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Around SBN: Knicks Beat Lakers With Familiar Strategy

Quick Recap of Sounders @ Whitecaps Nil-Nil Draw

Seattle fans got their first live look at a preseason match, but only if they traveled. Emerald City  Supporters had 2 busses, Gorilla FC got a van, and of course there were dozens that traveled on their own. Thursday Night ten thousand more will be able to see the action live as well. This will be your last shot to see some of the depth on the team until injuries or the US Open Cup, so if you are intrigued by guys like Fucito, Estrada, Scott, Nyassi, Levesque, Wahl, Parke, Ianni or Graham you may want to get those cheaper tickets. (Yeah, I just tried to sell tickets).

This match seemed to be like one of missed chances, too many offsides, and a wasted opportunity when Fucito passed instead of pulled the trigger;

"I thought in the first half, we put together a couple of good combinations. We got caught offside today, and more so in 20 minutes than we have been called offside in the last five games together. Either some of the runs were really off, some of them were really close, you couldn’t really tell. I thought we had a chance to win at the end of the game, Mike Fucito really should’ve pulled the trigger."

"I thought in the first half we had four or five really good chances. Overall, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on trying to play balls behind the defence. And I think we probably tried to overflow that hand a little bit by trying to do that too much. I think the combination play wasn’t as good as it has been in the past. We got to make sure that we still find the right balance in possession of the ball and get it behind the opposing defence. We just have to become better at our decision making process."

Off and on-ball movement continues to be the message, as the talent on this team is completely capable of having a top 5 offense in this league. Minor injuries continue to clutter the reading of tea leaves, but the image of player rotations continues to gain some clarity.

Star-divide

    Montero    
    Seamon (83)    
    Ljungberg    
    Estrada (83)    
Zakuani       Nyassi
Fucito (63)       Estrada (63)
    Sturgis   Souter (83)
    King (78)    
    Alonso    
    Vagenas (78)    
Gonzalez       Riley
Wahl (73)       Scott (87)
  Hurtado   Marshall  
  Parke (73)      
    Keller    

 

I have noted that Estrada likely slid to the withdrawn forward role when Souter came on, and Seamon stayed forward, but it would be great if someone who was live at the event could talk about how the 4 attacking players were distributed late in the game.

Sigi said that both teams slid into more of a 4-2-4 late, my guess is that the shape changed as each team's Reserves and Substitutes pressed forward to change the game and make the roster. Ideally in the Arrow we would hope that shape would compress and extend like a slinky to maintain width in attack and depth in defense.

From Ljungerg's comments it sounds like the Vancouver side play like a mid-table MLS side already; physical and direct.

"It may have not been the best game to watch, but it was a good game for our fitness. I thought Vancouver played quite well. They played very direct and are a physical side, so it hard for us to play against them today. I think they will do very well when they get into MLS next year.”

You can also read a recap from Bucholtz at Sporting Madness

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Is it me

or is Sigi a real teddy bear in post-game interviews/shows? I think he is an excellent coach, but once in a while I’d like to see some ferocity just so that we know he’s on fire to win as much as the fans are.

by chrisperry1983 on Mar 7, 2010 2:54 PM PST reply actions  

I think he can be ferocious in the locker room.

He just doesn’t see the need to do that for the media/fans.

I remember at least once last season that the SSFC video showed hime chewing out the team across the field, but the media wasn’t allowed to be over there.

by Cornchops on Mar 7, 2010 3:06 PM PST up reply actions  

You're probably right

I do remember seeing that on the sidelines. As much as I disliked Jim Mora, I appreciated it when he said “we sucked, we did this wrong, we looked terrible here…” etc. in his post game interviews. DIdn’t like the specific calling out of players, but admitting they looked terrible at least let fans know he saw what was happening and that he didn’t like it.

by chrisperry1983 on Mar 7, 2010 7:51 PM PST up reply actions  

I agree… it would be nice to see him a little less passive in the media. if his players see that he’s willing to take his frustrations public, that can light a fire quick

"Four goals in sixteen shots... I'm really tired of the...............25% rule." -John Tortorella

by esylvester6 on Mar 8, 2010 8:48 AM PST up reply actions  

4-2-4

What I’m reading elsewhere is that Sigi thought the outside mids were too high/wide throughout, not just late.

by PeterJH on Mar 7, 2010 6:49 PM PST via mobile reply actions  

Here's that quote
“Vancouver played well. In comparison to the first time we played them, I thought they were better organized defensively. They were more compact as a group. They probably found a little more of their shape, and I thought their line-up did a pretty good job at the back. At times, it was a staggering game. I thought both teams had the wide players pushed up too high, so it became a 4-2-4 formation. I thought Vancouver did and were on the edge of creating some chances, and I thought their left-back Hirano did very well.”

And word I’ve gotten is that the 4-2-4 was likely in the First Half, where as the second flowed better than first.

Who was there?

I am not a Supporter
I am not a Fan
I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Mar 7, 2010 6:53 PM PST up reply actions  

But here's one that says that it was when Sanna was in the game
"Sanna [Nyassi] individually brings a lot to the table. Obviously everybody knows that he’s got a lot of speed and I think his 1 on 1 defending is good and his tenacity is good. Sometimes his cohesion with the rest of the group is not as good as I think it needs to be. That is something that still needs to get better. I thought last night, for example, not just in regards to Sanna, but I thought we got stuck with our wide players playing too high, too wide, too much. So as a result, it really turned it into a 2 v 2 midfield and I don’t know if we necessarily won that battle. Sometimes you need wide guys who are going to come off the line a little bit and interact with what’s going on in the middle of the park and place change with people as well. So those tactical decisions and understanding is something that we need to get better at as a team. But Sanna individually brings that ability to get behind defenses. He’s got that ability to take people on. His speed poses threats and problems and his individual tenacity and his athleticism is a big plus."

Emphasis is my own, but more evidence that it was a first half thing.

I am not a Supporter
I am not a Fan
I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Mar 7, 2010 6:56 PM PST up reply actions  

could very well be a first half thing

I wasn’t there. I am glad that Sigi is calling this out. I know some are not so thrilled with the defensive responsibilities Sigi expects of his midfielders, but I do believe emphasizing this last year lead to a decline in the number of cards we were getting as our backline got outnumbered less often.

Hope you are enjoying your time on the beach.

by PeterJH on Mar 8, 2010 8:52 AM PST reply actions  

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