There has been a lot of speculation, but no more…I want to start off by saying how proud I am to have been part of the most successful new franchise in MLS history, the Seattle Sounders FC.  I didn’t know exactly what to expect when I first came to Seattle but I have to say that how the city and the fans have embraced me has gone beyond my wildest dreams and for that I am forever grateful.  I also want to thank my teammates who are absolutely great on and off the pitch. I have made some very close friends who I know I will be in contact with forever.

I have been thinking long and hard about the next step in my career and I am extremely happy to announce that I will be the newest member of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club and I will join the team this Sunday in Los Angeles. I had a very long and exciting meeting with Andrew Hauptman and Frank Klopas; the vision they shared with me about taking Chicago to the next step and becoming a power house in the MLS was extremely appealing to me. I am very much looking forward to working together with my teammates and becoming an active part of the community which has such a strong, successful sports tradition.

I also want to add, as a huge hockey fan, congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on winning the Stanley Cup. I look forward to introducing myself a bit better at the press conference next week in Chicago.

We’ve been playing great lately. We haven’t got the results we have wanted but that will come. As I see it, here in America the playoffs are the important thing. I was worried in the beginning of the year because we weren’t playing as well as we should have done. The way we played, even if we got some lucky results in the beginning, won’t win you the playoffs. Now we have showed a play that we can fall back on. We have made the opponents run, and not the other way around in the last two games and that gives you confidence. We have created a lot of chances as we did as well last year, but were missing a lot. I think that’s what the club saw and that’s why early on we signed Blaise. I hear he is a player that is always there in the box and puts in the balls. With that in mind I think we are moving in the right direction, and adding him in the summer there will be more goals scored.

On a personal note, I am back playing center midfield again, which i love. Us playing 3 in the middle gives us an advantage in possession.

Lets hope we can go on a little winning streak and get some points. Think a win on saturday will put us second in our division

//F

Sounders.com

After calming down the feelings. Here comes a reflextion from the game.

Extremely disappointing to draw against the defending champions away when we were 2-1 up and  they score the equalizer in the 94th minute. Think they are the best team in the league to keep the ball and that is something we have to look at and work on. It is inspiring to see how well they play football and something that I admire them for. We had some more chances in the 2nd half on counter attacks but unfortunately we couldn’t make them count. When you play the defending champions away from home you know it’s gonna be a hard game. We lost there last year and struggled. In this game we put out a team for counter attacking. Think we did that well but unfortunately the win slipped threw our hands in the last second.

On a personal note 2nd half felt great. Got the ball to go at the defenders a bit. Felt great we scored from a free kick as well. There was a lot of Sounders fans in the stands which was great to see. The stadium was packed so it was a great atmosphere on the whole.

/F

Sounders.com

Finally we have played the first game and we won, it feels great. Think we started the game really well and created a lot of chances and maybe should’ve killed off the game before we did. A great team win.

Only negative off the game was their tackles from behind. Just something you don’t do as your opponent has no way off protecting themselves. Thankfully one of their guys got sent off but could’ve been more. I personally got a knee straight in my spine from behind shouldn’t happen that you can knee someone that high up when the ball is 3 yards away on the ground (Straight after the game we went to the ER to get my spine x-rayed as I couldn’t and still cant sit or lay on my back. Luckily no fractures. Only bone bruising. The doctor compared the injury with an NFL injury when someone uses their helmet to crash it into someone’s spine. Hopefully ill recover quickly). Then Montero got a similar one and then the guy was off. You just have to trust that the ref is doing their job and you just try to do yours. Have sometimes been very critical of the refs not doing anything about over violent play that can injur your opponent but I think the ref did a great job last night.

For me after the tackle on me my evening was over, tried to stay on to help the team until I thought the game was over in around the 60th min. During that time I couldn’t run but tried to use my experience to help the guys on the pitch. Something me and Siggi discussed at halftime.

Was great to see Fucito out there in the second half. He has really improved and looked great in pre season. Proves that if you work hard you get your chances. He has a great left foot look out for that.

You fans were absolutely amazing was nice to see and hear you guys again. Despite the heavy rain you were there in numbers and were very loud.

Thanks for the support.
//F

As everybody probably knows there has finally been an agreement on the CBA. The lawyers seems to have done a good job. Now finally we can concentrate on doin our job and that’s to play football. I am so happy. Really lookin forward to the first game of the season!!

//F

Imagine you work at Burger King and you get sacked. Now, you want to get another job at McDonald’s, but you’re not allowed to unless McDonald’s compensates Burger King. It seems absurd, but that’s the way certain things work in MLS at the moment. If your team terminates your contract, it still can demand a trade from another club before you can go and play for that other club.

The CBA, for me personally, is a sad saga. I was told it would be settled when I came back to the USA in January. Now it plays a lot on the minds of players in the preseason because we don’t know if the first game is going to be played on March 25 or not. If it isn’t, it will be a very sad day for players and fans in this country.

Coming from Europe, maybe I see it differently, as I’ve been playing under FIFA rules my whole life, but the players just want those rights. If we keep the wage cap, it shouldn’t put the league in economic jeopardy as it won’t cost the league any more money than what it has already agreed to.

One thing for me that is very confusing is what happens after a player’s contract is up. I find it amazing that even after your club lets your contract run out without renewing, it still has all the power and still owns the player’s rights.

Sounders sign a top striker
Now, let’s talk about what’s happening on the field. We are 3-1-1 in our preseason, but I don’t care about the results of the games at this point. We’re training really hard even the day before the game to get fit. For me, the first game of the season is the one where we need to play well. But my understanding is that over the next few weeks we’ll be doing less heavy work and focusing more on quickness and sharpness. It’s always good to win in preseason, but I prefer getting the win on March 25 (against Philadelphia).

I spoke about refereeing in MLS last year. Defenders are allowed to push and hold and get away with much more than I have ever experienced before. I don’t like to be pushed to the ground, especially when there’s no free kick given, so this preseason I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I’m trying to put on six-seven pounds to see if I can stop being pushed around so much. I’ve never had to resort to these measures before but I’ll try and hopefully it will work.

The other big news in Seattle is that we have signed Blaise Nkufo, a striker from Switzerland who is playing in the Dutch league. He will join the team in the July transfer window after the World Cup. I wish he could be here now, but it will be good when he arrives.

Last year we created a lot of chances, but didn’t put enough away so hopefully Blaise can help improve on that. He works hard for the team and adds a physical presence and I’ve also heard that he’s great off the pitch, which is, of course, very important, too.

World Cup preparations in full swing
The World Cup is just around the corner and many teams that have qualified played friendlies last week. I think these games can be seen in two different ways. On the one hand, it’s great for national teams to gather and get some playing time together and try to get ready for the World Cup.

But, on the other hand, as I’ve experienced myself, when you’re at the end of a long season and competing for honors you definitely don’t want to get injured in a friendly and miss playing in those last few months when it really counts if you’re going to be a winner or a loser.

While we were playing for the Champions League as well as the Premier League and FA Cup, I must say I didn’t think about the World Cup at all. It was never on my mind until everything was over. Those games are so tight that if you’re not concentrating, you’re going to get knocked out. But, if you’re in the middle of the table with nothing to play for over the last two months, maybe then it plays a little bit more in your mind.

Friendlies are called friendlies for a reason. The bigger players usually take their foot off the pedal a little bit because they do not want to get injured. It’s always important to get wins, but in a friendly before a World Cup I think it’s more important to try and give more time to players that the coach thinks could be a nice surprise off the bench to make a difference in the tournament.

Finally, on to my boys at Arsenal. I hope they can keep up their challenge in the Premier League. They don’t have a roster as big as Chelsea, but I think Chelsea and Manchester United have let them back in it. If they’re in it at this point, they’ll be in it the whole way. As for the Champions League, I think their style of play suits the competition and I think they will be dangerous in the later rounds.

I have read quite a few articles from England about Aaron Ramsey’s horrible injury, from which I hope he recovers well. Afterward, Arsene Wenger pointed out that Arsenal have had some bad injuries from bad tackles lately and questioned them.

I saw a very good article in one of the papers that made the point that players have been saying before games that they would kick Arsenal because that was the only way they could beat them. The author questioned if it is correct that people can say such things and asked what would happen if something similar was said in Spain about a team like Barcelona.

//F

PS You find my column at ESPN Soccernet