Major League Soccer team previews: SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Significant additions and subtractions: Fredy Montero and Jeff Parke are gone. That’s the club’s best all-around attacker and defender. They have great depth, but those are huge blows to the top of Seattle’s depth charts.

Add in the likely departure of Christian Tiffert and Seattle’s lost a key player at each level of the field. The German Designated Player is not in camp and looks on his way out.

They’re the casualties of an offseason that’s required general manager Adrian Hanauer to do some significant salary cap manipulation. It’s also why the losses haven’t been offset by big arrivals. Djimi Traore should be valuable in defense while Shalrie Joseph’s addition looks more like cap games than significant addition.

Strengths: The midfield. Osvaldo Alonso, the league’s best midfielder, is complemented by the “all the little things” value of Brad Evans. Mauro Rosales is an elite playmaker when healthy, while a returning Steve Zakuani could make up 60 percent of Montero’s goals. Mario Martínez is also ready to step in, and there’s still a chance we’ll see all five players in the same lineup. Rosales can always be pushed up to play with Johnson.

Goal prevention may continue to be a strength despite the loss of Parke. The keys were always Gspurning, Alonso, and Sigi Schmid’s tactics, all of which remain in Seattle.

Pressure points: Eddie Johnson scored 15 goals. Montero had 13. After that, Seattle’s scoring charts drop all the way down to five. Zakuani and David Estrada could pick up the slack, but if they don’t, Seattle’s in big trouble, especially when Johnson’s away on national team duty.

And despite goal prevention being a possible strength, you have to wonder about the back line. They lost Parke, Adam Johansson can be exploited, and Leo Gonzalez can be had for pace on the left. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is no longer an MLS-elite center back. Will opposing teams figure out a way to exploit this?

In MLS, every team has to accept some weaknesses. Seattle will continue to wager they can paper over theirs.

Difference maker: Osvaldo Alonso is the team’s best player, but the difference maker is Johnson. He needs to duplicate (or perhaps, improve upon) his 2012. Else, Seattle could have a shocking season.

Johnson has the talent, but he’s also going to be pulled in two directions by the international calendar. If he only plays, say, 24 games this year (instead of last year’s 31), can Seattle replace his contributions?

A scenario: Johnson regresses a little. Maybe he tires, gets hurt, or the league adjusts. Maybe all of the above. And let’s say Estrada and Zakuani can’t replace Montero’s scoring and Johnson’s regression. None of these assumptions are outrageous.

When things go bad, these are the scenarios that transpire. And right now, there’s a scenario where this team just isn’t that good.

Potential breakout player: People forget how good Zakuani was. That’s understandable. It’s been almost two years, but Zakuani was the most dangerous wide man in the league. If he can hit the 10-goal mark he touched in 2010, Seattle’s biggest problem is solved.

Bottom line: There are a lot of questions, but Seattle doesn’t need answers now . They just need them in time to compete in November.

They’ll find them. With this team’s track record and the talent they carry over, they’ll find a way to protect the defense and augment Johnson.

The bigger moves may come this summer, when Seattle may have one (or two) open Designated Player spots. Fans complain the club hasn’t been aggressively using their financial might, but if Schmid can stabilize in spring, Hanauer can be ambitious in summer.

Come November, this team will again be a contender to come out of the West.

(MORE: the entire roster of ProSoccerTalk’s Major League Soccer previews and predictions)