Lamar Neagle’s career could’ve splintered in a thousand different directions after the 2009 season. Waived by Sounders FC after his rookie year, Neagle spent the 2010 MLS preseason as a training camp invitee before embarking for the Charleston Battery and then for a brief stay with IFK Mariehamn, in a town on a small chain of islands off Finland’s coast.
A year later, Neagle’s journey led him back to his hometown club, where he spent most of the next four years becoming a fan favorite and an impact wide midfielder. Through the 2015 season, Neagle played in 116 games for Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid, scored 26 goals, had 17 assists, played nearly 8,000 minutes.
Now, Neagle’s journey is splitting off in a new direction.
The Sounders announced they had traded Neagle to D.C. United for allocation money as the league’s transaction window officially opened Monday afternoon. The Federal Way native and former Thomas Jefferson High School standout will head to the opposite coast at 28 years old, presumably with plenty of life left in his pro career.
At least on the surface, the move appears to benefit everyone involved. From D.C. United’s perspective, Neagle is a like-for-like replacement for Chris Pontius, whose injury issues have dogged him and cut short a number of otherwise successful seasons. Pontius was shipped to Philadelphia on Monday to make room for Neagle’s considerably more cap-friendly salary, not to mention his healthier legs.
With Neagle’s speed and quickness to the point of attack, he should fit in nicely with D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen’s tactical approach, wherever he’s deployed. Olsen likes to run his wide midfielders and play on the counter, and Neagle’s straight line speed should give him an immediate edge in the race for playing time.
From Seattle’s perspective, the team’s flurry of midseason acquisitions in 2015 meant Schmid simply couldn’t offer Neagle the consistent playing time he no doubt desired. Neagle spent the injury-weakened summer portion of Seattle’s season playing in the somewhat uncomfortable position of lone striker in an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1, and he found the sledding tough. When Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins returned to health, they were natural choices to resume starting duties up top, which slid Neagle back out wide.
Neagle’s most comfortable position is probably on the wings in a 4-4-2, specifically on the right (although he’s adept on either flank). With Dempsey and Martins stationed up top as a duo at the very least through 2016, recent signings Nelson Valdez and Andreas Ivanschitz had established themselves as first choice wide midfielders by the time the playoffs rolled around.
That left Neagle to clean up playing time as an explosive option off the bench. He only started two matches after August wrapped and gradually saw his playing time decrease.
The Sounders have offseason needs at other positions, and Neagle happened to find himself in a position of plenty this offseason. With declined options on players like Gonzalo Pineda and Zach Scott, Seattle no doubt wants to chase more depth and skill up the spine in both the central midfield and defense. That puts a premium on allocation money, which the Sounders will need in some abundance in order to fill out starting roles and depth options off the bench.
It’s never easy dealing away long-time servants of the club, and that goes double for local guys. Neagle has been with the Sounders in some capacity for nearly the entire length of the club’s stay in MLS, and he’s scored a handful of big goals in key situations for the club in that time. From that angle there will no doubt be some difficulty in the parting as Neagle treks to the Eastern Conference.
And yet there is so much sense in the deal for all parties involved that the mourning period should be a relatively truncated one. There are few players with readymade starting spots in this league, and Neagle will not have one handed him in D.C., but he has a fantastic shot at becoming an every-game starter for Olsen from opening kick. That’s not something Schmid could necessarily offer Neagle right now in lieu of an injury.
So Neagle heads off into the eastern sunrise for a new shore with a bag full of memories and big moments from a distinguished tenure in Seattle. Wherever he goes from here, those will never fade.
