MLS First Kick: Our Best Guess At Tonight's Starting Lineups For Seattle Sounders-LA Galaxy
by Jeremiah Oshan on Mar 15, 2011 10:33 AM PDT
in Sounders: MLS Regular Season
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NOTE: In case you're new to the site, and judging from our traffic numbers during the off-season there are quite a few of you who are, one of the things we really enjoyed doing last year was something we called Match Day Quick Reference Cards. What you see above is the one for tonight's MLS First Kick match between the Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy, which is mainly used to give our starting lineup projections. As you can see, it's evolved a bit from last year's. Part of that is by design, part of that is not. You can expect to see some of the team stats return once we have some to share, but the right rail where the attendance, standings and power poll resides has been eliminated because those will all be standard features on the site and it seems a bit redundant. We're also considering the way we do the benches. Rather than try to predict the 18, we'd like to have a full roster of players we think could see action. As always, we appreciate the feedback.
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Word has just come out that both Juan Pablo Angel and Omar Gonzalez will not be starting tonight for the LA Galaxy. That caused us to make some last-minute changes, namely moving Landon Donovan to forward, bringing in Michael Stephens to LM, moving AJ De La Garza to CB and sliding Todd Dunivant into the LB position. There's also the possibility that Donovan Ricketts will sit, which would cause Josh Saunders to start.
On the Sounders' side, we just don't think Sigi is going to risk starting Brad Evans or Steve Zakuani, especially on a potentially wet turf. We ran a poll with new fewer than 10 options the other day, and all but three options received more than 20 votes. Suffice it to say, your guess is as good as ours on this one, but we're going with Lamar Neagle starting at RM, Alvaro Fernandez moving to LM and Erik Friberg getting the start in the middle. We feel like that possibility, but honestly wouldn't be shocked with any number of the other choices.
One small note we forgot to add to the match card, Alex Prus will be tonight's referee. He'll be joined by Greg Barkey, Paul Scott and Mark Kadlecik.
As always, here's a printable version of the match card: Sounders Vs. Galaxy
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vs Chicago?
Titles says we are playing Chicago Fire, which seems wrong. Other than that love the layout.
wow...
need to fix that
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Mar 15, 2011 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions
You don't have Angel
listed on LA’s roster.
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:45 AM PDT up reply actions
Neither are...
Gonzalez or Donovan. And most likely Evans and Zakuani too. They’re all listed.
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Sounders v Galaxy v Fire
I was really looking forward to a triad match today. Too bad First Kick and Qwest didn’t coordinate and redo the field as follows.
Just playing with ya JO. Go Sounders!
yeha, that's what i meant :)
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Mar 15, 2011 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Allan Hopkins on twitter
Retweeted by Mayers.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
That is some seriously good news for us
I mean, for them (that is, the players as human beings) I hope they can get healthy. But for us, tonight, this sucks the gut out of the LA attack and defense. Donovan as forward = scary, but Angel as forward being fed balls by Donovan as CAM = way more scary.
Without Omar in front of the goal, I feel like Nkufo just got way more important for us. He should be able to do a lot of damage with his strength and allow us to feed balls via the air (whereas before I felt like we’d have to make a lot of progress on the ground and pass to feet, using Montero as the playmaker). Nkufo can, perhaps more easily than with Omar on the pitch, hold up play from a long-distance pass and allow us to play a little more conservatively in the mid-field.
Thanks Dave
Just read that. Says they out. Not just “not starting”. Good news for us.
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions
Midfield
Your guess is probably better as I sometimes don’t understand SigiLogic, but I’d start with Montano on the left and Flaco on the right rather than Neagle. Only reason being that he seems to stick with what he knows and obviously Montano is a bit more “known” to us.
But, I’m pretty much always wrong about these things. :)
Remember that Neagle was here in '09
Sigi knows him
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Yeah
I know he “knows” him but he also didn’t like him enough to keep him. Obviously he earned his spot back and I’m thrilled for the kid, but just figured he earned one of the last spots whereas Montano has been a semi-regular second tier option.
But as I said, my Sigi mind-reading is subpar at best.
by Derek Young on Mar 15, 2011 11:25 AM PDT up reply actions
Moving Fernandez over
to play inverted and starting Neagle is a solid option. Neagle is quite capable and I like what he brings over Montano at this point. However I think Sigi would go with Noonan over Neagle.
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions
Yep
It’s easy to forget that Noonan is still on the team and held in some esteem by Sigi… I mainly forget because everything about him is forgettable (except that one goal where he held it for an eternity and then coolly fired past the keeper – that was veteran class – the rest was like Vagenas playing striker).
Sure Noonan struggled last season
but he was injured and was eventually shut down. He looks good since his surgery and played well against Colorado.
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm more than willing...
to be converted – Noonan seems like a good guy and I felt bad for him when it looked like he was going to end his career last year by sadly fading away with injuries…
If he brings it tonight, awesome, that’s why Sigi’s the coach and I’m not (amongst many other reasons). I just don’t think it was all the injury last year.
Oh sure
it wasn’t all just the injury. He’s older and he’s not like he was even 3 years ago. But he’s also not the Noonan we saw last year either…
by SoundersRiot on Mar 15, 2011 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions
Noonan
is still on the team for now until April first. That’s when Seattle must decide on Noonan’s option.
Offtopic but had to share...
Did y’all just get an email from one “Landon Donovan”?
First 2000 fans to “pledge” to watch First Kick get an MLS shirt. I threw up in my mouth a little bit just seeing his name in my inbox on gameday. A good promotion I guess but really, you couldn’t have Kasey and Landon do something together? Hopefully all the World Cup neutral fans tune in tonight to see us humble these aging Galacticos.
http://fans.mlssoccer.com/page/m/544e9356/48721dce/48d87706/27971dd1/999738835/VEsHBg/
This same Landon Donovan
said he thinks the crowd at Qwest has been quiet the last couple times he’s been here.
Nos Audietis – prove him wrong!
Hopkins
also says that Ricketts is likely out.
Isn't LA's backup keeper solid, though?
I don’t know how much of a drop-off there will be; although Ricketts is stellar.
Officiating
could be much worse. Prus gave that crappy double-red to Leo last year in the Chivas match but after the fact he admitted that he trusted the judgement of his assistant (who was wrong). If things go poorly for us tonight, it will be harder to blame on the refs than if it was, just for instance, that misanthrope Salazar (aka “SALAZAAAAARRRR!”).
Hopefully though we keep level heads and Prus keeps the game under control – and maybe Beckham makes another horror-tackle and gets red carded (fingers crossed!)
It was the 4th official
that told Pris to red Leo. Which was salazar.
Yeah, Prus should be ok
His twitter is kind of interesting as well. Naturally my angry comments are all directed towards Salazar.
I am more in the line of thinking that there are bad refs, decent refs, average refs, but not good refs in MLS.
Average and decent refs can have good games from time to time, but they always regress over a long season to what they really are.
That's
fine that you disagree but i actually like Prus as a central ref more than others.
I look at what the Pac 12 is doing in football.
They hired the NFL’s former vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, to be a consultant and last season he watched and graded all the games. Based on that, he got rid of many refs and replaced them. He also instituted many things that will make the refs more accountable.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2014380815_officials03.html
Prus may be one of the better MLS refs and I do not argue that point. But, being the best of an average lot is still not great. I would love for MLS and US Soccer to take the refereeing in this country more seriously. I would love for US Soccer and MLS to hire a retired referee from somewhere like Serie A to be a consultant to increase the quality of refereeing in the US at the top levels. I remember a former blogger at SAH, Carlos had many discussions and agreed on this point back in 2009.
FREE HAIRCUT!
Do you think with The Don wanting a more attacking style of soccer, that they’ll bump the requirement for a free hair cut to 4 goals?
I understand there are some injury concerns
But we may need to work on our depth if Lamar Neagle is being tabbed as a starter…
Neagle
is a option. With Rosales not on the official roster yet and fucito out. The only other choice is noonan, roger or Montano.
With the salary cap and roster size limits, you can't have excellent depth everywhere.
Zakuani has been one of the Sounders more reliable players these past two seasons. If you’re going to skimp on depth somewhere, that’s not a terrible spot.
by Aaron Campeau on Mar 15, 2011 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey, I think we talk about that in our podcast!
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Mar 15, 2011 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions
im glad angel, ricketts and gonzalez are out
I hope sigi doesn’t risk playing zakuani and evans.
Friburg starting in the middle makes sense. I’m fine with either neagle, montano or carrasco (moving friberg outside) starting. I don’t want noonan to play
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 12:35 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Hurtado & Parke
Are flip flopped.
A little surprised you originally picked Dunivant not to start, and Leonardo to start.
You're right about parke and hurtado..
the dunivant thing was based on a couple different conversations with LAG people.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Mar 15, 2011 1:16 PM PDT up reply actions
Roger
I think Sigi is going to go with Roger on the right with Flaco switched over to the left. I just don’t see Sigi risking a huge game like this on a young player. Roger has that veteranosity factor Seattle sports teams just seem to love.
I'd choose Noonan over Levesque
But my preference, honestly, is for Montano (to replace a bit of Zak’s speed on the wing).
montano's debut was against the galaxy last year
And he played really well in that game. I remember him getting praise from both coaches and players. He was the sounders only good point in the game.
He was also really good in the win in the us open cup against so I can see him playing
Yes its a risk but still they might play him
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 1:51 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Nope, it was in the 0-4 refund inducing loss.
Everyone else looked utterly despondent. Montano came on and was running at LA’s defense, hurrying everything up, and shouting at OUR players to try to get them motivated and back in the game.
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
yep this is the game
He was the only one of our players motivated and he almost scored during that game
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 2:14 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
How do we know the other players weren't motivated?
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Because the FO told us so?
Wasn’t that the “official line” after that game?
I couldn't disagree more about Noonan, I think Levesque has proven time and again to be a better option than Noonan.
That being said, I’d also give Montano the nod. People underestimate youth far too much.
Case in point (as anyone who watches Serie A might attest), Juventus were forced to start young Frederik Sorensen, aged 18 at RB due to injuries to other players. He had never played a game of first team football in his life (yes, in his life) and his first game came as a start in Serie A. And though he is by no means flashy, he impressed everyone and has largely won the starting role for himself. A month later, he is lined up opposite Samuel Eto’o and largely shackled him.
Long story short: young players CAN step up given the opportunity. I think this is Miguel’s opportunity.
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
Its too big of a risk
especially against LA to play montano. The least thing we want is to go down a guy against them.
I would only play Montano if we don’t have any other choice.
You're basing that off of one incident, which in my opinion was a bit of a harsh call.
As far as I know, the only time Montano has ever been sent off was in the Brek Shea elbow retaliation incident. After that Sigi basically froze him out of the squad, so I would imagine Montano has had plenty of time to think about his actions.
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
I'm
willing to give him a chance i just don’t think it should be starting right off the bat on opening first kick. If he comes in as a sub that’s fine with me.
Well, I expect Sigi will side with you on this one. We shall see.
Rosales can’t play till his paperwork goes through, right?
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
Yea
once he gets his ITC and visa Seattle can play him.
i'm betting
he already his ITC but p1 work visa can be a longer process.
I want to clarify
I dislike Noonan on this roster, but I view Levesque as our emergency super sub (that is, as the guy we keep on the bench in case of on-field injury during a match).
So I’d rather have him on the bench and go with another person as the starter. That way, if Riley goes down, or we need a sub for Fernandez or for LW-SUB or for a Forward or for whatever… I just feel better with him coming off the bench than starting. I’d rather start someone who is more limited (in terms of position).
I'm
wondering if its the turf that maybe the reason why a couple LA players aren’t playing?
But Omar didn't have any problem with it last year
And neither would Ricketts.
Angel I don’t know about.
Angel
did have his share of problems on turf at giants stadium.
And Ricketts has an injury he picked up in preseason
Ankle, i think? Something to do with his leg anyway. I’m too lazy to look it up. He’s been thought to be out for a while now.
So, smart money is on fight, right?
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yeah thats the only thing i can think of
But between who?
That’s what I’m wondering
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 2:16 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Maybe Fredy pushed him and Blaise, tired of the relentless bullying, snapped and bodyslammed him
by Aaron Campeau on Mar 15, 2011 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Joshua
tweeted saying it could change in the hours leading to kickoff.
josh just tweeted that nkufo is not starting
Due to an incident in training. Anyone got any idea what?
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 2:13 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Well
We’ll get to see what White can do as a target forward.
We
Already got to see how Obi White played in the Colorado game and once he got on the field we scored two more goals…… Kufo + Evans = 0 goals
OBW + Friberg = 3 goals
by ColinTheMaster on Mar 15, 2011 2:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Wrong...
The last game of preseason is your final look at how the season may go especially against a an actual MLS team. But whatever I’d love to see Kufo and Evans out there doing exactly the same stuff they did the first half of that game. Just kidding……
by ColinTheMaster on Mar 15, 2011 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions
What the hell? N'Kufo doesn't seem like the type for a training ground bust-up...
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
yeah that was my initial reaction
by Sandra_R on Mar 15, 2011 2:46 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Very nervous about this...
My prediction is that someone Nkufo doesn’t respect called him out on being lazy and he overreacted. It seems like it has been hard for him to mesh with the team as a whole (individual guys, Zakuani and Nyassi, but maybe not everyone) and to find his role (admittedly not an easy thing to do midseason, towards the end of your career).
Maybe Sigi just doesn’t relate well to veterans (Keller knew what he was getting into; all the other old guys have history with Sigi.).
I have been listening to ESPN 710 in Seattle
The Groz had an entire segment regarding the Sounders and the N’Kufo. He and his partner also gave a shout out to former their former KJR coworker, Dave Clark, and talked about having him on in the future.
Did they shed any light on what actually happened, and if he will indeed start? or even make the bench?
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
I agree
only way if he was not on the 18 if Jaqua was healthy.
I am probably reading way too much into this
But, doesn’t it seem like the Sounders are not that happy with N’Kufo? This incident and then earlier this preseason announcing this will be his last season. I didn’t see a reason why that was announced. Keller, I understand because he is a local legend and they want to honor him. It is almost as if the Sounders wanted to do a pre-emptive strike making sure that N’Kufo will retire.
Yea
your reading way too much into it. N’kufo probably told the team that this will be his last year.
I am just surprised that it was announced. As I said, there was no reason to announce it at that time
If he wanted to announce it to the press, that is one thing. But, for the team to do it struck me as odd.
Was it the team though? As I remember, Sigi mentioned offhandedly in an interview that Blaise and Keller were on their last year...
I could be remembering it wrong though.
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
The Groz loves Mondays
And I love the Groz, and his new partner Bob Stelton. Rock Star and I worked the same show multiple times – Locke, Clayton, Mitch and when Rock Star soloed on Saturdays
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
I have always liked the Groz. I have met him a few times out and about
He seems freed up since he left KJR and doing SU basketball broadcasts.
BTY, Kevin Calabro and Jim Moore have lead off their show talking about the Sounders and are still talking about them.
Joshua
just posted an update
“I just talked to a Sounders FC official who confirmed that Nkufo will not be starting, but denied there was an incident at training.”
So maybe the 'incident'
was just O’BW playing better in the preseason and earning a start? If so, that would be a little disconcerting to have happen to a DP.
I don't
think that would do enough to have white start over N’kufo. I wonder if it was how N’kufo responded to being criticized regarding his performance that got sigi a bit ticked off.
I don't understand why people are still misspelling Blaise Nkufo's name.
by yuniform on Mar 15, 2011 4:20 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
So does Joshua's
update mean that nothing actually occurred at practice, or that something did, but that isn’t why Nkufo is sitting? Curious to know what sort of “incident” actually took place
It means that either Joshua had incorrect info to begin with or there was an incident and the PR people are earning their pay.
La Vecchia Signora Forever!
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