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Tyrone Marshall had his hands full with the likes of Edson Buddle.

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UPDATE: Quotes are here.

With a score like that, it seems foolhardy to bother looking for positives. Sure, the Sounders probably had the better run of play in the first half, but they were once again unable to finish any of their opportunities.

It's impossible to say how this game would have been different if Kasey Keller had been able to save Jovan Kirovski's first-half strike. Would the Sounders have been able to play a tighter defense? With two of three-second half goals coming on set pieces, that seems like a dubious claim. Basically, the best thing the Sounders can do is figure out what exactly went wrong in this game, try to learn from it and move on as quickly as possible.

From what Sigi Schmid said after the match, I'd be shocked not to see at least a couple lineup changes.

"It's not time to panic but it's time for some people to wake up and for character to step forward," he said. "When you're down two, three or four to nothing, you have to step up. Some guys we've asked to step up and it hasn't happened so changes are forthcoming. You have to play with energy. We let them control the game. We had to speed it up and no one on our side made that happen. We got hammered on the field and they should feel hammered in the locker room. They need to go inside and find their reaction and their inner core.

"I've given some guys a longer leash than others. That leash just tore today."

Essentially, this match was all about Landon Donovan. I said in my scouting report of the Galaxy that he had become the supporting player to Edson Buddle's leading man. I didn't necessarily mean that literally, as I meant it more in the sense that Buddle is the one who gets all the attention.

Today was a perfect illustration of why Donovan is really the player that makes this team go. He had a hand in all four goals, assisting on the first three and putting the final touch by scoring the final one off an assist from, who else?, Buddle.

I didn't get a real clear look at Donovan's role in the first goal, but he had impeccable service on the two that came off set pieces. The goal that made it 2-0 was on a beautifully placed corner that Omar Gonzalez was able to get on the end of. The free kick seemed more a product of blown coverage, as Todd Dunivant was essentially unmarked inside the box off a free kick from just outside the penalty area.

On the final goal of the game, Buddle made a nice play to keep the ball inbounds. Made a couple nice dribble moves and found Donovan as he streaked toward the right corner of the goal. It was Donovan's first goal of the season to go along with eight assists. Buddle now has nine goals and two assists.

Honestly, I'm not sure where the Sounders go from here. They have a tough road game at New York Red Bulls next week and then return home to face a surprisingly tough San Jose team.

I would imagine they'll put the 4-3-3 on the shelf this week and reassess the team's strengths. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see some lineup changes. But anyone hoping to see a player brought in from the outside is probably going to be disappointed. There's not a lot of room for changes right now, and the Sounders will probably have to just hope Nate Jaqua returns quickly and that they are still in decent position when Blaise N'Kufo joins the team sometime after July 15.

Are there realistic changes you'd like to see made?

Stats and quotes after the jump.

All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial 

Seattle Sounders FC vs. L.A. Galaxy - May 8, 2010 - Quotes

Sigi Schmid - Sounders FC Head Coach

(General Comments . . .) "Got beat and got beat solidly. Not the kind of game you want to ever repeat again."

(On allowing four goals . . .) "The first goal you don't expect a keeper like Keller to have that happen, but sometimes it does. The second goal was a good goal. Our marking could have been better but I thought we were tight and he put it in the corner. The third goal was inexcusable. It skipped past two guys. You have to not hope that someone else will do what you're supposed to. On the fourth goal we were ducks in a shooting gallery."

(On moving forward from this loss . . .) "It's not time to panic but it's time for some people to wake up and for character to step forward. When you're down two, three or four to nothing, you have to step up. Some guys we've asked to step up and it hasn't happened so changes are forthcoming. You have to play with energy. We let them control the game. We had to speed it up and no one on our side made that happen. We got hammered on the field and they should feel hammered in the locker room. They need to go inside and find their reaction and their inner core."

(On offside calls . . .) "A couple times we got called because guys were lazy coming back. A couple offsides weren't offsides - bad calls by the linesmen. A couple of them the ball was played too late. I thought we were inches off breaking them down in the first half. Then we came out and gave up the second goal seven minutes into the second half and a horrendous third goal. It's embarrassing."

(On lack of offense . . .) "Close to creating things but not creating things. We need guys that will give up their body in the box. We don't need six playmakers. We need guys who can score. We need more movement, harder running."

(On loss of Osvaldo Alonso to injury . . .) "I thought [Nathan] Sturgis did fine. I don't think that having Ozzy would have had an impact on the second or third goal."

(On team's effort . . .) "They have to believe in themselves and learn how to transfer that belief into effort. Not pleased with the effort when we were three goals down. Have to show character and say if we're going down, go down swinging and get a couple goals. Some had that attitude and some phoned it in."

(On worst loss as Sounders FC head coach . . .) "It is the toughest loss. Remind me to never wear a sport jacket again. It was the first time I've worn one and it will be the last time. When I was with the Galaxy, we took a few shellackings along the way. Sometimes something like this is good because when you get your rear end handed to you, people are a little more attentive to what you're telling them."

(On competition for spots . . .) "We compete for spots every week. I've given some guys a longer leash than others. That leash just tore today."

Kasey Keller - Sounders FC Goalkeeper

(General comments . . .) "I made a mistake and we went a goal down and we weren't able to recover from that. It's one of the tough things about goalkeeping. I thought we were doing OK. We had a goal that was called offside and it wasn't so that added to the frustration."

(On team's effort in second half . . .) "I didn't think that heads were down. Guys were disappointed, sure, but I didn't get the vibe that we were going to come out and perform the way we did."

(On Galaxy's first goal . . .) "It swirled on me, but the ball swirls every time it comes at you so there's no excuse. It moved and I didn't react in time."

(On moving forward from this loss . . .) "I hope we wake up and get better. There are some good characters on this team and I don't see any reason why we can't bounce back. I remember a year in the Premiere League when Man U lost 5-0 and came back and won the title. So it's not the end of the world."

Freddie Ljungberg - Sounders FC Midfielder/Forward

(On mistakes . . .) "We've made mistakes and we continue to make mistakes. They were constantly under attack and we made mistakes. That's something that we have to stop doing. In soccer, most goals are made on mistakes. So that's something we have to cut out to win games."

(On team's effort . . .) "In any team that will happen when the game gets that embarrassing. If it's within one point, people will still fight. But more than that, it's hard to stay engaged."

Miguel Montaño - Sounders FC Forward

(On how he played . . .) "I feel really good. I went into the field with a lot of enthusiasm. I think it was noted. I feel really good. I try really hard. It was my first game in MLS and with the Sounders and I felt very good about it. I tried to do my best but of course the result didn't come with us so I hope that for next game we will do better. That was disappointing for me."

(On entering game down three goals . . .) "Yes, I knew that we were down but I still entered the field with a lot of enthusiasm and we needed a goal - attack, attack, attack. I was doing my best to do that. Now we know that we need to do it better. We need the wins and we are going to try for that."

(On earning more playing time . . .) "It's not just about the game that we had today. I know that I have to keep working day-by-day to keep earning my position and I 'm going to keep working in that direction."

Bruce Arena - Galaxy Head Coach

(On his team having a good game against Seattle . . .) "The first half was pretty even. We got an important goal. The second half our team played really well."

(On the Sounders plan to stop Edson Buddle . . .) "Edson Buddle had a great game, I thought. He doesn't need to score goals all the time as a forward. He helps create goals and scoring opportunities. He held onto the ball well tonight. Landon [Donovan] and Edson played really well tonight by any way you evaluate performances."

(On Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle playing together for the U.S. National Team...) "That is not my choice. I have a different job than that."

(On his team playing better than today . . .) "This is one of those games where everything goes your way. Hopefully we are going to play better games and we will get better. We have to get better. We are only eight games and there is a lot of season left to play."

(On his team's defense . . .) "We played very well at that end of the field. [Donovan] Ricketts is outstanding."

Landon Donovan - Galaxy Midfielder

(On the team improving as the season progresses . . .) "We can play better. If we were playing better later in the game we could have scored five or six goals. You never want to take your foot off the gas. If it's the other way, teams can make mistakes."

(On when the team was able to take control of the match . . .) "We know we were the better team and we wanted to be aggressive and not let them dictate the game. They had the ball in the first half and our back line did a great job. When we had chances to score, we were ruthless."

(On teams focusing on stopping Edson Buddle...) "Our team is really good. A lot of attention is being placed on him and everyone else is doing a lot of things right to put him in that position. Today, he did a lot of things to get other people in the right position."

(On Edson Buddle proving himself to gain a spot on the U.S. National Team . . .) "Yes, absolutely."

Edson Buddle - Galaxy Forward

(On creating opportunities for his teammates to score . . .) "I knew it was going to be a physical match for myself and us. We were aware of the Sounders tendencies and it was up to me to find the runners coming through."

(On having his teammates take the lead and score . . .) "I never plan it that way. It just so happened this year I have been able to get on the score sheet early. It just so happened that guys were able to score and we had a good result here in Seattle."

(On being nervous about possible call up to the National Team . . .) "Not really. My focus is on playing here on Monday."