past Marathón’s Goalkeeper Shane Orio.

The next 10 minutes were owned by Seattle, but just as it seemed that the Sounders would surge to a second goal, Marathón clamped down on defense and turned the game in their favor.

Marathón found them facing Seattle’s goal in the 27th minute seemed to score without effort. Randy Diamond passed into the goal box, finding Orvin Paz, who threaded a low shot to the near post, catching the Sounders’ defense off guard and flat-footed.

Fast-forward to the end of the first half and Marathón is making a final push for a goal before the halftime whistle. The ball goes up near the Sounders’ goal box and as Tyrone Marshall attempts to feed the ball to goalkeeper Kasey Keller, but before he can make contact with the ball, Nicolas Cardozo wildly throws his leg towards the ball and into the path of Marshall’s kick. The resulting foul leads to a penalty kick and a second goal for Marathón.

“I don't know how it was a penalty,” said Keller after the match.

“I haven't seen the tape but it didn't look like a penalty to me. It looked like two guys swing and kick each others' legs and next thing you know the ball is in my hands and he [the referee] is signaling a foul. I don't know what he saw. It may have been good play by the striker but I don't know. That was frustrating."

What it comes down to is tactical awareness. Both teams the Sounders have faced in the CONCACAF tournament have played in the Champions league before and both are better at drawing fouls. Marathón used that to their advantage and earned a penalty on a routine feed to the goalie.

Both Metapán and Marathón have, for the most part, set the tempo of each game, forcing Seattle to play to their opponent’s style and making the Sounders vulnerable to tricks and flops. The loss was the first for the Sounders in a non-MLS competitive match (8-1-2).

Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid was pleased with the early goal by his team, but felt that a lack of energy was a major factor in this loss.

“I think our effort in the game, we didn't do well in the outset with [Carlos] Palacios on the one side and [Randy] Diamond on the other side. I think we were disjointed offensively. The last 20 minutes, 25 minutes of the game I thought we had very good energy. In the beginning of the game we didn't have good energy and we didn't see an awful lot of the ball. If you want to see the ball a lot you need to play hard. We need to be better next time.”

Seattle will host CF Monterrey of Mexico in the next CONCACAF match on August 25 at the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field. Their next league match is at Qwest Field on August 28 versus Freddie Ljungberg and the Chicago Fire and the U.S. Open Cup semifinal with Chivas USA is on September 1 at Starfire Sports Stadium.

Reach Galen Helmgren at car_freak85@hotmail.com Read more

MARINERS: Bradley undergoes knee surgury

Milton Bradley underwent surgery on his right knee Tuesday afternoon and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
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The Mariners switch-hitting outfielder, had the lateral meniscus tear repaired in Cincinnati by Dr. Timothy Kremchek. Bradley will begin the physical rehabilitation today, Wednesday. He most likely will be missing the rest of the season.

Bradley hasn't played since July 26th and has been struggling his first season with the Mariners, batting .205 with eight homers and 29 RBI in 73 games.


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