Ship’s Log, Jan. 7: The excitement of rumors

When the Seattle Sounders were first transitioning from USL to MLS they were connected to famous players frequently. The likes of Thierry Henry, Freddy Adu, Kasey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg were all connected to the club. These were names that your non-soccer friends heard of and they may even pay attention to you as you dreamed.

Two eventually signed.

Recently we got that spike of energy from the extremely unlikely rumor of Marcus Rashford coming to play home games at Lumen. It was credible, because the person uttering the absurd idea is credible. But it’s also not happening.

Still, people know that name. It’s fun to speculate. And as Seattle Sounders fans we don’t get that speculation of credible rumors involving famous names frequently.

There was another Adu rumor, but that was when he’d faded so much that soccer fans weren’t interested. There was the Clint Dempsey rumor that turned into reality so fast people struggled to believe it even after it happened.

Maybe you recall rumors of Prince Tagoe, Derlis Gonzalez, Hillal Soudani – etc, etc. These don’t move the interest needle outside of our fanatical niche. They aren’t going to put thousands of new fans in the stands, until they win a lot. Even Oba and Nico and Raúl didn’t put butts in seats until the wins started coming.

But we got to dream, if only for a few hours. We got to text friends who rarely want to go to games anymore. It was fun.

I’m usually the one to point out that the team, with its pragmatic player acquisitions, wins a lot. But it’s not exciting often and its rumors aren’t fun (OK, the once-upon-a-time Forlan and Suarez rumors were fun).

But are your two-games-a-year friends going to be excited about Jesus Ferreira and Paul Arriola? Nah.

They’d take notice of Rashford. That’s an name even casual fans of European soccer recognize.

That kind of energy is something missing, even as the wins and trophies aren't. And that missing cannot be filled by planting rumors. They have to feel real, feel likely.

Maybe we’ll get that energy back someday. Because the short-lived Rashford rumor felt like a lot of fun, even if only for a few minutes.

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Catching up on Sounder at Heart

Here's what you missed on the site over the holiday break.

Sounders

Next match: Feb. 19, 2025 at 5 pm PT at Antigua GFC in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Reign

Next match: The weekend of Friday March 14 with specifics still TBD.

Defiance

Next match: still TBD.

Spokane

Zephyr are in their winter break until Feb. 22 when they are at Dallas Trinity at 2 pm PT.

Velocity still wait for their schedule.

Looking back at the news

Everything else you need to know about the leagues and players we follow

The LA Galaxy are going through a fire sale of sorts. Jalen Neal is now with Montreal. There's been a ton of movement around the league, because teams that were good have cap problems and teams that were bad need to reboot. GiveMeSport can catch you up, or you can see 100% of the movement at the league website, including the construction of expansion side San Diego (the first ever pro soccer team in the city if they tell you).

NWSL fans can start their dreaming and shopping lists here, as some great players are going to be available in 2025.

Gotham didn’t win the title last year and still have to tear themselves apart because of poor planning. Other teams are adding talent, and they need to. What do they need? Here's your list.

Denver is the next city to join the NWSL.

Is MLS Next Pro the next hot sports investment property? Maybe. Yeah, sure.

Like us, the Blazing Musket partnered with Backheeled. Backheeled's USL predictions include Spokane taking the title. They also have a list of every MLS teams’ needs during the transfer window and an explanation of the expanded Jagermeister Cup.

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