Steve Zakuani Rumors & News

The Seattle Sounders will be at least a little short-handed when they face another big test on Sunday against the LA Galaxy. Osvaldo Alonso has essentially been ruled out and Steve Zakuani does not appear to be ready to return this week, either. On a more positive note, Leo Gonzalez seems to have recovered and Mauro Rosales was able to participate as a neutral in Tuesday's practice. The most glaring concern is obviously Alonso, who suffered what the team is calling an adductor strain and came out of the match around the 30th minute. "It's something that we don't know exactly how long i...

First Half Despite missing Obafemi Martins (knee), Shalrie Joseph (hamstring), Steve Zakuani (groin) and Osvaldo Alonso (birth of daughter), the Seattle Sounders certainly did not look like a depleted team early. In the tenth minute, the always explosive Eddie Johnson scored on a corner kick service from Mauro Rosales, and Seattle were up 1-0. Johnson found himself all alone in the middle of the box, as Amobi Okugo lost his assignment. The tide would begin to turn midway through the first half, with Philadelphia spending a lot of time in the final third. The Union found woodwork twice,...

Everyone can take a deep breath: Steve Zakuani's blood test did not reveal anything major. That's undeniably good news, although his groin injury could still keep him out of action. "I didn't mean to alarm the world by saying he needed to go in for a blood test," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said. It wasn't anything major. He was out here. He did more more today." There was still no word on why, exactly, the Sounders medical staff needed to pull Zakuani out of training to do the blood test, but that seems like less of a pressing issue now. What could be a bit more of a problem is th...

Don't want to sound too many alarm bells until we know more, but Steve Zakuani did miss training today in order to undergo some blood tests. There was no indication that there was anything to be worried about, yet, but Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid was a bit cryptic when discussing the matter with media. "Something came up where they wanted to do that test before practice," said Schmid, noting that it was an issue that was caught during an otherwise routine check-up. "He was already here for practice and we had to send him in there." What rose some ears was when Schmid sounded less t...

Shifting Steve Zakuani to the forward was a major topic of conversation this week both online and at practice. This also lead into Sigi Schmid talking about how part of the shift was due to the way that Seattle needed to defend Santos Laguna. It was a similar structure to what was used to chase the second half of the Salt Lake match and most of leg one's loss to Santos at home. "One of the things that we are trying to do as a team is get our balance back so we don't get exposed on the counter," Sigi said about switch Zakuani from winger to forward. "If we are going to play very offensi...

Teams are going to face choices on how to defend the speedy duo of Obafemi Martins and Eddie Johnson. It gets even more complex due to Steve Zakuani sitting on one flank. Sigi Schmid says the Seattle Sounders will need to react to the open space as it is given. "Do they want to play a high line? Do they want to take that risk? Do they drop off a bit more because they respect the speed?" Responding to the highline for a team with this much speed will be easy. The ball will be going up and over, or through, that line when it is offered. In some cases this will mean more direct play. In o...

In a match that will last in Seattle Sounders fans memories more for the first appearance of Obafemi Martins than the result, the result was a mere draw against Portland Timbers squad that used constant pressure and a barrage of offense to press Seattle despite being on the road. Steve Zakuani created a great opportunity in the 13th minute that Eddie Johnson slid into the goal, but the 1-nil lead would not hold the Timbers back and Rodney Wallace completed their comeback with a 91st minute game winner tying goal. The midfield battle was too close with Portland holding a slight edge. S...

This evening, Sounder at Heart was present at a private Sounders FC party in downtown Seattle for the official reveal of the 2013 kits. Current impact players including Eddie Johnson, Mauro Rosales, Brad Evans, Michael Gspurning, and Steve Zakuani were on hand to model the new kits. Mere days before the opening kick, those on hand were presented with each a Rave Green and Shale option, just as last year. The modern variants however, do not use matching designs and do not suffer the much-maligned silver straps of the 2011-2012 era. As has been seen in leaks over the past month, the gree...