The thrill ride Sounders FC provided in its inaugural season ended with Sunday's 1-0 overtime loss to the Houston Dynamo in the Major League Soccer playoffs.
Now what?
The team's first true offseason won't be a long one. Training camp is scheduled to begin toward the end of January. Before that comes the MLS expansion draft Nov. 25 — in which the Philadelphia Union will have the opportunity to select an unprotected Sounders FC player — and the college and Generation Adidas SuperDraft in January 2010.
In the immediate future, team decision-makers will meet to evaluate players from this season and pinpoint where the most help is needed. That is an easy determination for majority owner Joe Roth: Find another scorer for a team that struggled to score goals for long stretches.
"I'd like to return the team," Roth said. "Our defense is as good as any in the league and we have the perfect goalie. ... I would like to see us in the offseason find someone with firepower, someone to take the heat off [Fredy] Montero."
Roth's point is a valid one. Sounders FC got 21 of its total of 38 regular-season goals from two players — Montero and Nate Jaqua. No one else had more than four goals, and when Montero and Jaqua weren't scoring, or were missing their chances, the team lacked a finishing type of player that many other MLS teams have.
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