Tyson Wahl celebrates his 1st MLS goal (Chris Coulter photo)

An old football proverb proclaims that to be the best you have to soundly wallop the worst. On Sunday, the Sounders (31points from 19) looked a side worthy of their recent ascent while the Revolution (15 from 17) continue to dwindle further into the abyss both on and off the field.

Happy days are here again as the sunshine seemed to suddenly put the team in attack mode, putting pressure on the Revolution all over the field while keeping another sold out crowd enthralled. It’s hard not to feel good after an eight day stretch that brought the team nine league points, a total that took seven matches and more than a month to accomplish at the start of the season.

Some positive thoughts on the match:

• Tyson Wahl can really kick a football. Those who have followed the team closely the past few years will likely remember Wahl’s brief but memorable moments of beauty from last season as well as solid contributions in USOC play. Yesterday’s extraordinary free kick, combined with his otherwise solid play this season, serves as a reminder of the importance of the Expansion Draft and player development for new franchises.
• The organization also deserves credit for imports that are starting to make a considerable impact. After understandably slow starts to their careers as Sounders, Alvaro Fernandez, Erik Friberg and Mauro Rosales are really starting to show their pedigree. It could be argued that New England’s lack of quality made things look a little rosier than they really are. But the skill, speed of thought and comprehension of the game are all readily apparent with these three. I will have my eye on the trio more than any other Sounders as perhaps our biggest test of the season now awaits: Galaxy.

Some rants on the match.

• I look forward to the day when players like Pat Phelan and Ryan Cochrane are no of the quality required to compete in MLS. You would think that after all of the terrible injuries, suspensions and fines that have occurred as a result of reckless tackles this season that these players would learn to put the brakes on at times. Yesterday both players mindlessly barged head-on into challenges that made my heart skip a beat for fear of another bad injury.
• Speaking of these goons that look like they are hockey players who just never learned how to ice skate, New England surely must be the ugliest team in the league. Have you watched the replay on TV yet? Wait until the camera zooms in on these guys. Even Benny Feilhaber featured a creepy mustache that will have mothers all over the northeast nervously wondering where their children are at dusk.
• There is extensive talk all over the web of the sorry state of our FieldTurf, and it appears that the playing surface will likely be replaced before we kick off in 2012, but man it looked like hell both in person and on TV. It seems to have really become an issue this season, although I remember the first time I ever looked at it and felt my stomach roll. It was another sunny day just like yesterday: Mother’s Day 2009 against L.A.

Around the league:

• The real derby of California featured a bizarre set of occurrences this weekend as midfielder Mike Magee played more than half the match as ‘keeper after an injury to Donovan Ricketts and red card on Josh Saunders. Magee, who admittedly had never played the position at any level before, made some big saves and held on for the shutout. ‘Quakes fans must have left Buck Shaw incensed after watching their team struggle to capitalize on a considerable advantage against their hated rival.

Around the world:

• It was pure tragedy in Buenos Aires this weekend as River Plate suffered relegation for the first time in their history at their famous stadium, El Monumental. Players and fans alike shed tears of agony and riots broke out in the stands and the streets afterward. A sad day for world football, unless you are Boca.

Seattle Sounders FC General Manager and minority owner, Adrian Hanauer watches from the sidelines during the Sounders match against FC Dallas. Dallas won 1-0. (Chris Coulter Photo)

I actually don’t really want to be writing this but I am so f’ing frustrated and angry with our team right now, if only as a stress release for myself, I think I need to. Read and disagree with me all you like, but this is therapy for me now… better an angry blog post than a senseless act of violence me thinks.

Let me see if I can first summarize my thoughts briefly, before I go into, what I already know is going to be a long stream of consciousness. Ok… I can do it… oh yeah…

WE SUCK!

We do. You can’t deny it. If you are denying it… then I ask you to please explain how 17 points from 13 is good enough for you? It can’t be and it shouldn’t be.  Colorado is the only win we have where you can say it was a “good” win. Chicago is pretty bad this year, we were terrible against Kansas City but got a last minute miracle from the gloved one.  And Toronto? Drew Carey and the next ten contestants on the price is right could have beat them.

Actually, I just looked to the tables to see if I even knew what I was talking about… oh yeah, there it is, numbers 7, 8 and 9 in the eastern conference.

But why be so angry? I can hear many people right now… “Ok, we aren’t a great team, but go support them and enjoy what you can. It is just a sport and we are the fans. Show it.”

Well I kinda get that, and I would NOT be saying this if this was our first year. But three years is a long enough time to expect to get better, especially with the same coach and especially when you DO have the players to get there. But so far this year, we have been worse, much worse.

And to show that it isn’t just about the results here are two things that really get me fired up

1.       We have talent… but we sure aren’t a team.

2.       There are players that are not good enough that continue to get a lot of playing time.

First, let me state the obvious… I am no tactician.  I will let others wax on about diamond vs Christmas tree vs parking the bus. There is room for all of them at some point, if you have the players to fit the roles.

For me, however, it is clearer and clearer as every game passes, that this team just isn’t on the same page. They don’t seem to know what each other is going to do… and they sure don’t seem to know where to run to slice through the defense and expect that killer pass.

When is the last time we scored even the slightest of breakaway goals? And I am not talking about beating the offside pass from 40 yards? I am talking about a quick pass on the edge of the box to give a player that 1 yard edge to put the ball past the keeper. Those don’t come from speed, those come from players being on the same page. Michael Owen, Robert Pires and even Mr. Ljungberg were never blessed with blinding speed, but how often did they find themselves on the other side of the defender with a clear shot at goal?? Those come from their teammates knowing and expecting them to be in that exact spot so as to make the right pass. When you see it executed properly, the pass looks genius, but in reality, if you simply know where your teammate is going to run onto…the pass is then actually the easy part.

THE LONG BALL. There isn’t much more of a telling sign that we seem to not have a plan than the long ball. The long ball is desperation. The long ball is “I don’t know where to pass it” or “I don’t have confidence in my teammates if I give them the short, build up, pass”. I know it is more complicated than that, but it is how I feel when I see it.  I have never been a big believer in playing into a target man, or at least there are very few of those players out there where it seems to actually work. Just b/c Jaqua is tall, doesn’t mean that it works for us that he can head the long ball before a defender. Maybe if we had Messi running on to every headed down long ball, it would make Jaqua the perfect target man, but last I looked, we don’t have that… so can we please stop it?

Team Chemistry. If you don’t agree that we are not a team on the field, then you can’t deny we sure as hell aren’t off the field. I have some firsthand knowledge and a TON of second hand knowledge of there being quite a few cliques on this team. Some of the groupings are formed around the spoken language barriers to be sure. Who would want to hang out with a group of people where you didn’t understand what was being said? But it is more than that.

Post match meals consist of one group going to one restaurant, and another group going elsewhere. I have been in a social setting and personally heard a player (not going to name him) state that there is a divided locker room. There is no joking around, no ribbing, no trying to understand each other…. You don’t have to speak the same language for those things to be true. And without trying to be too vague, I have half a dozen other examples of how many players on the team just don’t get along… I just can’t give you the details of who I am referencing or how I get that info.

Does that sound like a healthy locker room? How can that not play out on the pitch?

Listen, I am not trying to start a rumor mill or anything like that, but I am trying to prove the point…. This team is divided, and in a pretty bad way and it needs to be fixed or it can only get worse.

These guys don’t need to be friends. They don’t even have to like each other. But there are ways to still be a team even if it is forced. And yes, I mean that. I personally work with people that I frankly don’t like too much, but you do quickly get over that and get on with figuring out the tasks at hand. Being on a sports team is no different… it is about putting on your big boy pants and sucking up your differences for the team and the W. And if some players are too immature to do it themselves, then the coach needs to have it under control. Yes it would be nice if the Sigi only had to think about player development and tactics, but that is pretty idealistic in almost any sport. Managing ego’s and chemistry is as much part of the job as anything… and in some cases, maybe the most important part. If that isn’t handled, and it doesn’t seem to be with our current team, you can see where it leads.

Ok, so it is clear that the whole team needs to go on a camping trip to sort out their differences (looking at you laurie),but also, regardless of that, some players really need to put up performances worthy of playing for SSFC.

Seattle Sounders Forward Fredy Montero (17) warming up prior to the Sounders match against FC Dallas. Dallas won 1-0. (Chris Coulter Photo)

Montero. Long before Sigi called him out last night for not scoring goals, many of the rest of us already knew that he has been a long way from playing like a DP. He is paid to score goals, and, if the rub of the green isn’t going his way, take shots (oh, and not from 45 yard free kicks if you please… only 1 in 100 ever go in).  But 3 goals and 4 assists in the last 24 games isn’t even close to good enough. He seems to have reverted back to the 09 Montero where he looks to try and blast by defenders even though he has never shown any ability to do it. His hustle has improved, but still not where he needs it to be. You only have to see what effort Fucito put in last night to answer the question of “what do you mean lack of hustle”. The difference is clear. Montero could be a star… but the stats don’t lie. If you are worried about him being plucked away from us by some big European team…well don’t be.

Jaqua. Again, being a target man b/c you are tall, doesn’t make you good. I have never understood why people defend him so much. Yes he has shown a few moments of ability, but a broken clock being right twice a day and all that. He has never come close to living up to his salary. I know it isn’t fair to try and compare salary to performance for many reasons, but in this league, where salaries do play quite a big role on how you can assemble together a winning team, it is important that a striker, who is pulling down a much higher % of salary than most, needs to perform. For me, Jaqua’s performance isn’t a lack of effort… rather just a lack of ability. Harsh I know. I just don’t think he is good enough at this level. I also write this so he will hit a hat trick in Salt Lake so you can all say how I don’t know what I am talking about.

Levesque. What dirty pictures does he hold over what person in the sounders organization in order to see so much playing time?  I know I will piss off a few of you b/c he is a well liked guy and one of the old guard. But to that, I say, so the hell what! There is a reason he was playing USL ball before SSFC entered MLS. And if he was our only option, I would say fine, but he isn’t.

Friberg needs to learn how to weight his passes. He seems to have good vision, and you can see what he is trying to do, but he consistently puts the ball ten yards too far where it should be.

Fernandez has one good game and then one terrible game. His inconsistency is mind boggling at times.

I am not all doom and gloom. While it is early days still, Rosales and Neagle give me hope. We have seen enough of Fucito to know we want to see a whole lot more. Keller and Alonso are so consistently good, it is nice to have at least 2 pillars; it’s just that we need 4-5 more.

And yes, it is easy for me to sit frustrated behind a computer and critique with little in the form of fixing it. Hell, I wish I could fix it. I wish I could figure out why the team is so divided. I wish I knew why we see so much Levesque and so little Fucito. I wish I knew why one day el Flaco looks to be a good bit of business and the next game looks terrible.

But that can’t be for me to fix. It is on the shoulders of Sigi and Adrian. I have given a lot of slack to both… but Sigi seems to be running out of ideas and our DP status players, well, you know how those have turned out. It is true he can only do so much with the players he is given… but to that I say, he has a pretty good group of individual players. It is up to him to get them to play like a team with the appropriate tactics and it is exactly that which has not been accomplished this year.

I am just a frustrated fan who, like you, pays good money to watch the best performance (or at least the best effort) that can be put forth, and so far, we are not getting from this Sounders team.

It is more than ok to ask the question of why. It doesn’t make you a bad fan or not loyal. I will still show up each week and yell for our guys to do their best and to win games as that is the commitment that I can put into this team… I just want the same in return.

….yamsmos (and yes, i do feel better now)

But today we all get a hard dose of Sounders reality whether we like it or not. The protected list comes out for the expansion draft, and for all of us, there will be a few names that will be omitted and it is going to hurt. Without too much detail, here is my previous post on who I thought should be protected at the time. Little has changed for me… but I have firmed up some of my opinions.

Without too much detail (see previous post if you want that), here are the names I hope to see on the list… which is due out at 11am I understand.

Montero

Parke

Alonso

Hurtado

Zakuani

Fernandez

Gonzales

Ianni

Keller

Fucito

Sturgis

I doubt I will get TOO much flak for anyone on that list other than Sturgis… and maybe you have someone over Fucito as well. For me, if either of them are unprotected, they are gone, and I see too much promise in both of them to risk it.

Nyassi, Riley and Nkufo are most notably missing… Well and Jaqua for you Jaqua lovers… oh and Evans. But those two don’t come that close in my list.

Nyassi and Nkufo are in the same boat for me. Both had 3-5 GREAT games, but nothing before, and nothing after. Will i be sad if they are picked… yes, but less said than the ones above them.

Riley is harder. I have failed to understand most fans love for him over the years… but he has grown in my eyes this year. His crossing of the ball has become much better and I do hope he is a Sounder next year… but again, I can’t protect him above the others.

Only 45 minutes to go until the blogosphere goes a little nuts.

Heading into the weekend, we didn’t know a lot about who we were going to play this coming Sunday. There were quite a few different permutations of what the match up would be, and even what conference we would land in. And while losing to Houston boosted our chances of landing in the easier Easter Conference, Colorado and San Jose both decided to lay big turds on the pitch and sandbag their way into the east. Colorado deserves a special nod of the cap with their effort. Up two nil, it took them all of 90 minutes to realize they needed to give up a few goals, so they gave those up in extra time… one of them being a penalty no less. Someone needs to teach them the art of subtlety. I kid….uh… sortof…

I am going to resist the urge to bitch about the East/West playoff structure b/c I think even the most staunch defender of it can’t Garber up enough logic to keep defending it. When every team plays each other twice, home and away, there is nothing to defend the two conferences existing. It isn’t like NYRB is throwing a party or hanging a banner for winning the East. Or, if they are, then I will laugh at that for quite a while. Ok, I said I wouldn’t bitch and here I am bitching. Single table please.

On to our opponent… THE GALS. It is my wont to make fun of the ever metrosexuals that are Landon Donovan and David Beckham. The amount of locker space that those two allot to handcreams, hair gels and smelly things only begs for them to be picked on and given the nicknames of LandyCakes and GoldenBalls… And before you accuse me of being a MetroPhobe, let me assure you I am not.**

But for all their glamor shots and red carpet posing, they are very good footballers. Throw in Buddle and a very good defense, and we have our hand cut out for us to be sure. They had the best record this year and dominated us in the previous two MLS games. Yes we wont the Open Cup match against them… but they didn’t have all their starters and it was at Starfire. I am not saying it doesn’t count… but it isn’t exactly the same.

What is important, is our most recent run of form. We may be bitching that we finished 6th best record overall but still have to play the team at the top… but you can be damn sure that LA might have a bigger gripe than us. They won the league, but now are stuck playing the team with the best record over the second half of the season. What a reward eh?

Some have made a good point that playing RSL home/away in the first round may be a better option for us… vs facing them in a possible single away match in the next round. That may be true… but let’s worry about that when the time comes.

While we may be the “hottest” team right now… that doesn’t take away any of the talent/skill that LA clearly has. Buddle missed the golden boot by 1, and Donovan has 16 assists on the year. But possibly more scary then their ability to score goals, is their defense. Second only to RSL (great), LAG has the next best GAA this season at 0.87 per game.

While we have been picking up the pace on our offensive numbers of late… that defense will still be very hard to break down. It may be very much the case that we need to get our goal(s) in the first leg at home while keeping a clean sheet and then battening down the hatches in LA. I know that isn’t a sexy game plan. Parking the bus isn’t sexy. I am just thinking effective at this point.

My honest assessment of this match up is that it is very evenly matched. Yeah, I know, it is easy to ride the fence. But LA has been more consistent throughout the year, even if they did hit a small lull, they came out of it with the addition of Beckham to boot. Regardless of our second half stats… they are still the team to beat. Our two losses in the last week aren’t that big a deal, but it depends on the teams mental state. Did that hurt them at all? Do they think they are the team that lost to Houston (bad calls and all) or do they think they are the team that went on a tear through the last 3 months of the season. If the latter, we should win this.

Either way, Halloween or not, Qwest is going to be rocking on Sunday night.  Here is to our boys kicking the GAL’s in the Golden balls.

**3 years ago I went to Whistler with 5 of my best friends. One night, while walking to dinner, 4 of them got into a conversation about their preferred self tanning cream. I felt so isolated, I didn’t know what to say. The 5th friend was of no solace to me. He is Iranian, and therefore doesn’t need the self tanning cream, but he joined in none-the-less b/c he was interested in the topic and admitted he would use it if need be. So there I was, my five Metro friends and me. At least our room smelled nice. So be assured, I am accepting of all metrosexuals, even those that play for the Galaxy.

But today I am quite pissed off. Not so much at the Sounders, but at Don Garber and MLS. I have multiple people confirming that they, MLS, would not allow us to have any time slot for our first playoff game other than 5pm on Halloween evening. Why? b/c it was Primetime and they wanted the crowds of Seattle to be shown during the nationally televised game. Let me put it another way. We have the best fans, the largest turnout….. what is our reward? a time and date that most people don’t want… other than MLS and their F’ing TV ratings.

I realize that to some people this isn’t a big deal. And to many, hell, a 5pm game may sound nice… Follow that up with some drinks and then head off to your scheduled Halloween party. I would like to do that too. However, I am like many of the fans in the stadium and I have kids. Two young kids. And Halloween is a night, created by God, to be revered on the childrens calander of awesomeness. For two weeks now, my daughter asks me every morning “daddy? is it Halloween yet?” and for two weeks she dresses herself in her giraffe costume and wears it around the house.

Is Halloween really that important? of course it isn’t. But disappointing my daughter, by not taking her Trick or Treating so I can go to a soccer game, that was scheduled at the exact time kids start to go out b/c Don wanted to make a few bucks is not something that I would ever do. And, as a result, I now have to miss a game that I obviously really wanted to see.

Of course there is the smallest of chances that we can go out before, and my daughter may not care or know the difference… but I am obviously not happy about having to do that either. There is no way to spin this to make me happy, and I am not alone. Over text this morning I get this from a friend.

him “Saw your tweets last night. Is it official the playoff game is on Halloween?”

me “Yep, according to the people I know. What are the chances we can take the kids out before and we get to go to the game?

him “Those rat bastards. I’m out of town right now and have yet to share that with the Mrs. Let’s stay in touch on this one”

me “United front.”

So now, Donny G not only has me scheming about how to trick my 4 year old that going out at 2pm is the new “cool way” to trick or treat, but I am now figuring out, with my friends, how we can all spin this to our wives to slide this one home.

“Honey, it will be super fun for you to put two kids to bed, by yourself, after they have been all hopped up on sugar and Halloween adrenaline for the past 3 hours. I am going to the Sounders game so I can help provide a stellar atmosphere to a national audience. Boom Boom Clap wouldn’t be the same without my two hands. We all are making sacrifices here.  ok? great. See you around 10 tonight. ”

More than likely, I am making too much out of this whole thing. But you know what? When you write about your team for over 3 years, for no money, and you support them through iffy decisions and then you get this crap thrown in your face!!!! you get to make “too much” out of it on your own blog. I don’t hold the fully Sounders responsible, I know MLS crammed this down their throat… but I don’t know how they couldn’t have said “ABSOLUTELY NOT”!! Come up with a reason. Blame it on an “arts and crafts expo”.  Soccer hooligans and Blue Hairs that smell like moth balls don’t mix.

oh yeah… there is a game tonight too. go team

Last year, we lost Le Toux. At the time, the fans were a little split. He was a very loved player and he was an amazing person to the fans, but he didn’t get a ton of playing time and he didn’t score a ton of goals. So was it that bad? Well if you haven’t noticed, he is 4th in scoring and 4th in assists in MLS. I am not going to get into if he could have/should have done anything close to that for us… I am just saying, we obviously lost some talent, and this year, it could be twice as bad. 

Just in case you aren’t totally clued in to how this will work, Portland and Vancouver, the two expansion clubs, will select a total of 10 current players each to be added to their rosters, alternating after each player selection. MLS clubs may protect 11 players from their roster who, along with Generation Adidas players that will not graduate after the 2010 season, and Home Grown players, will be ineligible for selection by the two expansion clubs. Each team can only pick one player from any one MLS club, but Portland and Vancouver can both pick 1 player from the same club meaning that any MLS team has the potential to lose two players total. When a player is picked from us, we are allowed to put one more currently unprotected player into the now empty 11th spot.

The Sounders don’t have any Generation Adidas players, and we don’t have any Home Grown players, and DP’s are NOT exempt. So we have approximately 30 players that we need to decide if they should be protected or not.

This draft will be held after MLS Cup and before the SuperDraft in January at a date to be announced later. Portland was selected to draw first, and then they will alternate until each team has picked Vancouver.

I have mulled on this for a while and one thing is for certain,  I do not envy Adrian, Sigi, Chris et al. In my book the first 6 to protect are VERY easy. The next two are a little more boderline, but the last 3 are ridiculously hard. This is the downside to the emergence of Fucito, Nyassi and Sturgis. Now, they have all of a sudden made someones radar.  There is also the problem of Keller and N’kufo. Both, almost certainly, have only one more year to play. Would Portland or Vancouver really want to start their team building process with players that will be gone the next year? Maybe… Maybe just to piss us off. But that is the key question here. If it were Montreal picking, I easily leave them unprotected as weird as that sounds. But with the rivalry being such a factor here… Portland may pick an unprotected Keller, even if he may retire, just so make us mad… and it would indeed make us mad.

So, while there is still regular season and playoff games to be played, I have put together my list and logic of who I would protect or not and why. A couple of them are huge gambles and I am quite sure some of you will disagree, and I don’t blame you. The fact is, there is no perfect list so I will just put mine out there to be scrutinized and start the debate.

There is no way all of you agree with this, so let’s hear what you would do differently. There is so much to talk about here, let’s keep it civil and healthy please. Oh, and I ask one thing… it is easy to say who you think should be protected, but a hell of a lot harder to pick all eleven and see who isn’t protected… so  give me your full list.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND GO!

- As you saw, Zakuani got rated the #4 player, by majorleaguesoccersoccer.com in the 24 best players under 24. The two following were #3 DC’s Najar and #2 LA’s Gonzalez which can only mean that Montero gets the #1 not. Well unless he has lied about his age, or his 10 goals and 9 assists in MLS all of a sudden don’t count for anything. Even with his similar stats to last year (12 goals and 7 assists) he has improved dramatically. I know there aren’t easy to view stats on “immature decisions” and “bad passes” and “goes down too easily”. But if there were… last years stats would have been high in number, and this year would have seen a dramatic shift in improvement. The year on year maturity of him as a a player, goals and assists aside, has been dramatic and makes him so much more exciting as a player.

Anyway, look for that article tomorrow on majorleaguesoccersoccer.com

- Another great article from the official site is the recognition of Alonso and Sturgis. Alonso isn’t a surprise. It isn’t an accident that he tends to be one of the most favorite players of Sounders fans, including the recipient of many a man crush, myself included.  The defensive midfielder role is often the least recognized position on the park, but one could argue that it may be the first player you would pick when putting a team together. Have a good one (Makelele, Gilberto Silva, Essien) and your defense all of a sudden has to deal with a substantial cut to the number of threats each game. It is pure numbers at that point. More chances = more goals. Less chances… well you get it. And don’t go geek out on me with “well it depends on the types of chances”.  Of course it does… but that isn’t the point.

Sturgis.. on the other hand, is a bit of an unknown quantity to non sounders fans… and I would add to many Sounders fans as well. For me, earlier on, he was seen as a stop gap for injuries to Alonso, Vagenas, Evans, and the leaving of Ljungberg. When Fernandez was signed, it was possible that he was going to slot in there as well. But while all of that was going on, Sturgis was just quietly playing along and starting to make some decent strides. He decided that he wanted to break the Sounders streak of “not making penalties” in MLS. He learned how to whip in some pretty sick balls that ended in great goals including the last minute Montero goal against Chicago.

The thing is with Sturgis, I don’t really notice him on the field a ton, and I don’t know if that is good/bad or just a commentary on my lack of opening my eyes.  Him being a bit anonymous is somewhat down to him not being flashy and not exactly what you would call a traditional CAM. He hasn’t yet learned to make the killer pass and the play doesn’t exactly run through him. But maybe it doesn’t need to be. When you have the speed at the wings and Nkufo and Montero both dropping back quite a lot, it is almost like you have CAM by committee with each player doing their bit here and there but resulting in the same result. You also see Sturgis drop back when Alonso ventures forward from time to time and he fills that void pretty good as well. This is when I start to get ahead of myself. Other than the obvious, I don’t sit and analyse tactics. I am better at appreciating the skills/contribution of an individual player. But if indeed that is what Sigi is doing, on purpose or accidentally on purpose, then I have all of a sudden become a bit of a Sturgis believer. I know that there are some of you that don’t agree with me on him so very curious to hear your thoughts and impressions.

- I got some disgreement from my suggestion that we would be better off in 7th or 8th heading into the playoffs mostly due to who we would be set to play (NYRB or CREW vs LAG/RSL). The disagreements did come more in the form of “well a top 4 finish in the west saves us from some in-play games in the USOC next year”. It is a valid point and one I had not considered. It does sway me a little, but I am still in the camp of wanting to play an opponent that we have better chances of than how many extra USOC games we have next year. Maybe that is short sighted of me… but I have far worse qualities than that to be concerned if true. Something about playing the Crew 5 times, and beating them 4 of those 5 sounds just too good to me to pass up

- As many of you have seen there have been numerous “leaks” about the new kits. Here is what I know about it… and by “know” i mean, I have had confirmation from people that are 90% right in their confirmations in the past. It does indeed look like we will be getting the X on the back bra strappy things. BOOOOOOO. But it also does look like we will be getting the shale as the second kit color over the blue. YAAAY. As for those lightening bolts down the side… I haven’t been able to get any knowledge of that one way or another, but I sure hope that this was an early draft b/c I hate them. Why not put some fake galvanized steal imprints on our shoulders, a la Oregon Ducks, while you are at it??

- Ok I haven’t got too much more. The bullet list will come out tomorrow b/c it is pretty short and to the point. We all know what we need to do Saturday, but I will not tempt fate by dissing the Bullet Point Gods.

Have a good weekend and CCCCCCOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEEE ONNNNNNNNN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SOUNDERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The bullet list essentially went like this. … “Sounders win and earthquakes/wizards/colorado all dropping points.”

Well, Sounders won and earthquakes/wizards/colorado ALL dropped points. If you are an athiest at this point, well then I don’t understand you. Nothing short of us losing our last three and KC winning their last 4 would see us knocked out of that final playoff spot. Or, as my friend just texted me “we would have to take a massive dump to not make the playoffs”. I think i see a future writer for gosounders.

Now, here is where it gets interesting… we should slow down. There is no need for us to get 4th place in the west. I would like to drop a point or two b/c as it stands, we are creaping into that 4th place spot when 5th or 6th would be so much better. That would give us a ‘wild card spot’ which would have us play either NYRB or Columbus in the first round. All due respect to those teams, I would rather play them than RSL or the GALs.  Yes, it is the playoffs, so you have to beat what is in front of you, but that option still sounds better.

It was an entertaining game for sure. Any time you come back from a goal or more it is always more satisfying.

I need to go straight to bullet points b/c trying to formulate gramatically correct sentances and paragraphs right now it making my head hurt.

- the first pumpkin ale at elysian of the season was delicious. as was the second and third.

- De Ro made our defenders look silly for the first goal. It was a well taken shot, and Keller did not expect near post, but it was a shot that should have never been taken. Parke strained his left frachina reaching to try and stop it.

- 5 minutes, later, zakuani got a beautiful pass from alonso, kept his head, rounded the keeper and slotted it home. the defensive line was pretty much exactly in line with where my seats are, and zak looked way onside, and i am sure he was, but there was a lot of protest from the canuckians. I haven’t seen a replay, but I am satisfied with the reffing on that play.

**update… just saw the goal replay. holy hell was I wrong. He was offsides and I while I know I have rosey glasses, I am dumbshocked (a phrase coined by my lovely wife) that I saw it do differently live. Whoda thunk.

- Just a few minutes after that, a ridiculously beautiful free kick by sturgis put the ball on a platter for nkufo. yes, nkufo had to do his job to head that ball in, but honestly, that goal goes down to the delivery. Sturgis, very quietly, is becoming a very important player for us.

- After halftime, some ping pong in the box saw the ball land to Nyassi’s left foot and he finally got his first goal. I thought nyassi had one of his better games today. Obviously the goal would make me say that, but he also came pretty close in the first few minutes and he put himself in a very good position with that one shot that came immediately off a glancing header by a TFC defender. I, like you, can excuse a lot of misses in front of goal if a few go in. But nyassi’s problem is that he hasn’t been getting himself into position to even get those misses, so obviously a few weren’t going in. I feel like he did that today. It would be a very very nice “uncovering” if nyassi indeed started to find the net.

Oh, but someone needs to show him how to tie his shoes. I think I saw him retying them, mid game, 4+ times today.

- I am not a soccer analyst wizard. But it sure seems obvious to me when the sounders are going to concede lately. Luckily it hasn’t been a lot. But right before TFC’s second goal, the defence just looked like chickens with their heads cut off. A massive miscue, followed by some crazy eyes, backed up by a flipity flap and all of a sudden we have Larry, Curly and Mo(e)? in the back. Did anyone else see that? We are very solid defensively, but for all of a sudden, we looked like it was the first time we played soccer. 10 seconds before the goal, it was pretty clear we were goint to condede.

- Montero. This is an interesting one. Has he reverted to some bad habits? and I am not just basing this off him not scoring or giving assists lately. But he seems to have just taken his foot off the pedal a little. I hope he hasn’t, and it is just a few “off” games, but I saw some little things. Thing  like him going down easier, and him trying to force the shot, and him trying to round the defender when the pass was clearly the better option. Those are the bad habits he got out of this year and I hope sigi an co. are in his ear about it b/c we need him in the playoffs.

- Having said all that, it is quite refreshing that our last 8 MLS goals are not form Montero. When we were a one trick pony (for the most part), it didn’t take a genious to know what an opposing team had to do to shut us down… but now??? well, we have montero, nkufo, zak… with a dash of fernandez and maybe nyassi, and a touch of the sturgis free kick and the fucito factor coming off the bench. That is a hell of a lot more to think about than just FM17.

Finally, what a beautiful day for footy. Perfect weather as far as I am concerned. All of your main rivals try to suck as best they can, your team earns you a free haircut, pumpkin ale is in your stomach eeerrrrrrrr bladder…. well you just know that all is right with the world.

Thanks for putting up with my caps/grammar inconsistencies tonight. I know there were problemst but I can’t be arsed to  fix….

COME ON YOU SOUNDERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Surely, a Sounders blogger or two, must have seen their half chub for Fucito become just a little stiffer as he bagged two more goals in as many CCL games. I can’t say I would feel any different if it were Alonso.

But I wasn’t there, and you were.. what did you think?

As for the bullets, well we were 1 for 2 and unfortunately, it was the least impactful match that we were right on. The Fire knocked off San Jose, which is good, but given their games in hand, at this point, it isn’t too impactful all in all. Only time will tell on that one.

The fact remains, as it has for a few weeks, that our playoff spot is in our own hands, and after our start to the season, that is all we can ask for. 3 points on Saturday is the most important result of this weeks matches.

So, I know rather little of the game. It was on, I was trying to watch. But not much watching was accomplished between poopy diapers, feeding their stomachs, refilling my wine glass, and still keeping them not dead.

Here is the review I am qualified to give, and want to write. “some stuff happened. nkufo scored. we won” 

Seriously, I don’t know much more than that. The times I was able to get a few minutes of the game, it looked rather blah. Not sure if that is true, or if I just didn’t get into the flow and got all the boring bits. The things I did indeed notice, in piecemeal.

- Alonso missed a sitter. Should have been up a goal early on.

- Parke and Ianni have been playing out of thier mind lately. They both took heavy hits tonight and kept on going. So nice to see. The addition of Parke, and the emergence of our new Montero are easily the biggest two reasons for our success this season.

- Keller is still a wall. So nice to watch a game where you aren’t worried about how the keeper could F it up for you.

- Not sure how I feel about Arlo saying “put back into the mixer”. I always passed that off as a bad US announcer type of comment. But he isn’t bad and he isn’t American. Not sure if he is trying to tailor his style, or if it is a more common phrase than I know, but either way, I don’t like it.

- Nkufo’s goal was likely covered. Thanks for the deflection Chicago guy.

- Would pay $50 to know FL10′s thoughts right now…. after he gets out of Alonso’s pocket off course.

- Nyassi may be worse at finishing than me.

- The travelling support was fantastic and on multiple occasions, the Sounders fans were all I could hear.  

Please add your thoughts b/c clearly I have only bits and pieces.