Should Sounders FC trade Fredy Montero?
Blasphemy? Perhaps. But I believe Seattle would be well-served to offload Fredy Montero if, and only if, they could replace him with a speedy, goal-nosed striker. Real Salt Lake’s Robbie Findley, the Oregon State graduate, comes to mind.
As this article attests, the Sounders have had difficulty finding the right balance with Freddie Ljungberg and Montero. They are, in effect, the same type of player – both command the ball to their feet in the offensive third.
They may have found the solution, but I believe a bigger, speedier player would solve Sounders FC’s biggest offensive concern – the inability to finish crosses. On the left, Steve Zakuani has been dumping in crosses at a remarkable rate. However, most fans I’ve spoken with believe the ratio of goals to good chances is surprisingly low. The result: Seattle players walking out of the stadium with a tie or a loss after outplaying their opponents.
Finally, I believe Seattle fans wouldn’t be sorry to see Montero leave. He’s been drawing an increasing amount of ire for his perceived lack of toughness. Time and again, Montero goes to ground in search of a whistle that never comes. A star in his debut, the public opinion has steadily moved to the negative over the past three months. Currently, Sounders FC fans view him as a petulant star, a primadonna not tough enough to compete in Major League Soccer.
Another player who may not be pleased with Montero is Ljungberg. Against San Jose, Montero effectively stole a ball from Ljungberg, only to turn it over a moment later. Confidence is one thing, but the younger players need to defer to the veterans.
That’s my two cents. If not Findley, guys like Ryan Johnson, Patrick Nyarko, Josh Wolff, or Omar Cummings would also fit the bill. I also really like what I see from Yura Movsisyan – I may be alone here though.
This idle speculation may not even be necessary – since Montero is on loan from his Colombian team, I am unsure of the mechanics of such a transaction. But it’s interesting to think about.
What do you think? Montero’s been more dangerous as of late – should we keep him? If you Adrian Hanauer’s job for a day, what is the one personnel move you would make?
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As much as I hate to say it, we don’t need to trade Montero (although if we could trade him and get a long term solution like Findlay, that would be outstanding). He’s a young player who needs to gain some humility and a work rate akin to Le Toux’s. In fact, I think the whole reason to not trade him is to show him this, by benching Montero in favor of Seba.
Montero’s goal was of the “all I had to do was swing my dick at it” variety -not exactly a difficult finish, and he missed multiple opportunities. Plus, he provided the key assist for San Jose’s goal. If we put him on the bench for a couple games behind Le Toux, not only do we reward Le Toux for his inhuman work rate, but we may end up getting a little harder working Montero.
The move may also give him time to lose the “party in the rear” mentality (aka haircut), and become all business.
Is Joe-Max Moore still around? Can we hire him as an assistant to teach Freddy to play like a man? In other news, I’m excited to see that we’re a man down against Italy
Fredy is a fine player from the neck down. Put him in a one-on-one against a defender and he might just prevail. I think his weakness is from the neck up. I see him make mistakes that that my middle schoolers know not to make. Add to this the fact that he seems to get knocked on his derriere more than most. If the Sounders had a farm club, I would send him there to let him ripen. However, to trade him for a fully ripened forward who can work with his teammates is a great temptation.
Reasons to keep Montero:
* He is the team’s leading scorer with 5 goals and is tied for second with 3 assists.
* He is young and deserves a chance to improve. Only Zakuani and Nyassi are younger than Montero on the roster.
* He actually is improving, as evidenced by the first 65 minutes of the last match.
Trading Montero now would be as foolish as buying Microsoft stock in 1986 and selling it 6 months later.
Can anything be more stupid than the thought of trading a young superstar in the making??? I doubt it. Unless you want to end up like the Mariners.
Trade Montero?
DUMBEST IDEA EVAR!!!
fredy is amazing to watch!!!!!! hes young and the team leading scorer i mean trading him would be just dumb
Hey, “Hotdog” do you still believe that now?!?! :)
Well he can’t play with Ljungberg. I got that part right.