The Seattle Sounders had an excellent season but fell just short in the Western Conference Championship, ceding to the eventual MLS Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. There were a number of positives for the Sounders, though, included the fact that they boasted the league’s longest winning streak this season (five games), finished atop the overall table with 64 points and won a playoff game. Really, the only difference between them and the Galaxy was the away goals, which shows just how close they are to the pinnacle.
Seattle got a busy offseason underway by bolstering their back line with a key addition in veteran defender Tyrone Mears. This team doesn’t require wholesale changes but a few final pieces are required. The addition of Mears is another positive step to building towards that championship.
Mears Signs Early
The Sounders lost several key defenders from last season’s team, so addressing the position was made a priority for this offseason. Sporting Director Chris Henderson and the rest of the staff wasted little time making a move to replenish the crop with the addition of Tyrone Mears. The 31-year-old Mears will bring a ton of skill and experience to the club, and will likely slide right in on the right side following the departure of DeAndre Yedlin and Jalil Anibaba.
He’s a versatile player having played an attacking outside back and as a central defender during his 14 years in European professional soccer. The loss of Yedlin will surely be missed – especially since European clubs saw him to be good enough to sign – but adding Mears softens the blow.
With reigning MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall, as well as Mears, Damion Lowe, and veteran Zach Scott, the Sounders have the makings of what should be an excellent defensive core if they can stay healthy this season. Health will be a chief concern early on as Scott is having offseason surgery to repair a foot injury. Mears will be capable of filling in if necessary.
Potential Changes
Losing Yedlin really hurt but the club was smart to address the situation right away by acquiring a quality veteran that will be able to handle the load. They got some more bad news when United States national team forward Jordan Morris spurned the team and instead of signing, opted to return to Stanford for his junior season. The 20-year-old is a rising talent and would have given the team a boost.
At any rate, the Sounders will now turn their attention to other areas where they can potentially add. Seattle still has a number of open roster spots to address with the priority over the next couple of months being to fill the spots vacated by the eight contract options they chose not to exercise this offseason. What we won’t see is the type of major makeover that preceded last season when the Sounders had more than a dozen new faces from the year before. It wouldn’t be a major surprise if they added another defender with concern over Scott’s availability following offseason surgery or if they added a couple of creative midfielders to help their attack but at this point don’t expect any more major changes in Seattle.
Outlook
There isn’t nearly as much urgency to add to a team that was as successful as the Sounders were a year ago – especially when you consider they have already partially addressed their biggest need with the signing of Mears on the back line. However, this team was a piece or two short last season and the swap of Yedlin for Mears may only be a lateral move – at best. This team still has work to do.
Seattle still has plenty of time to try and find a couple of key players to compliment the core that is in place now but they can feel comfortable knowing many of the key pieces are already there as they prepare to make another championship run in 2015.
