Long history leads to Sounders FC
From NASL to USL to MLS, Seattle soccer has deep roots
That franchise, which won the USL Championship in 2005 and 2007 and went 4-1 against MLS sides in two consecutive runs to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, was dissolved after the 2008 season.
The last open question regarding the USL team -- which players would make the leap to the MLS side -- was answered Monday, with the official signings of Zach Scott and Roger Levesque. All told, only six players from the USL team survived the cull. Some wondered if that USL team, with minimal changes, could have competed at the MLS level.
"Could we have made it as that group moving up? Who's to know?" said Brian Schmetzer, who coached the USL team since 2002. "We won't know that anymore ... that's just the nature of this business."
No one knows the feelings of loss and rebirth better than Schmetzer. He's almost like a living timeline of Seattle professional soccer, as he's the person with the strongest connection to all three Sounders franchises. Schmetzer was a player (1980-83) for the NASL Sounders, player (1994) and head coach (2002-08) of the USL Sounders and now Schmid's top assistant with Sounders FC.
In that final role, Schmetzer was also involved with some tough player-personnel decisions. While all players from the USL franchise received an invitation to the MLS team's training camp, only six players -- Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Sebastien Le Toux, Sanna Nyassi, Levesque and Scott -- made the transition.
The rest of the players were not so lucky.
Out are players like Leighton O'Brien, the fiery attacking midfielder, winger Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, and Danny Jackson, the English-born captain and central defender. While they were outstanding players at the USL level, they were aging and there was no room for them on the MLS squad. Schmetzer found it hard to let those other players -- whom he calls "his guys" -- go.
"It was hard because those guys did a great job for me personally and a great job for the club at the USL level," Schmetzer said. "Part of the nature of this business from a coaching standpoint is making tough decisions. We get used to them, but they never get any easier than they were the year before. You get guys coming out here that have a dream: they want to make a pro team. You got to tell that guy that you're not quite there -- it's always hard."
Le Toux, a USL Sounders veteran and the first player to sign with Seattle Sounders FC, watched as his once-comrades were let go over the course of the preseason.
"I was prepared, because during the preseason I see them leave the team one-by-one," Le Toux said, adding that he was the only USL veteran in the starting lineup in the final preseason game. "But now ... the rhythm is different and everybody has to learn."
Schmetzer wouldn't entirely rule out the possibility of seeing those players again, saying that if they stayed in the area and kept their fitness up they might be recalled. But he was also quick to add that there are other factors at play.
"We had thrown (the idea of being recalled) out there to those guys -- that all depends on what their life decisions are. Danny Jackson is getting married. Leighton has a lot of real estate interests and is trying to make a living. Hugo Alcarez-Cuellar, if the situation is right, is looking to play for another USL team. For the local guys that stick around and keep themselves fit, you never say no."
Andrew Winner is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
