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/