that was pathetic

Like I’ve said for the last 6 months, we have a striker crisis on this team.  Who the fuck wants to wait until late July for some help.

This is total bullshit.  We are worse than we were last year.  No LeToux. FL10 and Keller a year older.  Montero still as slow as ever, and Zakuani still only has one move.

It’s really reassuring we’ve beefed up our defense, tho. (rolls eyes)

I won’t use all your space with my rants (for all of them please see link below), but I couldn’t agree more that this was pathetic.

The fans deserve better and the FO better open their pocket book before they lose the opportunity!

My rants:
http://web.me.com/lienc/Site/Sounders_Talk/Sounders_Talk.html

C’mon guys. We played half our first line and subbed a lot.

Sigi should get the yelling. Cept 17. He waa a step short all nite.

Yes, not the result we would like. Trust me. This is the first time I have seen ANY, ANY, Seattle team lose at home. Scrimage or whatever.

And I DON’T LIKE IT. Not to PDX. Who want’s to get scored on by a team sponsored by a second rate cell company.

We are still training. And until the CBA is settled, finite like, it’s all just training. That cloud is so very much more important than a single portscum goal.

And for what it’s worth, aaaaaaaaaargh!

unbelievable game.  we dominated possession, had a thousand opportunities, and lost 1-0.  portland had two scoring chances the whole game, both on long clearances, and one went in.

i’m not so pissed with the effort.  we looked much, much, much better than p*rtland.  i’m pissed with the effort specifically in the box.  if we don’t score goals this season…… i don’t know what i’ll do.  something bad.

I will give Sigi and the FO time – and after tonight I pray for a strike before March 25 – but if these boys don’t start communicating the Midfield, Montero, and Zakuani must go.
After tonight Souter has a job in my book.

It looked like our boys were cold. Like they spent too much time in sunny warm climates recently.

Inept passing and a total lack of creativity killed us. No one creating space. Very few overlapping runs. Our guys looked like they had never played together before tonight.

What’s really troublesome is the way the Timbers manhandled the Sounders. They used their size and strength to bully our strikers all night and we had no answer for it.

I think the “inept passing” and looking “like they had never played together” may be because they are VERY clearly trying to play more of a one-touch game with some bolder through-balls and, generally, a more European style… at least that’s been my impression.  Their passing is nothing like what we saw last season… they have a lot of kinks to work out, but if they start to click, they could be very dangerous.

Just my 2 cents…

i agree with dave on this one; the passing was actually an improvement and  nothing like last season.  give this some time, and it’ll be stellar.

“C’mon guys. We played half our first line and subbed a lot. ”

….UHHHHH  no we didnt, we played pretty much our starting lineup to begin with, with evans at right back and Souter on the right midfield to make up for jaqua and riley.  It was nice to see some of the younger guys get some time in the second half tho

I waited months for the sounders first home match of the year. I tool my dad, and 2 friends to the game for their first time, I’m only 19. I bought these tickets an hour after they went on sale a month ago. Man, I’ve never been so upset about watching a soccer game. Not just the sounders, but a soccer match. I live this game, but tonight was dreadful. I had all hopes. But as my seats were lined parallel with the goal I saw every cross get missed. I saw every player stop running and started j walking towards the goal. It was very upsetting with no effort for finishes. Anyone agree? Shit I took a bus for 2 hours there and back for this team. I still love the Green no matter what, but god…

Well, what hasn’t already been said above me here?  It was disgusting and a pretty piss poor display.  Thus, I’m going to look at the positives….

Oh, Souter and Estrada played pretty well.  Evans certainly came alive after moving into the middle too.  Other than that, Zak needs to shoot and Montero needs to sign with some team in Turkey or somewhere else far, far, far away from Seattle.

Yep. My bad. Thanks.

Not so tossed now, still feeling let down.

anyone notice how many times FL 10 threw up his hands in disgust at his own teammates in the first half?

I have a few things to add:
-For one, this was a practice game that meant nothing.  I know we are all upset about losing to Portland, but they can hardly chalk up a practice game as a win.
-We did dominate possession; we just failed to finish at the goal.  This is still the bane of our Sounders existence.
-In my book, it was good practice for the Sounders (thanks for giving us a warm-up for a real opponent Portland).  We maintained possession but still need to work out the kinks.
-It was a terrible friendly and classless match for Portland.  A “friendly” is a game for the fans, you want to win but you also want to create an interesting game because it doesn’t matter (practice).  Seattle was attacking and trying to create this exciting atmosphere; Portland had 9 men on defense and just tried to stay alive.  Because the Sounders were attacking, a bad play allowed Portland to get one of their only opportunities, and they pounced on it.  After the goal Portland clamed up and kept 10 men on defense.  Also, by wasting time (in a friendly!?) they were barely able to hold us off.  Good job Portland, you know how to play crappy boring soccer, no wonder people only come to your games when we are in town.

Done…

Know your history.  I am seeing people say “oh this is just a practice game that means nothing”.  Wrong.  Sounders dont lose to portland no matter what.  Roger, wahl and marshall were the only ones who really showed any creativity and drive.  rest of team played like they didnt give a shit.  estrada blew it every time he touched the ball.  Timbers players knew that this game meant something, sounders were too stupid to figure that out.

FL10 has been fed up with Montero longer than I have. And that sorta speaks for itself.

Excuses are for losers.

I don’t know if it was the nature of being down during the second half, but I liked how Jeff Parke was part of the offense and not just on set pieces.

the only thing i took from this match was the fact that we had 18,000 plus supporters turn out for a “pre season” match(a timbers home game wet dream). Which was really impressive for any sport in the US period….. I’m also glad about the money that was raised for the non profit organizations…. now the bad news, when i bring out my 20 months old daughter for her first Sounders experience(IN THE POURING RAIN MIND YOU) could you at least take some shots on goal when the opportunities arise(Zakuani!!!)… dude(zakuani) you have pace, use it. cut inside w/ the ball. TAKE SHOTS!!! score or not, it draws the attention of the potential threat which forces the centerbacks to come over and help because the leftback keeps getting beat. which in turns opens up the middle for montero(god help us, teach him how to pass the ball when he is tripled teamed) and jaqua to make it happen…… thats it i’m done… hope my daughter doesnt get  get a slight cold from this gaph we all had the pleasure of watching…….. 

They looked complacent to me.  They were surely not a team who has a year under its belt or spent so much time training together in Arizona, Spain, & locally here.  Terribly disappointing night in the rain.  Not sure why I can’t seem to shrug it off and say ‘well, it was just a practice’…

So I watched the post game interview video on SoundersFC this morning and read the comments given on this post and I feel that the Sounders have blinders on. I understand the positive spin Sigi, Evans and Zakuani were giving and they were partially correct.  Everything they mentioned was true, but, what they fail to see is that this is not MLS level play.  There are MLS teams out there right now (in PreSeason) that are remarkably better and serious about communication and plays on the pitch.  Our lads are expecting something to be handed to them.  They base everything off of last year.  That is crap.  Start thinking and working out like you are meeting and playing ManU tomorrow, not a NASL, USL, or last years so-so MLS team.  This match was a great example; while I agree that PDX was playing a defensive match (the comment on 9 men playing D was good) they were taking the Sounders to task.  They challenged everyone with the ball and our lads looked stunned and put out when they lost out on those challenges.  If you don’t like losing challenges then get up and do something. We are going to get whipped big time this year if something doesn’t change in practice sessions and games.  A friendly – any game for that matter – is not a practice (even in pre-season). That is what Starfire is for.  The incremental approach Sigi takes is a good one.  It works a team together as a cohesive unit and this year he seems to be shifting from the long-ball game of last season to a ground attack similar to Chelsea or Arsenal.  I think that is great, but the players don’t have those single-touch finesse moves down yet.
Montero does not belong as a solo striker up front (he is no Fernando Torres – not even remotely) we need to stay with double strikers with Ljungberg as the serious Attacking Midfielder.  Also, someone needs to teach the kid to look up and realize where his teammates are when he is in the top third (and yes, as the comment above said; pass the ball when triple teamed).  I thought Souter did a great job – sign him.  I agree with the comment that Parke played very offensively, problem is he played too far forward at times.   He could be our Gareth Bale if he charged up the sideline and knew when to be a striking defender, but that could come with a few games played.  I hope Jaqua has been working on plyometrics because he needs (the team needs) all the instant accelleration he can muster at the top.
I’ll try to be patient.  I am a Sounder ’til I die.  I can’t wait for the season!

I support the Players in a fair CBA with Free Agency Rights and Movement (time for the Single Entity to take its place in the history books) so if the Season doesn’t start on the 25th so be it.    The league needs to concede on this point.

Bud… really?  Just for once I wish you would have an intellegent comment to add to this blog.

Not excuses, just observations.  We sucked it up, but it didn’t have to be such a boring game.

Know your history…

Our all-time series record is 34-21-5.  Which means we do lose to Portland every once in a while.  I can understand if you try to forget those times.

yes, the sounders do lose to portland from time to time, but that was when both teams were USL.  SSFC is now is the MLS, portland is not.  i saw USL sounders play portland back in 2006.  seattle won and those USL sounders played much harder and with more dedication than the sounders of today.  lastnights game was a poor half hearted display.  they let down their fans.

most of you know this… i go to the game, i drink beer, certain things stand out in my head, i go home and type up what i remember (sometimes it isn’t that much).

i will miss a lot of things, and i state, yet again, i am not a reporter nor do i try to be one.

usually i wake up the next morning with that feeling of “crap, what did i type last night, was it fair or even accurate”

i avoided looking at all the comments until now b/c i was expecting to get slaughtered, for the title alone, but i guess i wasn’t at all alone in this one eh?

we have better players than the timbers, but they had more heart last night. they wanted to win. they fought for everything. we did not fight, we did not run off the ball, and it didn’t look like to me that anyone REALLY wanted to win. i know that is a hard thing to guage, just looking at the players on the pitch, but anyone that has watched soccer for sometimes knows what i am talking about. there is just that extra effort tht we didn’t have last night.

i hope sigi is protecting his team right now from the media, and lambasting them behind closed doors. b/c they need to hear the riot act.

ok, i am done with this for now… i want to think happy thoughts. it is almost the weekend afterall.

I’m beginning to think that Sigi is starting to believe his own BS.  15 shots?  That’s nothing more than home-team scorekeeping.

that’s a good call.  it would be a beautiful game, but our skills and communication are not there yet.

…some time and some WORK, and maybe a little kick in the attitude.  If they can’t hear me yelling from the stands, someone on the field needs to learn and use a serious battle cry.

I honestly feel like it’s ALMOST there… but with the quicker passing, sometimes the progress of the play gets ahead of the players.  The play development and their runs are just a step behind where they need to be to connect those passes in a lot of cases, and in others they just aren’t yet exhibiting the instinct to be where they will need to be.

We are seeing the problems that Sigi was talking about recently with refining the one-touch play and which Freddie was talking about when he talked about having faith in teammates and being able to complete the “blind passes”.  They appear to have a bold vision here, and I am hoping by the time CCL play starts things will be clicking and we will be getting more goal scoring chances than we know what to do with (but hopefully Kufo will have a few ideas   ).

Also, I have noticed more “dummy” passing (is that what you call it?… where a pass receiver lets the ball through to another receiver).  If they can master that, that could open up a lot of space in the box.  Now if they will just take the shots…

One positive thing to take away from this match is that we may be able to use this game as a market strategy for future champions league and U.S. Open matches to be held at Qwest? charge $10 to $15 for GA maybe do a lil more advertising in the papes. we got 18k in the door for a friendly granted it was portland and for charity, but it was also cold,rainy and on a weeknight. i think a match that has no fewer than 20k is worth having at Qwest.

@bitches

evans played well, too, i thought.

@Gee good insight about the champions league.

I was talking about it before the game but forgot about that eventhough I was remarking about the size of the crowd during the game.  I think something obscurred my rave green glasses.

The fact that the team is playing up the 4-0 win over a small college is just more evidence that they are believing their own BS.  They actually think they are just fine.

go Timbers!!

Thanks for the good times!!

Thanks Sounders, it was fun.  See you next year!