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Seattle Sounders FC will likely be without at least two of their four listed forwards for the match at Santos Laguna next Tuesday. Obafemi Martins is getting his knee looked at by a foreign specialist and David Estrada's eye is still healing from a non-foul incident in the RSL game. Eddie Johnson may be back for the next match.

Sharlie Joseph's acquisition is equal to that of Eddie Johnson last year in terms of the talk it has sparked. Everyone is weighing on on a team acquiring an MLS legend at a position where they already have perhaps the best in the league. Fueling the fire is the sheer amount of uncertainty surrounding Joseph's role with the team and the cost of keeping him around.

With our viewing party for the Seattle Sounders v UANL Tigres CONCACAF Champions League match later this week Sounder at Heart spoke with David Estrada about Hope Place, our charity partner for the event, and his unique perspective on CCL games in Mexico.

SaH: How did you discover Hope Place?

The departure of Fredy Montero has created a rather enormous void, both in terms of production and tactics. As much talent as the Seattle Sounders have on their current roster -- and make no mistake, it's ample -- there is not a ready-made replacement for the player around whom this team's tactics were designed.

RENTON - When media members were let into the fieldhouse at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for Sounders FC training, we saw exactly what we expected to see. Andy Rose and David Estrada were among the top three in the first heat of the beep test, battling with Alex Caskey for aerobic-fitness superiority.

At this time a year ago, there was reasonable discussion about whether or not David Estrada was going to be back with the Seattle Sounders. Now, he was judged to have had the 12th best season among the Sounders. That's a pretty major step forward, and if not for an injury that cost him more than a third of his season, he probably would have been even higher.

A day after his first league appearances in nearly four months, David Estrada looked very much like his old self in leading the Seattle Sounders Reserves to a 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in their season finale. Estrada scored the Sounders' opening goal and assisted on their second while playing 62 minutes.

An already deep Seattle Sounders squad will get a little bit deeper in the coming weeks. David Estrada, who hasn't played since May 26 after breaking his foot, has been cleared practice, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said during a Friday teleconference.

"David Estrada showed that he's healing well so they cleared him to start up training again," Schmid said.

Today's practice in the beautiful sunshine of Seattle was an opportunity for the Sounders to slow down a bit. It is one of those rare weeks with merely one game. That game is as large a Cascadia game has ever occurred in MLS, but still it is merely one game. The number one story today was the amount of activity out there.

Michael Gspurning was deemed "ready" by Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid following Thursday's training. The assumption being that Gspurning is due to make his first start since May 2, allowing for the obvious caveats that anything can happen between now and then.

This is undeniably great news.

Saturday night the Sounders embarrassed themselves. Forget the referee, the crowd, the Montreal Impact. Intensity and focus matter in professional sports and the Sounders did not take the field in Montreal ready to play. There were moments of precision and brilliance from the Sounders. Eddie Johnson's goal was the result of beautiful interplay.

Today's Sounders U23 v Sounders FC scrimmage saw both Steve Zakuani and Josh Ford get time on the field. As of today's MLS Injury Report both are moving towards healthy on the four step report. David Estrada's injury in practice does not make the report.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC -- OUT: FW Babayele Sodade (R knee ACL tear); DOUBTFUL: GK Michael Gspurning (R hip strain); DF Patrick Ianni (lower back pain); DF Leo Gonzalez (L quad strain); DF Adam Johansson (R hamstring strain); MF Steve Zakuani (R leg fracture); QUESTIONABLE: GK Josh Ford (R knee stress fracture)

A Seattle Sounders FC spokesman has confirmed that Ford is still on the short-term Injured List.

Voting for Major League Soccer's All Star First XI will open on Friday. Those "First XI" will not necessary be the starters, and they are determined thorugh a combination of online, text and Twitter votes with the top text vote receiver being automatically selected. The rest of the gameday roster is selected by Don Garber (2 picks) and Peter Nowak (5 picks plus replacements).

Over the past three seasons, Sigi Schmid has masterfully maneuvered the Seattle Sounders lineup. Many times, he's rolled out a lineup that has made more than a few of us want to rip out our hair. But more times than not, it's worked out in his favor.

His willingness to go more than 20-deep on his roster is part of why the Sounders have been able to do so well in multiple competitions.

Without the results of the past few weeks a draw on the road to the newly revamped Chivas USA could be a positive, particularly a come-from-behind draw. In light of the slump that the Seattle Sounders FC are in, is a road draw enough? In some cases 1-1 is a positive. In others it feels like a loss.

There will be two very different approaches in tonight's Desert Diamond Cup Final between Seattle Sounders FC and Real Salt Lake. Sigi Schmid made it clear this week that it will be a run for second teamers and trialists since the First Team started against Veracruz on Friday night. Kreis will almost certainly run his A-Team out, though there are questions as to their second forward - Findley v Plata.

Seattle once again proceeds on to the later rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League, putting a stamp on their 2012 run with a convincing win over Marathon. Their 3-1 victory featured goals from 2012's role players, Sammy Ochoa, David Estrada, and Steve Zakuani. It was also the first most recent Seattle start for born-again Sounder Marcus Hahnemann.

The season is approaching at warp speed, with the MLS Superdraft less than a week away. But if you haven't been following the top prospects, don't fret; Soccer by Ives has you covered. The draft has become devalued with the level of talent coming through transfer in the modern MLS era, but some would argue that teams aren't using it properly.

The biggest question facing Seattle Sounders FC is simple. It has been known for some time even if it is not yet official, but a year (or more) without Fredy Montero will require attention. This is not the only question facing the team as training camp opens and four members of the Sounder at Heart team join other media in descending on Starfire for the first time in 2013.

In the past three seasons the "Moment of the Year" was something related to the US Open Cup. It helps that the major trophy was won in each of those seasons. This year the voting here at Sounder at Heart will be a little bit tighter as there were no trophies - major or minor. Presented in no particular order are the nine moments that are up for this virtual award.

*MacMath is listed as out according to yesterday's MLS Injury Report, but is questionable in the Union's game preview. is out, Konopka starting.

A blow to the head in practice and multiple run-ins with opposing players has left the Philadelphia Union with only one option in goal heading into today's game against Toronto FC.