Five-a-Side: What's hot around MLS?

MLS Five-a-side:Five things you should know about as the offseason moves forward.:

1. Big choices ahead for debuting Seattle: The days ahead will be critical for Sigi Schmid and the debuting Sounders, who will have more on the line than any of other club during next week's MLS SuperDraft in St. Louis. Obviously, it's an important event for all 15 sides. Every team can improve in spots, and the draft is among the chief vehicles for doing so.

But as Seattle currently employs just 15 professional soccer players at the moment -- with at least two of them still on the injury shelf -- Schmid and Co. absolutely cannot afford to whiff on too many of the choices, especially at the high-profile and valuable lucrative No. 1 spot overall.

Even amongst the players most solidly in place on the roster, choice lay ahead. Perhaps the most important is where to fix Freddie Ljungberg among the starting 11.

The Sounders' Designated Player is recovering from December surgery to correct a hip condition. He's iffy for the club's March 19 opener at Qwest Field.

Schmid, making the long trek from Seattle to Florida on Friday for the adidas MLS Player Combine, said he's spoken to the retired Swedish international about where he best fits.

Most people might remember the noted Calvin Klein model -- Ljungberg, that is, not Schmid -- as a menace on the Arsenal flanks. That's where Ljungberg spent the bulk of his pro career before moving across London to West Ham United in 2007.

But he played a central role occasionally for Arsenal, and also played there at times during 75 appearances for Sweden. So, ideally, that's where Schmid would like to station Ljungberg, either as an attacking midfielder or a second forward. (Remember, that's how Schmid used Guillermo Barros Schelotto so successfully during last year's title dash in Columbus.)

"If he can give us the same kind of attacking verve centrally, then that's where we'd like to have him," Schmid said. "But a lot of it depends on where all the other pieces fall and how it all fits together."

Then-Galaxy manager Frank Yallop had the same thought about David Beckham when the England international arrived on scene in 2007. But Beckham struggled to make an impact, and Yallop soon had his stylish midfielder back on the right side, where he felt most comfortable.

For Ljungberg's part, Schmid says the two have talked and that the player is willing to ply his trade wherever it works best for the team.

By the way, even if Ljungberg can't make that debut match, it will surely be a big time at Qwest Field. Team officials have sold 18,400 season tickets, and individual seats for matches, including the opener, won't even go on sale for about another month.

2. Huge weekend looms for a Chivas USA original: This is shaping up to be an important few days for Chivas USA's Francisco "Panchito" Mendoza, who could soon join Chivas HQ below the border.

Mendoza has always been property of CD Guadalajara, the popular Mexican club that sits at the top of the Chivas food chain. His four years at The Home Depot Center have been courtesy of a series of loans.

During the winter the technically gifted midfielder has been training with the Mexican side in Guadalajara. With only limited minutes so far in the on-going InterLiga, he is expected to get significant playing time Friday at The Home Depot Center as Chivas battles Tigres, and perhaps more minutes Sunday in Los Angeles as the tournament concludes.

If Mendoza performs well, Chivas USA could find themselves without the services of the last original Chivas USA performer -- which would surely be a bittersweet outcome.

On the one hand, Mendoza has served as a picture for what development and partnership between the U.S. and Mexican brother clubs could be. He grew up through the system in Guadalajara, found his professional legs in the United States and now could go back and join the Mexican mothership.

On the other hand, Mendoza is quite popular with the Chivas USA fans in southern California, and he's been a reliable contributor since Day 1. In fact, no other Mexican-born player has participated in as many MLS matches. His 111 appearances include just five as a substitute.

Soon after this weekend, officials from Chivas de Guadalajara, Chivas USA and Mendoza himself will have to combine to determine what's best for all. One of three things will happen: He'll simply remain in Mexico, as the club there already holds his player pass; the sides could arrange another loan, which would see Mendoza return for a fifth season at The Home Depot Center; or Chivas USA could buy Mendoza's contract outright. That's the least likely option, as MLS generally does not pay transfer fees, and his outright acquisition would almost surely involve one.

Mendoza, 23, has always maintained that he wants to play once again for the mother club. Still, that doesn't mean that people won't miss him around Victoria Street.

3. A delight of options at left midfield: Officials in New York are trying to determine the best course of action for valuable, versatile midfielder Dave van den Bergh. His contract is up and Red Bull deciders would prefer to negotiate a slightly lower salary for 2009. They have also made efforts to move the Dutchman to another MLS club, one that might have a little more room beneath the cap.

But there's something in the way of those efforts. At some points past, left midfielder has been a tricky spot to fill around the league -- but the winter of 2009 doesn't happen to be one of those times. Just look at some of the two-way men who will line up at that position when the league's 14th season begins in March (assuming nothing changes between then and now): Robbie Rogers, Justin Mapp, Mauricio Castro, van den Bergh, Ivan Guerrero, Brad Davis, Mendoza (or Chivas USA teammate Jonathan Bornstein, who sometimes moved up from the left fullback spot), Will Johnson, Colin Clark, Eddie Lewis and Darren Huckerby.

You may not have heard much about Johnson, the Canadian international at Real Salt Lake. You will. He's got some game.

You can debate the merits of some of the others. Maybe Castro wasn't productive enough for your liking, or maybe Mapp isn't rising to the potential that some have assigned. Maybe you think Lewis, at 34, is past his sell-by date. But the fact remains, those are valued MLS starters. So a league stable that's comparatively well-stocked at the spot might eventually say a lot about what happens to van den Bergh -- and whether he'll be in a New York uniform when officials open Red Bull Arena later this year.

4. Where to play Shea: Officials in Dallas love Brek Shea, the well-regarded Generation adidas talent and U.S. under-20 international. It's just that nobody has ever been certain about how best to exploit his versatility.

Shea, who is 6-feet-3 and has yet to reach his 19th birthday, has shown potential in the ability to play pretty much anywhere on the field. His first MLS minutes came as a left-sided midfielder last year. But Shea has also played at various spots in the midfield and along the back line for the U.S. junior national teams.

Now FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman believes that center back might just be the player's best spot. Shea is currently on the mend following a pair of knee surgeries in the offseason, and he hopes to set by opening day.

Hyndman loves Shea's confidence on the ball as center back, and his general adaptability and comfort playing anywhere on the field. He played there in a couple of reserve team matches, and his size and relative strength make it a good fit, Hyndman believes.

He'll have to continue to work on conquering those midfielders' instincts, Hyndman said; Shea is still learning that the risk calculation is different as a defender.

5. Not just an internet rumor: You never know from which direction the next big media bombshell will fall. For example, this little gem from Brightstar Communication owner Marcelo Claure was dropped earlier this week in Diario de Las Americas, a Spanish-language publication in Miami:

Carles Puyol or Thierry Henry could be the Designated Player target if Miami's bid to gain an expansion team in 2010 comes through.

Wow.

Claure's Brightstar organization is knee-deep in the Miami effort, all bundled in with Barcelona's ambitions to attach itself to MLS. Together, all parties are being very aggressive, not content to wait until 2011 or 2012; they want to get going ASAP. The plan is to play at Florida International University initially.

Here's what Claure told Diario de Las Americas: "We don't want to raise false expectations, as of this moment we can't bring Lionel Messi nor Samuel Eto'o, but we can say that Carles Puyol or Thierry Henry could be the marquee player."

Puyol, 30, has more than 400 appearances for Barcelona, and is surely one of the classiest defenders of his time. Henry, 31, a two-time FIFA Player of the Year runner-up, barely needs introduction.

Officials in Miami-Dade County and at the Spanish soccer giants are also bullish on stadium development plans; FIU would be a stop-gap venue pending the development of a permanent facility.