A Quick Transition

Michael Fucito sure has gotten the attention of Sounders Nations with his performance in the past two Champions League game. Some bloggers are calling for Fucito to get more playing time. Others are suggesting that he should be starting. While I firmly fall in the more playing time camp, this entry actually isn't meant to debate how many minutes he should be getting, though. Rather, it is to discuss the long term future of the franchise.

Coming into the 2010 season, the Sounders were one of the favorites to win MLS Cup. The experts reasoned that there mix of talented youth and grizzled veterans was enough to separate them from the rest. They also felt that this was the year they had to get it done because the window was quickly closing. Afterall, Montero and Hurtado were likely to leave for Europe. Keller, Marshall and Vagenas had a combined age of 200 years. Levesque, Graham, Scott and Wahl were simply not good enough to play significant minutes.

The Sounders had to win in 2010 or risk having to rebuild without a title to their name. The season started out good as they left the gate with a 2-1-2 record before hitting the skids and going 2-7-1 in their next 10 games. Since then they have been in amazing form, as they have run off a 7-1-3 record. Seeing there recent form, the middle part of the season seems like such an anomaly. In looking back, it wasn't that they were necessarily bad, it was that they had started transitioning to the next phase of their existence. Most thought it would come in the offseason. No one thought it would happen midseason.

Permanently gone from the lineup were Marshall, Vagenas, and Ljungberg replaced by Ianni, Sturgis and Nyassi. Parke replaced an injured Hurtado. Jaqua and Nkufo replaced the revolving door of second forwards. Seamon, Montano, Fucito and Estrada starting getting more minutes. Suddenly the Sounders were a young, inexperienced team. The young guys were hungry to make a statement. They didn't play scared.

Now we are at a point where we have a lot of depth. We have had the good fortune to get younger and yet stay competitive. We have a bright future. Maybe Fucito is part of it. Maybe he's not. Luckily for us, Sigi is getting the opportunity to see who is part of that future. We're in a good spot Sounders Nation.