The Seattle Sounders' preseason roster got just a little bit lighter as they got ready to take off for Florida and Mexico. Although the Sounders didn't officially release an updated roster, Joshua Mayers of the Seattle Times has managed to piece one together:

Goalkeepers (5): Chris Blais*, Josh Ford, Michael Gspurning, Bryan Meredith, Andrew Weber*

Defenders (10): Marc Burch, Andrew Duran#, Leo Gonzalez, Harlinton Gutierres*, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Michael Tetteh

Midfielders (13): Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Alex Caskey*, Cordell Cato, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez, Lamar Neagle, Mauro Rosales, Andy Rose^, Amadou Sanyang, Michael Seamon, Christian Sivebaek, Steve Zakuani

Forwards (7): David Estrada, Mike Fucito, Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero, Sammy Ochoa, Babayele Soldade#, O'Brian White

* -- trialist/invitee, # -- unsigned draft pick, ^ -- acquired on draft day trade, underline -- recovering from injury with uncertain timeline

Still not a whole lot of surprises at this point.

Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders FC took the pitch in anger for the first time. While it may only be preseason anger, the number of cards (10 yellow, 1 red) and the puncture wound on Mike Fucito indicate that emotions were high and form was off. While the game ended with both the Vancouver Whitecaps and Sounders netting just one goal apiece, the point of these matches is not to win, but to prepare to win meaningful games.

A year ago, the Seattle Sounders opened their season on March 15. This year, they will essentially do so eight days earlier. On paper that might not seem like a huge difference.

But unlike last year when they opened against a LA Galaxy team that was in the same stage of its season, the Sounders' first opponent will be Santos Laguna, a Mexican Primera side that will have already played nine matches.

Even after bidding farewell to five players, the Seattle Sounders' list 39 players as participating in training camp as the team begins activities in Casa Grande, Ariz. The five players who didn't make the trip were Sounders academy product Darwin Jones, University of Washington product Abdul Aman, goalkeeper Tyrel Lacy, invitee Jonathan Prieto and an unnamed trialist.

In all the hoopla surrounding the Seattle Sounders offseason moves, there has been one player that seems to have flown under the radar more than any other: Servando Carrasco. During the midfielder's rookie season, he became better known for the person he was dating than anything he did on the field.

Adam Johansson was officially introduced to the Seattle media on Friday. Joining him on the call was Seattle Sounders Technical Director Chris Henderson. Depending on how you chose to interpret Henderson's comments and some recent developments, the Sounders are either very close to a finished product or merely just starting to round into shape.

Osvaldo Alonso recently suggested some Premiership teams might be interested in acquiring his services. Unsurprisingly, being as he is a professional soccer player, he is open to this possibility. None of this should really come as news.

The question is: How much concern should this cause us as Seattle Sounders fans, who clearly want our team to have as many highly talented players as is possible?

Seattle Sounders players vote to recognize their vision of the MVP and Defender of the Year. This differs slightly from recognition given by Sounder at Heart in that here there are awards for Offensive, Defensive and Young Players of a given season. Still there is a certain overlap.

Osvaldo Alonso's performance in 2011 earned him recognition from both his teammates and readers here.

It is a good problem to have, namely more starting-calibre talent than starting spots, and this is the problem that the Sounders already appear to have in their crowded midfield for 2012.

With Mauro Rosales, Alvaro Fernandez, and Osvaldo Alonso all seeming to be virtual locks in any "best XI", Lamar Neagle, Erik Friberg, and Brad Evans all having proven themselves capable of starting a match, and Steve Zakuani looking to recover from his horrific injury last April and re-join the fray, it becomes pretty clear that the 2012 Sounders already have a logjam of talent at midfield.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Move to the front page for the sake of discussion on this rather dull weekend. - Jeremiah

Very simple question: who will replace Kasey Keller as captain of the Sounders this season?

Some thought it might be Riley: it clearly won't now. I've included some likely possibilities, as well as an 'other' option.

Ask 10 Seattle Sounders fans who they would like to see protected in the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft and you're probably going to get 10 slightly different answers. Just about everyone can agree that Mauro Rosales, Fredy Montero and Osvaldo Alonso should be protected, but beyond those three there seems to be at least some level of decent.

Hey, remember that? Yeah, I was a little slack in updating our pickem game results after the final. It's possible that I only just recovered from celebrating Osvaldo Alonso's cherry-on-top goal. But there's no time like the offseason. . wait, what's that? The season still isn't over yet? Whatever.

When I saw the MLS Best XI the other day, what first struck me wasn't that Kasey Keller made the list, or Osvaldo Alonso didn't, or that there were 4 Galaxy players. Actually, my first reaction was "wow, I would NEVER field that XI in an actual match!"

This has nothing to do with talent, of course, but more to do with structure and roles.

Don Garber spoke to reporters today to announce the league's best XI and talk a bit about the 2012 season. The only Seattle Sounder named to the Best XI was goal-keeper Kasey Keller. Keller, in his final professional season, anchored one of the league's top defenses. He led all league goalkeepers with 18 wins and made a career-high 110 saves.

The 2011 Major League Soccer season was arguably the best in league history, from both a competition and entertainment standpoint, and as a result, it made for some tough calls when deciding on the league's Best XI.

MLS commissioner Don Garber will announce the league's official Best XI later today, but based on the voting of the SBI editorial staff (Ives Galarcep, Avi Creditor, Adam Serrano, Mike Nastri, Jose Romero, Thomas Floyd, Joey Samuel), we came up with a first, second and third team to honor those who put forth standout performances this season.

On the defensive side of the game, the Seattle Sounders had three near iron-men. Three players whose presence on the pitch made difference. Three men who highlight why this is a "defensive" player rather than defender of the year vote.

Furthest up the pitch is Osvaldo Alonso, the Honey Badger.

MLS announced the finalists for individual awards today. Three Seattle Sounders graced the lists. Coach Sigi Schmid will battle the only coach with a better regular season record (Bruce Arena) and a worst to first performance by Peter Vermes in Kansas City. There is no surprise to see Kasey Keller on the keeper short list with Kevin Hartman and Faryd Mondragon (maybe surprising).

Dave: Bumped to front page for general awesomeness. Though I've disagreed with the author on this subject our conclusions are the same.

On several recent occasions in SounderAtHeart comment threads I have found myself buried in discussions over the relative passing abilities of Brad Evans and Erik Friberg.

STARTERS
The stars have aligned and we are getting 3 of the top 5 teams in the MLS Semifinals this weekend. Both games are on Sunday evening. Should be fantastic!
Join me to watch both games on Sunday evening at the Sweetwater in St Paul.
dN
How excited is Houston manager Dominic Kinear that his team is advancing?

By Kirsten Schlewitz / Senior West Coast Beer and Aston Villa Correspondent
Sorry guys, but I refuse to give up my standing whisky atthe dive bar date in order to wait until Houston Dynamo – Philadelphia Unionand Los Angeles Galaxy – New York Red Bulls are finished and I can give you adecent recommendation for the MLS semi-finals.

Seattle stands to lose an important player in the expansion draft. (Getty Images)

I don't think many folks expected to see this list so soon. With the Seattle Sounders exiting the playoffs last night after there 3-2 (on aggregate) loss to Real Salt Lake, the list had to be made. Boy, Montreal has to make the most of this too as the Sounders stand to lose one quality player.

STARTERS
My pick to win MLS Cup 2011 Seattle was knocked out last night! There goes my chance to meet & charm Erin Mayovsky too. Damnit!
dN
No longer the interim - Frank Klopas was named the head coach of the Chicago Fire for next season.
-The team went 7-2-1 in the last 10 game with Klopas in charge.

During Wednesday's post-game press-conference, a reporter asked Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid about the taste that game left in his mouth. While far from dismissive of the question, Schmid corrected the reporter a little.

"I don't know if it's in our mouths," he said. "It's definitely a very empty, hallow feeling in our stomachs at this stage.

When a perfect game was needed, the Seattle Sounders merely put forth a great game. Saturday's first leg carried over only one element, the physicality. For the most part it was matched, but in the end Real Salt Lake advanced from the two leg aggregate series. Two goals were not enough, two goals were enough for a win and honor.

ALONSO 56, p. (1-0), NEAGLE 61 (2-0). El daño ya se habia hecho. El marcador de 3 0 del partido de ida el pasado sábado no pudo ser igualad0 esta noche en el CenturyLink Field con el 2-0 a favor del Seattle en la segunda vuelta de la semifinal de la conferencia oeste de [...]

ALONSO 56, p. (1-0), NEAGLE 61 (2-0). El daño ya se habia hecho. El marcador de 3 0 del partido de ida el pasado sábado no pudo ser igualad0 esta noche en el CenturyLink Field con el 2-0 a favor del Seattle en la segunda vuelta de la semifinal de la conferencia oeste de [...]

ALONSO 56, p. (1-0), NEAGLE 61 (2-0). El daño ya se habia hecho. El marcador de 3 0 del partido de ida el pasado sábado no pudo ser igualado esta noche en el CenturyLink Field con el 2-0 a favor del Seattle en la segunda vuelta de la semifinal de la conferencia oeste de [...]

No Olave, No BorchersReal Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders squared off in what had to be one of the more exciting playoff matches in recent years. Those on the east coast who stayed up and those on around the country who watched bore witness to a near astounding comeback by Seattle that fell just short of triumphant.

Times are not bright. It is cloudy, cold and rain is expected. The Seattle Sounders are down three goals and one of their MVP candidates is out for the game. Real Salt Lake doesn't get blown out with a healthy roster. It is a very Seattle day.

It isn't a very Sounders day though. Three straight US Open Cups, 63 regular season points, three straight MLS Cup Playoffs appearances, success in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Honey Badger don't care and neither does Osvaldo Alonso. Also, Brek Shea is a bird.
[H/T Sounder at Heart]

Being asked if I'd seen the Honey Badger virals, I knew not what was about to hit the screen. Some YouTubing later, I get it. It's like The Birdcage meets National Geographic.

This has the potential to become a nauseatingly overdone meme for sports videos on par with the Hitler reactions which have ruined a very good original movie and presumably a clever original.

Being asked if I'd seen the Honey Badger virals, I knew not what was about to hit the screen. Some YouTubing later, I get it. It's like The Birdcage meets National Geographic.

This has the potential to become a nauseatingly overdone meme for sports videos on par with the Hitler reactions which have ruined a very good original movie and presumably a clever original.

By JOSÉ M. ROMERO

Osvaldo Alonso honestly felt that this could be the year for his Seattle Sounders.

He said as much late last week, before the Sounders were blasted 3-0 at Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the MLS Western Conference semifinals.

Maybe the most shocking development from the Seattle Sounders' 3-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday was the play of Osvaldo Alonso. Throughout his three-year MLS career, he has been the most reliable Sounders player. Fredy Montero is prone to hot and cold streaks; Kasey Keller has allowed a soft goal or two; the defense has looked shaky at various times.

LA and Seattle had two of the top midfields in 2011. (Getty Images)

It has been a couple weeks since I revisited my 2011 positional rankings. I got caught up in the 2011 Expansion Draft lists something I will likely continue on today.

Today, we're looking back at the midfielder rankings.

It really doesn't get much worse than that folks. And, yet, as Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said in postgame comments, they were lucky they didn't lost 6-0. The Sounders were outplayed every bit as bad as their 3-0 scoreline suggests, and probably even worse than that.

Just going through the stats, there are signs of Real Salt Lake domination everywhere.

Álvaro Saborío scored two for Real Salt Lake, and the Seattle Sounders reacted with frustration to their 3-0 loss in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals. RSL dominated from the early minutes, pounding eleven shots at Seattle's geriatric keeper while holding the Flounders to exactly zero shots on target for the duration of the match.

By JOSÉ M. ROMERO

Much was made of Real Salt Lake's regular season-ending six-match winless streak and how it might be a sign that RSL is in trouble heading into the playoffs.

On Saturday night, Real Salt Lake put that notion to rest in emphatic fashion.

Quite possibly the worst performance that the Seattle Sounders ever occurred in the chilly, high air of Utah as Real Salt Lake netted three goals. Only Kasey Keller prevented that scoreline from being even greater. To list all of the mistakes that were made will take some time, but sadly it will happen.

With the red cards, penalties and an own goal in the last two matches there isn't much that can be taken from the previous two meetings between these sides. Even the issue with the 2010 contests has been addressed, as the Seattle Sounders substitution patterns have dramatically improved in 2011 over previous season.