SHOULD the game to go PK’s…. who are your 5

Posted by yamsmos on November 4, 2009 · Under News · View Comments 

not trying to get ahead of myself here. there is a lot of football to be played before PK’s even come up. but let’s not kid ourselves… PK’s are a very real possibility this coming sunday.

if my memory serves me correct, and i know you lot will correct me if i am wrong, we have only had two pk opportunities this year, and both of them were missed by the 2 freds.

while i quite sure they are still in sigi’s top 5, will montero still be on the pitch to take one of them. he has been subbed frequently in the 70th minute of late, so the question is, will sigi keep him in the match just for pk’s, should it come to that? who else should take one? who do you think has the nerves… this is much more about mental than foot skill and we don’t have a lot of pk history to draw from. often, there are surprise inclusions of defenders who aren’t natural goal scorers, but have the state of mind for the occasion. so who will it be?

i think the 5 will be

freddie – no brainer

vagenas- yeah, i know he isn’t the most popular sounder… but his experience and the fact that i think he would be on the pitch in the AET makes him in this list for me.

alonso – doesn’t seem to get rattled

evans- experience and good touch

le toux – history as a penalty taker

i am sure i will get some arguments on vegenas, but i am picking more from who i think sigi will pick more than anything… and i am assuming fredy isn’t still on the pitch.

… but what do you guys think?

  • Steve

    That sounds like a good group to go with. 

    I almost wonder if you don’t start Montero and put him in at the 25 minute mark or whatever so he is there at the end.

  • http://seattle.theoffside.com laurie

    Vagenas had his penalty saved in the 2007 SuperLiga final.   Just sayin’.

  • yamsmos

    other than letoux do we have a single player who has made a penalty in the last 24 months? he he

  • Nick

    My five, in order:

    - Ljungberg (no-brainer)
    - Le Toux (solid history, another no-brainer)
    - Zakuani (risky, as it’s such a high-pressure situation, but I think he’d be alright)
    - Montero (You just have to. But he’d make the most nervous out of the group)
    - Alonso (strong leg, confident he’d put it in the back of the net)

  • sherpaco

    Ljungberg, Montero, Jaqua, Alonso, Le Toux

  • eljefe29

    Can Ianni do a bycycle kick for a penalty shot?  If so, he’s gotta be in, but I like the list.  Maybe Riley instead of Vagenas.

  • carella211

    fredy
    freddie
    evans
    ianni
    letoux

  • K61

    Alonso would be in my list too.  In the ’08 US Open Cup he had a successful penalty shot against the USL Sounders in the semifinals.  Pretty sure that was the last time he took a penalty kick in a competitive match.

    Le Toux is money on penalties as well.  I’d pick him to go first, then Fredy, Alonso, Evans, and Freddie.

  • http://seattle.theoffside.com laurie

    Le Toux’s the only one who missed his penalty against KC in the USOC quarters in 2008.  Zach Scott made his.  :-)

    (I had to look it up, btw.  I remembered the Le Toux miss but not the Scott hit.)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup#Quarterfinals

  • Gee Dub

    And that Le Toux miss against KC last year was a pretty ridiculous one as i recall. He decided to chip it over the (diving) keeper and it hit the cross bar. He is so cheeky, but I do generally like his PK’s so i guess i’d take him and just tell him he has to pick a corner.

    I had totally forgotten that it was Tyson Wahl who got us through with his saved PK… guess it’s only fair we got him in the expansion draft.

  • Stanwood

    If I think about this as who is likely to be on the field at the end of the 90+15/15, I think of a formation something like this:

    Keller
    Riley – Ianni – Hurtado – Gonzalez
    Jaqua – Evans – Alonso – Le Toux (sub for Zakuani)
    Ljungberg – Levesque (sub for Montero)

    If the 3rd sub is used, I expect it’ll be Nyassi for Jaqua, but for simplicity sake, let’s assume that 3rd sub is still in hand.  So with that in mind, I’d go with the following shooters, in order.

    1. Ljungberg
    2. Evans
    3. Jaqua
    4. Alonso
    5. Le Toux
    –
    6. Levesque
    7. Riley
    8. Ianni
    9. Gonzalez
    10. Hurtado

    yamsmos Reply:
    November 5th, 2009 at 8:55 am

    i only disagree on nyassi b/c to my knowledge, he is done for the season. and, if we are heading to PK’s, then i think sigi will not risk the last 5 minutes of the match (i don’t think either team will) and you will se us go a little more defensive… hence my vagenes inclussion.

    but let’s hope all this is moot and we win 3-0

  • SoundersYNWA

    I would have to say we put Keller as one of the takers.

    1. Le Toux
    2. Evans
    3. Alonso
    4. Jaqua
    5. Ljungberg
    6. Keller
    7. Gonzalez

  • Drew

    What is Gonzalez experience?

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