Sigi: Four of the Five Keepers Going to Arizona

Sigi Schmid assessed his forward options in the training session media session today. In doing so, he appeared to hint that David Estrada was also being considered at the back.

Photo: Scott Marsh

This is an interesting development for a player who seemed to be behind the now departed Miguel Montano in the pecking order.

However like Roger Levesque, who Sigi hinted was a serious proposition at right back, he is looking at how they perform in the forward mix too. Suddenly Brad Evans is not the club’s only utility man.

These are good problems to have. O’Brian White’s recovery pace though does mean it remains a problem more so than if he were match ready.

Sigi Schmid quotes provided by the Sounders media office

(On if he was impressed with the speed numbers…)

“Again, it’s just a measure—running with the ball and running without the ball are two different things. Some guys are very fast with the ball and some guys are fast without the ball and very slow with the ball. It gives you an idea of where guys fall in the ranked order and how they compare with each other, and also for the guys who have been here now we see if there is some progression—whether there is some improvement in terms of their explosion, their quickness based upon some of the work that’s been done with them by Dave Tenney.”

(On Christian Sivebaek’s size and speed combination…)

“Obviously he was very explosive over his first ten [meters]. That’s something that we had seen in him, that he’s got a good first step and he’s very dynamic that way. He’s somebody that can certainly provide some options with us.”

(On his options at target forward…)

“Well, there’s [Mike] Fucito, there’s [Sammy] Ochoa, obviously [Babayele] Sodade is a rookie we drafted who that’s probably the position for him, as well. There’s different things… [Roger] Levesque has played up there—we’re looking at him at right back a little bit. [David] Estrada has played up there—we’re looking at him in the back. We probably need to add one of those two guys to the mix up front, especially as long as O’Brian White is out. So that’s something we’re looking through right now.”

(On if having two players potentially starting the season on the Disabled List affects the roster…)

“What affects that more so than anything is the way the contracts are structured because some are guaranteed—the moment you sign the guy it’s guaranteed—and some are unguaranteed. A guy like, for example, Andrew Weber, he’s been in the league long enough with San Jose that if you say, ‘OK, let’s offer him a contract because we feel we need that right now,’ well then he’s guaranteed for the year.

So then you’ve locked up a position, so you’ve got to think those things through and make sure you don’t get caught short in case one of the guys who’s on the disabled list doesn’t ever really get off it or really can’t contribute in any major way, you might need to replace that player in one form or another. You sort of have to try and crystal ball it, look at it towards the future.”

(On if anyone has separated in the No. 2 goalkeeper race…)

“No. It’s been close. I know [Chris] Henderson and Kurt [Schmid] did a lot of shooting on them today, so I’ll talk to them, as well, in terms of what they thought. Tom [Dutra] has been working with them. I think we’re going to go to Arizona with four keepers out of the five, so we’ll continue to evaluate down there.”