Tale of two games

I must say after watching the boys on Wed at home vs Dallas I was worries about where our season was headed.  There was really no chemistry for the team.  We looked like 11 players and not a team.  Our strategy was the long ball and while we got off shots there were few of any real quality.  While we tend to play the long ball more than most teams it was much more frequent on Wed.  Dallas had very little scoring chances but the ones they had were higher quality than ours and while we "controlled" the game I felt we could have done much more to get better chances.  Going in I thought we'd go down initially but would take that and get a 2 - 1 win, guess the bunker down strategy foiled that idea.  (one side note on that, till MLS teams can actually play with the lead and still generate offense, we will always be a secondary league - this in my opinion will get better as the quality of players does)


OK, done dwelling on the negative cause then there was Saturday against RSL.  That game I was sure I would see the Rave Green get another loss.  It was not that I don't believe in the team this was just the numbers pointed to that result.  I could not have been happier with the outcome.  The boys looked like a team, they made overlapping runs, covered for each other on the backline, and chased down the ball.  I feel the Fucito(new man crush there) really gives us a better chance with our long ball style.  He seems to outrun most defenders and his stocky build lets him hold up play for help to arrive (or draw the red card).  While we still have issues at midfield, Neagle was a pleasant surprise and I want to see more of him.  The shots he took were struck with pace and I can see him giving teams trouble on the outside.  He played better than the rest of the offensive minded center folks.  On the back line, besides Ianni's lapse (probably still thinking about that cheap tap in goal) they were fairly solid.  We had issues clearing but overall recovered well.  And that may have been the best game from Keller this season and maybe ever for the Sounders.  This game showed us the team we hope to be, hopefully we can keep this up.  Of course we still need to work on finishing but 2 goals a game with our defense should get us plenty of points.


We now have a little softer schedule the next four games - Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, N.E - probably the bottom four .  A third of the way through the season we are setup well for the playoffs, we just need to keep playing as a team.  http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html 

Tribe in the media

Here is some of the tribe being media whores before the Timbers game on Sat.


Check out around minute 4 in this video:



Here is a link to more Timber bashing from the Tribe on Roots Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1717236462281


And just because I can, in the background at minute 1:35 a few of us pass by the interview
http://bcove.me/wl1k03w8

Pushing Buttons

Which of these buttons should I make?
We have
Public Enemy #1
Mo Ro
A battery with Brian Mullan's name on it.

No, I'm not advocating chucking batteries, or anything else, at Brian Mullan (or anyone else). That would be wrong. Hurl epithets at him all you want. They are well deserved, and encouraged.

Let me know which you like best and I'll get some made.


EDIT - another option (and a good idea to boot):

My First Game (live) of the Season

On Friday I finally quenched my Sounders thirst with my first home game of the season (do to the late announcement of the schedule and previously made plans I missed First Kick).  While the first say 40 minutes were tantalizing...the Houston goal at 42nd minute was crushing.  To dominate a team that bad for lets say 35 minutes (give Houston the first 5 and after the 40th) and go into half down a goal was a little soul sucking.  Now I was no where near my beloved friends Tory and Jon's thoughts of wearing paper bags...you have to be like the Detroit Lions of futbol to get to that level...but I was a little disappointed.

Then the rains came, to add to the fun (did I mention I had a one year old strapped to me).   However, the team came out and I had a renewed sense of hope.  Then the kick off came.  It seemed like the team went to the kick it to the front guys and let them run it down.  That has rarely worked for us.  We do much better working it up the wings, crossing it to the center and (dare I say) finishing it (which seems like a U18 team could do better than any of our forwards.  most of the 2nd half was disappointing.  We did not look anything like the first half.  While I'd love to say Houston got their act together, it was more like panic for Seattle that caused this in my opinion.

All that said, we did get a point and a goal (yes one goal on 26 shots, which was a Sounders record).  At least we have a point on the table.  We looked better this game, of course against a lesser team, but its something.

We better head into San Jose with a little more urgency on the finishing side.  Two things, don't lean back, don't aim at the goalie.  That is my masterful coaching advice for anyone taking a shot for us.

I do think O'Brian White (now said OOOOOOO'Brian), looked much better this game.  Jaqua did add a spark, hopefully getting all the guys back will help.  Anyone know what El Flaco did to drop that much. not like FreeBird is all that much better (or BRad for that matter).

OK, enough of me rambling.  This may make no sense but at least it is the first post of the Season.  We'll try to do better.  Be sure to listen to the pod cast from Jon and Troy at http://tribe131.libsyn.com/ 

MLS Cup

Quick prediction - 2-1 Dallas with Hartman the (fat) man of the match.

Update on Sounders Halloween Activities

Well, looks like the Front Office did right by the fans with kids.

Here are some details on activities planned by the Sounders FC for the playoff game on Oct 31st - http://www.soundersfc.com/News/Articles/2010/10-October/Sounders-FC-to-Celebrate-Halloween.aspx

Playoff Positioning

The Sounders have clinched a playoff spot (as witnessed by our purchased tickets) but we don't yet know the opponent. That gives us a chance to waste our time by speculating at which team we'd rather play. With MLS's funky system Seattle could end up in the eastern bracket, which may be for the best given that the western teams have been so much better this year.

Personally, I don't care who they play. I figure the only way to a championship runs through the best teams. Though I can see where I'd rather face them at a neutral site (Toronto) than in either a home-and-home series (first round) or on the road (second round).

For those who are concerned it might be interesting to look back at how Seattle fared against their possible opponents. LA beat the Sounders twice this season. The loss at home was so bad that the front office gave back our money. Seattle did get some revenge by putting LA's second unit out of the Open Cup. Seattle tied both games with both RSL and Dallas. Though it took an egregious PK call to save a draw for Dallas. Seattle split the season series with New York, with both teams taking 1-0 wins on the road. Where LA "owned" the Sounders, Columbus was our bitch. Seattle only had a 1-1 draw at home, but humiliated the Crew in Columbus 4-0, then took the Open Cup championship against them as well.

Theoretically then, it might be better for Seattle to lose in Houston this weekend. Either San Jose (who has two games) or Colorado could then leapfrog the Sounders and thus move Seattle to the weaker Eastern conference. Seattle does play before any of the other games kickoff so Sigi won't know for sure how much a win/loss would impact the seeding. I am not, for one second, suggesting that Sigi would throw a game (nor would I endorse it), but he could decide to rest some starters and thus give Seattle a less-than normal opportunity to win.

I would much rather see Seattle steam-roll the Dynamo and take as much momentum as possible into the playoffs. I think they've been playing well enough lately that they shouldn't fear any matchup.