Seattle Sounders Trialist Samuel Ochoa Leads Reserves To Win

But how would you compare Samuel to some of the 18’s? Does he look like a world beater at that age group?

both are creative and attack mind. And i like the little passes they do together.

sure it creates for some nerve wracking defensive moments but i think the two of them could grow a good partnership on that side.

Not sure exactly where he fits in as I’m not sure how he’d do as a TF in MLS play, but he was good for sure. I also liked Sheridan, but I’m not sure he’s starting XI quality right now. He’d be a great reserve player and could possibly grow into a starting XI type-player (especially at only 22). No question he’s an upgrade over Jaqua with how he’s been playing recently and he does do well winning headers and making himself available and useful in hold-up play.

Estrada – I thought his work rate was top-notch for sure, but he wasn’t getting a good percentage of crosses in, and some of his attacking runs ended in nothing. Work-rate was Levesque-esque for sure, though. One thing that I never noticed about Estrada before – he’s not as fast as I first thought. When chasing down through balls, if he didn’t have a significant head-start – LA’s LB would beat him to the ball. Several times, actually. In fact I thought this match probably highlighted how much we need more speed on the wings.

Montano continues to do what he always does: looks impressive on the ball, but gets a little too selfish with the ball – perhaps trying to prove himself too much? This usually results in a turnover, so same as last year. He was putting better crosses into the box than Estrada was, to his credit. I love how he’s not at all afraid to run at defenders and just take the ball to the box – but I also almost cringe every time he does so because I’m expecting him to get dispossessed of the ball in the process. I like this kid, though, and he’s definitely on the roster for a reason.

Tetteh continues to look very good, but it seemed he had some communication problems with his teammates. When one of his teammates wanted him to zig, he zagged, and vice versa. I saw this from Cillian and Myron as well, but being they’re trialists – you wouldn’t necessarily expect them to have that positional chemistry with the team. Tetteh has shown he can play at the MLS level – just needs to work on that continuity with the team I guess.

Interestingly I thought Levesque was one of the better defenders out there. I don’t think LA got many crosses from his side, and I specifically remember him being a last line of defense several times, getting a foot in there and dispossessing an attacking LA player just on the edge of the box. Zach Scott had the center buttoned up pretty well while barking commands to his fellow players, but he still had a few passes that went errant out of the back which resulted in LA possession. Ianni played very well also, I thought. Leo was good in defense but does occasionally cut it too close for my tastes at times. You just know Leo will get a yellow card every match he’s in. And I have to admit it’s annoying when the ref is telling him to “come here” and Leo doesn’t comply and acts like he doesn’t understand. Come on man, you know what you did and what the ref is going to do – be a good sportsman and comply, please. Toward the end of the match he muscled an LA attacker off the ball in the box which could have been called as a penalty (technically it was not, but given how refs are… you never know – don’t tempt fate).

I wasn’t impressed with Seamon either, and outside of the assist I thought Friberg was unspectacular. Which brings me to Friberg – what happened to him? He seemed to impress when he arrived, but each week he seems to have become less and less effective. Is it our perception of his play, or is something else at work here?

Myron only came on around the 72nd minute and didn’t really have enough touches to show anything, I thought. I liked what I saw of Ochoa, who like Myron didn’t have a whole lot of touches, but he did link up well and maintain possession with some of our mids. I’d like to see more of him. Cillian I’m already sold on – his physical size, his speed, and his skill in the air makes him an instant threat to Jaqua to start up top. Give him some time with the 1’s and I’m sure that chemistry will come. To his credit he’s already scored more goals this year than Jaqua with far less minutes played.

It was an unspectacular win, and to me it didn’t necessarily feel deserved. I say that because LA seemed to have the bulk of the attacking chances, more shots on goal, etc. If not for some spectacular Terry Boss saves, the match could have easily been 3-1. I thought LA was the more dangerous team, but we walked away with the result. Hey, I’ll take it – but it didn’t feel confident.