Former Sounders FC midfielder Lamar Neagle said this week he wasn’t surprised by the recent trade that sent him across the country to D.C. United, and that he welcomes a fresh start with a new club ready to give him playing time.
Neagle, 28, was dealt to D.C. United on Monday in exchange for an undisclosed amount of allocation money, ending his third and most productive stint in Seattle. A native of Federal Way, Neagle scored 21 goals and added 15 assists in MLS play over the past three seasons, and is tied for third in franchise history with 26 goals in 116 regular-season appearances.
His playing time began to dwindle, however, after the midseason acquisition of Austrian international Andreas Ivanschitz, and Neagle did not appear during any of the team’s three postseason games.
“From the way it was going with playing time, I figured toward the end of the season I was going to be traded,” Neagle told the Washington Post. “And knowing if we didn’t win it all, they were going to be making some big changes. Realistically, I probably wasn’t going to be traded to a West Coast team and play against them often. It was probably going to be further away. So I was ready for it.”
Neagle said he was well aware the Sounders were set to undergo a number of offseason changes and that “the mid-salaries were going to be squeezed out,” a sentiment echoed by head coach Sigi Schmid after the season ended.
“Some teams are going that way, and we are one of them, I was told,” Neagle said. “If something good popped up for Seattle, I couldn’t blame them from a business sense.”
Neagle said he approached Schmid during the season about his lack of playing time, but he was told there were other players ahead of him in the pecking order in the midfield. Neagle ultimately appeared in 31 regular-season games (23 starts), but he did not make the 18-man roster for either game of the Western Conference Semifinals series against FC Dallas.
“[Schmid’s] opinion was there were a few other guys ahead of me,” Neagle said. “I can’t really say anything about that; it’s the coach’s decision.”
Neagle said he knew about the trade well in advance and that he is welcoming the opportunity to play for a new club following his time in Seattle. He’ll make a jersey switch from wearing No. 27 with Seattle to No. 13 with D.C. United.
“I think this is going to be a good opportunity for me,” Neagle said. “The minutes were dwindling at the end of the year in Seattle; by the end I wasn’t even in the 18. It’s a good point in my career to go somewhere else. To got picked up early [in the offseason]; it’s a sign D.C. really wants me.”
