Sounder At Heart - All Posts

Galaxy Scouting Report: Why Does May Have To End?

2013-05-25T18:12:23Z

You know the drill by now. I start off a scouting report talking about how difficult this May schedule is. How difficult this next opponent is going to be. How Seattle would be lucky just to tie. And then the Sounders go get a win — recently, a crushing win. So, as is tradition:

The Galaxy cannot be beat. The are the golden children of MLS and will be given every opportunity to win. From 'assigning' Mexican legend Carlos Hermosillo to the team in 1998, to inventing the DP rule so the team could sign David Beckham in flagrant disregard for their previous love affair with parity, to quietly grandfathering Landon Donovan into the DP rule so they could play both for years before the rest of MLS could have multiple DPs, to begging the US national coach Bruce Arena to come save the club from mediocrity, to conveniently playing the MLS Cup final in LA for 5 of the league's first fifteen years until they won it there, the league has shown every indication that whenever anything is amiss with the Galaxy they will parachute in and big daddy Garber will kiss their boo-boos until they're winning again. When playing against a team that uses the MLS logo as its alternate crest, the best you can hope for is a consolation point and a long night of drinking.

Okay, but for reals, Seattle has had its problems with LA. While everyone was talking up the incoming Cascadia rivalry as if we had eyes only for Portland, really they were focused further south at the teams that played for an MLS Cup in our stadium and then took turns kicking us out of the playoffs for the next three years. The Galaxy did that twice: once on an Edson Buddle golazo, and last year on a thrashing so thorough in Carson that you can't even hang it on a single moment. Last season we punked them at home for a combined 8-1 through three games, but they returned the failure with a 4-0 differential in two at Carson. The last time we beat the Galaxy in their stadium was in 2009.

So what about this edition? This will be our first match against the club in the post-Beckham era. That era hasn't gone perfectly swimmingly yet as they failed to replace Beckham's DP contract with another world class midfielder (rumored for some time to be Frank Lampard) and Donovan left for some extended 'me' time during the start of the season. No doubt that means MLS HQ is preparing the Don's parachute, but in the meantime they're vulnerable. They've lost three of their last four, and the one win was against the pretty hapless Philadelphia Union. Beckham's long bending service to Keane has dried up, forcing the team to rely on advancing the ball through the midfield on the ground. With Juninho potentially out with an injury, that may become even harder.

And of course the bombshell echoing over this match is the reported trade that will send Mike Magee to his hometown of Chicago and Robbie Rogers to Los Angeles. Both moves have major implications on the field, and in the case of Rogers — who just this year felt he had to retire once he'd come out publicly as gay — major implications off the field. But what effect does it have this weekend? There's a tradition in American sports that once a player's been announced in a trade, he won't suit up for his current club again. But there's also a tradition in international soccer of players having contracts set up months ahead of time and continuing to play for their current club. In this case, I think our tradition wins and it's very unlikely Magee suits up again for the Galaxy. And in the other direction, Rogers hasn't played in a competitive match since last year and even if he's kept in shape, there's no way he's game fit for this weekend. So Seattle may be the beneficiaries of a gap between the two players. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rogers come on for a few substitute minutes to introduce himself to the fans. And speaking for myself, I'd be proud if Rogers made his return to the field as an out player with our players on the field with him.

Here's the average position map from their loss at New York last week:

Jose Villareal has become the preferred partner up top for Keane, which has been working out well. The high-energy young forward complements Keane's wandering poaching style nicely. Here Donovan played on the left and cut in aggressively away from the wing. If DeAndre Yedlin starts, he'll have some interesting decisions about whether to cut in and track Donovan or whether to hand him off and use the wide open right back area to provide freedom for his own unmarked runs forward. If the Galaxy get caught out on a counter with both Yedlin and Mauro Rosales overloading Todd Dunivant, that could create some dangerous opportunities for Seattle. And given the strength of the Galaxy's very stable backline, that might be the best route for opportunities if Seattle can't just overwhelm them with attacking talent.

And the Sounders will be probably be without Osvaldo Alonso, arguably their most important player. This season his loss might be more manageable than it has in years past, since Servando Carrasco has stepped up his game and played well in consecutive starts, and Shalrie Joseph provides a very skilled, veteran presence in the same role. One of them playing well will be important to neuter any attacks through the middle (made easier if Juninho is out). That would force them to revert to long balls for entry into the attack, and Seattle's back line can do a good job of cleaning those up over Keane and Villareal.

Seattle's main roster issue, other than Alonso, is fixture congestion. With a match a few days later on the other side of the country, followed by another match next weekend in LA, Sigi will have to do some lineup juggling. There've been spirited arguments in the comments about how you prioritize these three matches. The US Open Cup match is a knockout game, and a loss there obviously can't be recovered from, whereas a league loss is just part of a long campaign. On the other hand the Tampa Bay Rowdies are the weakest team they'll face (though I appreciate the Chivas jokes) and are more likely to be handled with reserves. Another argument is that LA is likely to make the playoffs anyway, so a win over Chivas could help remove a competitor for one of the other playoff spots.

In the end, none of the matches are simply puntable and I think we'll see a mix of starters and reserves in all three. Something like Rosales on the weekends, maybe Alonso next week, Neagle in Tampa, and so on. Seattle certainly has the depth to be competitive in all three, even in a season where we felt we were sacrificing depth for topline talent.

Tomorrow, the focus is on beating a Galaxy team in transition. If we can do that, one of the toughest months in the Sounders history will become one of their most impressive triumphs in their history, recovering emphatically from a dire opening to the season and setting them up for a customary run into the playoffs over the summer.

Sounders at LA Galaxy - Somersaults and Backflips

2013-05-25T16:35:02Z

Sunday night ESPN2 gets to see just how real the surging Sounders are. The 8 PM match is just another in the rivalry game between the two top Western Conference sides. With no trophy on the line neither will claim dominance after just another regular season game.

The measuring stick for the Seattle Sounders is simple. Take the LA Galaxy and compare. There is no better team in MLS 3.0. Two of the owners live there and tangentially experience the Galaxy every day. But the Galaxy are only decent right now, sitting just two points up on Seattle though the Sounders have a game in hand. The Sunday night match on national television ends the toughest month of the year. A month of May that was defined by success, not failure.

Guiding us through Three Questions (actually four this week) is Josie from LAGConfidential.

SaH: Jose Villareal is now Keane's partner up top. Is there a more age diverse pair in the league? How are they working together?

LAGC: I can't think of one off hand, but I think more significant is this group of young strikers he belongs to. Juan Agudelo has seen three clubs before he could legally drink (doesn't that just beat all), but behind him has come this wave of young strikers who are having a huge impact on MLS. Russel Teibert had that impressive brace against the Galaxy, Jack McInerney is leading the MLS Golden Boot race from over in Philadelphia. LA has an embarrassment of riches with Jack McBean and Gyasi Zardes all on the roster.

It's most likely the case that had Jack McBean not gotten injured he'd be the official Keane partner up top. Villarreal is coming into his own but he's not quite fully there yet. He works better as a sub, as the issue seems to be conservation of energy over ninety minutes more than anything else. On some of these Villarreal starts you can forget he was there.

However, with the right service he'll make teams pay dearly for that. He's awful quick and sees the pitch really well. He knows when to go down as a striker (not diving, just graceful foul earning), and his scissor kick for what's been his lone goal this season was just something else.

Gyasi Zardes though, that kid is the future.

SaH: If I beg will Bruce Arena play the high line against Seattle? Since he won't are Omar and AJ back to their old selves?

LAGC: I like the high line, I like to boogie...

So yeah 2012 LA has a ton of issues with the back line, having to stick a green rookie Tommy Meyer in to replace an injured Omar Gonzalez. Then there was a revolving door of partners for DeLaGarza as Meyer was replaced with all manner of folk. Yet Meyer does well in MLS Cup and now he's a folk hero.

All is forgotten and now it's 2013, LA's issue is now lack of a wide midfielder so Arena shifts the backline around to get Sean Franklin in the midfield. The start, with Leonardo pairing with Gonzalez, wasn't as disastrous as 2012 but it wasn't super awesome. So Arena got the old band back together.

I will say that Gonzalez's international absences have hurt the back line's rhythm to a degree. With such a late kickoff, if y'all get the team bus lost maybe Gonzalez will have to skip out to catch his flight to Cleveland. But seriously, there's a bit of a cloud around the international breaks wherein mistakes are going to be made. Tired mistakes are still being made, LA have not shown well late in close matches. The 2011 version of the Omar-AJ back line saw 1-0 as cake. Not so much anymore.

SaH: Landon Donovan huh?

LAGC: Part of the reason 1-0 isn't cake is that the Galaxy aren't getting goals against tough defenses. New York, Dallas: LA can hold steady but finding a creative way to break through has been more difficult than in recent years. Now why could that be? Who isn't with the club anymore? I appreciate you not asking any Beckham questions, but watching Juninho drop that perfect ball in for New York against LA last weekend was like seeing how the other half lived all those years.

Not having that arial attack has forced the Galaxy into a ground game, which when it works is the best in the business. Donovan and Keane on a counter against the median MLS back line is unstoppable. However, throw in a Jamison Olave and the Galaxy have had issues. Remember when folk gave up on Olave last year, like talent can leak out or something?

Anyhow, you asked about Donovan. Just trying to set up that, the LA Galaxy offense depends terribly on Landon Donovan. When he was off on walkabout, Mike Magee really had to step up. There were some goals and victories, but there wasn't a clear offensive plan for the tough going. Even teams with so so defenses would play so far back in their own half, and LA didn't have someone with the creative spark in the midfield.

Obviously that's what Donovan brings. His vision around the box is something to watch. The way he picked people out against Philadelphia. Give him a window and he'll get the ball through it. He had shown flashes of that in earlier matches, though the finishing touches weren't always there. Alexi Lalas is right in saying Donovan isn't the player who takes a game over. He's the Chief of Staff, not the President. His job is to make everyone around him look better.

SaH: When Magee is out who fills in and why?

LAGC: Right now Mike Magee's replacement is Hector Jimenez, because Colin Clark has been a giant bust of a pickup. I remember when Clark was introduced to the media, he was asked directly if clubs were trying to exploit the Galaxy's lack of width last year. He admitted as such, and knew that's what he was brought in to give. It's what Christian Wilhelmsson was brought in to give. Yet, for some reason, no player brought in to give width seems able to sustain that role.

Clark has been in such bad form Arena is now starting to reserve team player that motivated him to go out and get a wide midfielder in the re-entry draft. Jimenez will do fine someday on a club that needs a holding midfielder, but he plays like someone picking up FIFA for the first time. He dribbles to the end of his flank, then hopes his horizontal pass will do something good. He scored against Philadelphia because for the first time in a dog's age he left the security of the touch line and cut inside.

So when LA says it's interested in Robbie Rogers, there's a reason. Mike Magee has said into a microphone that he wants to go this weekend, but I've begun to trust any and all injury reporting out of LA Galaxy camp about as much as I trust a hound dog with a hamburger.

Significant injuries: Jack McBean, (potentially) Mike Magee, (potentially) Juninho

Projected Lineup: Cudicini; Franklin, DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Dunivant; Donovan, Juninho, Sarvas, Magee; Keane, Zardes

* * *
reverse

LAGC: Seattle's in good form after a slow start. Is it simply shaking off the fatigue from CONCACAF Champions League, or is something else clicking?

SaH: Three things have happened during this hot stretch. Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins are both playing, though Oba isn't starting regularly. They and Lamar Neagle are finishing, which has been huge. Seattle just was not converting at an acceptable rate until recently. Each has three goals during the hot stretch and Seattle could possibly have the best three headed attack in the league, even including healthy sets for San Jose and Sporting KC.

Lastly, the midfield defense is quite strong. Teams have to go through two natural defensive mids (two of Alonso, Joseph and Carrasco) as well as a wide mid that is a two-way player rather than pure attacker. This is leading to fewer passing lanes in the middle and rapid transition to attack from higher up the pitch. This change has helped the offense as well as an improved defense. With all of those things clicking Seattle is performing like the team people thought it was when they had it near the top of the preseason power rankings.

LAGC: Eddie Johnson collects player of the week as Seattle finds the key against FC Dallas. What's he been doing right?

SaH: Last year Eddie was all head. So much of what he did was from crosses and dead balls thrown into him about eight yards from goal. This year he's added his speed game back into his arsenal breaking away on all varieties of direct play. A defense that plays off of him will give him space to shoot. Playing tight means he can blow by them. Giving Seattle the opportunity to cross it into him and he's still got that great header that put him back into the National Team. He's better than he's ever been.

Seattle finally has variety in their attack. Plan A last year was a cross. Plan B was pray for Fredy to be awesome. Fredy isn't here this year. Plan A right now is Route One soccer and they are very good at it. Plan B is the cross. Rosales to Johnson is still as effective as ever.

LAGC: Very difficult stretch for Seattle with an Open Cup tilt in between two matches in Los Angeles. Also, y'all are losing the aforementioned Eddie Johnson to international duty. How does Seattle push through? Is this the year Open Cup takes a backseat?

SaH: Sigi Schmid has only thrown a full reserve out in a tournament when they've already been eliminated from it. They will send a mixed squad to Tampa and keep the rest in LA if I had to bet. Any player, coach and front office personnel that talked about getting knocked out of the CCL mentioned that they wanted to get back to that tournament. The US Open Cup is the quickest route for a Sounders return to international competition and will not be blown off. Plus they may want to add to their undefeated during MLS era Open Cup run.

LAGC: DeAndre Yedlin seems to be showing well as Seattle's Homegrown signing. How's he mixing in?

SaH: About perfectly. He still makes errors in positioning and needs to improve his crossing ability, but his speed means he can recover at a great rate. Yedlin is also pretty good at underlapping and running into the box leaving Mauro Rosales out wide. With his speed and decent touch this creates issues for defenses. He won't do it often, but when he does it creates a threat either from himself or the cross that Mauro puts into danger.

Significant injuries: Osvaldo Alonso and Steve Zakuani are both going to be out for the Galaxy game.

Projected lineup: Gspurning; Gonzalez, Traore, Hurtado, Yedlin; Carrasco; Evans, Joseph, Rosales; Martins, Johnson

Seattle Reign activate Hope Solo from injured list ahead of match against Portland Thorns

2013-05-25T00:24:14Z

Just in time for arguably their biggest match of the season, the Seattle Reign have activated goalkeeper Hope Solo from the injury list. She will be eligible for selection in Saturday's match against the Portland Thorns.

"We are pleased with Hope's recovery. Her experience, knowledge and ability have given the players a much-needed boost," Reign FC Head Coach Laura Harvey said in a team release. "We are mindful of Hope's continued road to full match fitness, but we are happy to be getting her in and around the team and on the field again."

If Solo plays, it will be the first minutes the Reign have received from any of the three United States national team players they were allocated at the start of the year. Megan Rapinoe has just finished her season with Lyon in France and Amy Rodriguez is out for the year while she prepares to give birth to her first child.

The Reign are also missing defenders Kate Deines and Elli Reed, who are both out with sprained right ankles. Another defender, Jenny Ruiz, will miss the game while serving a suspension from a red card she picked up in their last game.

The Thorns, meanwhile, are led by the strike duo of Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair. They have combined for seven goals in seven games.

Suddenly near full health, Sounders have tough choices ahead

2013-05-24T23:03:02Z

Osvaldo Alonso will likely miss Sunday's game against the LA Galaxy. In his place will likely be a starting duo of Shalrie Joseph and Servando Carrasco. As recently as few weeks ago, that would have been cause "sky is falling" level of alarm.

Instead, I'm actually reasonably confident. Sure, Joseph is not as mobile as he once was and Carrasco is obviously not on Alonso's level, but together they make a pretty good team. Joseph's passing is probably as good as any midfielder the Sounders have ever had. Carrasco is a hard tackler, a hard worker and is at least competent moving the ball around.

If, for some reason, Mauro Rosales can't start, I'm totally comfortable with Mario Martinez and Brad Evans being the wide midfielders again. Martinez has vastly improved even over the past few weeks and Evans has played so well as a wide midfielder, I'm not sure his starting spot is in question even if there's a fully complement of players.

The biggest question mark at this point is what does Sigi do with Lamar Neagle. In the past two games, he's scored three goals and he's been the Sounders' most consistently dangerous player throughout the six-game unbeaten streak. As crazy as it sounds, he may actually be on the bench at least for one game.

This upcoming trio of games -- at Galaxy, at Tampa Bay and at Chivas USA -- will really test Sigi's ability to juggle lineups. As we've talked about previously, Evans and Eddie Johnson will be gone after the Galaxy game. Sigi recently revealed that Mario Martinez would, in fact, be sticking round through the Chivas game, which makes things a little easier. It's also looking as though Osvaldo Alonso could be back in time for the Chivas game, if not sooner.

Which brings me to the question I spent all this time ramping up to: Who do you want to see start these next three games?

Major Link Soccer: Euro 'silly season' starts MLS rumor mill

2013-05-24T14:00:03Z

In England they call the off-season the "silly season" because the rumors really start flying and it's sometimes hard to tell what is real and what is baseless speculation. It's only since David Beckham came that the MLS has become a regular part of the frivolity.

Today two players are apparently ready to move "stateside" after being let go by their teams and bidding farewell to fans on Twitter - defender Titus Bramble, and striker Carlton Cole.

Buried in this story about players being let go at Aston Villa is a comment that Simon Dawkins could head back to San Jose after his loan spell at Villa expired without any offer of something more.

Meanwhile, Vancouver striker Kenny Miller is denying reports he is heading back to Scotland.

There was one real transaction in MLS Thursday. The Chicago Fire acquired Bakary Soumare from Philly. Soumare used to be with the Fire, before a three-year effort in France. He was the MLS Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and has a hefty salary to match. It's believed that Chicago is going to buy-out the contract of veteran German defender Arne Friedrich to make room, and that Philly is paying some of Soumare's salary.

Chicago is also supposedly hot in negotiations with Galaxy for Robbie Rogers' rights. Chicago holds those rights but Rogers has indicated he's rather stay "retired" than play in Chicago. Rumor has it that Chicago wants midfielder/forward Mike Magee, a Chicago native, in return - though that seems like an awful lot to give up.

It's the red card that would not die. First our friends over at BigDSoccer suggested Sounders fans influenced the decision to give Blas Perez a red for his blood-drawing elbow on Leo Gonzalez. Then FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman expressed his disapproval of the call. And now the Professional Referee Organization weighs in with their take - maybe not surprising that they support the call, which they say was made by the fourth official.

Up in Toronto, one blogger said the good times have officially ended. It's not just that the team has never performed, it's that the performances have sapped the once energetic crowd of their spirit, he says.

In Utah a lawsuit involving the leaders of shirt-sponsor Xango has fans wondering if it's the end of the multi-level marketing company's presence with the team.

In New England, fans are wondering who really is the team's first-choice striker.

And finally, today, Crew supporters in Ohio have decided to try and drum up support for the team, taking it to the streets and airwaves with a goal toward selling out the June 1 game.

- Scott Ayers

Sounders at LA Galaxy - Three Questions

2013-05-24T02:28:26Z

Guiding us through Three Questions (actually four this week) is Josie from LAGConfidential.

SaH: Jose Villareal is now Keane's partner up top. Is there a more age diverse pair in the league? How are they working together?

LAGC: I can't think of one off hand, but I think more significant is this group of young strikers he belongs to. Juan Agudelo has seen three clubs before he could legally drink (doesn't that just beat all), but behind him has come this wave of young strikers who are having a huge impact on MLS. Russel Teibert had that impressive brace against the Galaxy, Jack McInerney is leading the MLS Golden Boot race from over in Philadelphia. LA has an embarrassment of riches with Jack McBean and Gyasi Zardes all on the roster.

It's most likely the case that had Jack McBean not gotten injured he'd be the official Keane partner up top. Villarreal is coming into his own but he's not quite fully there yet. He works better as a sub, as the issue seems to be conservation of energy over ninety minutes more than anything else. On some of these Villarreal starts you can forget he was there.

However, with the right service he'll make teams pay dearly for that. He's awful quick and sees the pitch really well. He knows when to go down as a striker (not diving, just graceful foul earning), and his scissor kick for what's been his lone goal this season was just something else.

Gyasi Zardes though, that kid is the future.

SaH: If I beg will Bruce Arena play the high line against Seattle? Since he won't are Omar and AJ back to their old selves?

LAGC: I like the high line, I like to boogie...

So yeah 2012 LA has a ton of issues with the back line, having to stick a green rookie Tommy Meyer in to replace an injured Omar Gonzalez. Then there was a revolving door of partners for DeLaGarza as Meyer was replaced with all manner of folk. Yet Meyer does well in MLS Cup and now he's a folk hero.

All is forgotten and now it's 2013, LA's issue is now lack of a wide midfielder so Arena shifts the backline around to get Sean Franklin in the midfield. The start, with Leonardo pairing with Gonzalez, wasn't as disastrous as 2012 but it wasn't super awesome. So Arena got the old band back together.

I will say that Gonzalez's international absences have hurt the back line's rhythm to a degree. With such a late kickoff, if y'all get the team bus lost maybe Gonzalez will have to skip out to catch his flight to Cleveland. But seriously, there's a bit of a cloud around the international breaks wherein mistakes are going to be made. Tired mistakes are still being made, LA have not shown well late in close matches. The 2011 version of the Omar-AJ back line saw 1-0 as cake. Not so much anymore.

SaH: Landon Donovan huh?

LAGC: Part of the reason 1-0 isn't cake is that the Galaxy aren't getting goals against tough defenses. New York, Dallas: LA can hold steady but finding a creative way to break through has been more difficult than in recent years. Now why could that be? Who isn't with the club anymore? I appreciate you not asking any Beckham questions, but watching Juninho drop that perfect ball in for New York against LA last weekend was like seeing how the other half lived all those years.

Not having that arial attack has forced the Galaxy into a ground game, which when it works is the best in the business. Donovan and Keane on a counter against the median MLS back line is unstoppable. However, throw in a Jamison Olave and the Galaxy have had issues. Remember when folk gave up on Olave last year, like talent can leak out or something?

Anyhow, you asked about Donovan. Just trying to set up that, the LA Galaxy offense depends terribly on Landon Donovan. When he was off on walkabout, Mike Magee really had to step up. There were some goals and victories, but there wasn't a clear offensive plan for the tough going. Even teams with so so defenses would play so far back in their own half, and LA didn't have someone with the creative spark in the midfield.

Obviously that's what Donovan brings. His vision around the box is something to watch. The way he picked people out against Philadelphia. Give him a window and he'll get the ball through it. He had shown flashes of that in earlier matches, though the finishing touches weren't always there. Alexi Lalas is right in saying Donovan isn't the player who takes a game over. He's the Chief of Staff, not the President. His job is to make everyone around him look better.

SaH: When Magee is out who fills in and why?

LAGC: Right now Mike Magee's replacement is Hector Jimenez, because Colin Clark has been a giant bust of a pickup. I remember when Clark was introduced to the media, he was asked directly if clubs were trying to exploit the Galaxy's lack of width last year. He admitted as such, and knew that's what he was brought in to give. It's what Christian Wilhelmsson was brought in to give. Yet, for some reason, no player brought in to give width seems able to sustain that role.

Clark has been in such bad form Arena is now starting to reserve team player that motivated him to go out and get a wide midfielder in the re-entry draft. Jimenez will do fine someday on a club that needs a holding midfielder, but he plays like someone picking up FIFA for the first time. He dribbles to the end of his flank, then hopes his horizontal pass will do something good. He scored against Philadelphia because for the first time in a dog's age he left the security of the touch line and cut inside.

So when LA says it's interested in Robbie Rogers, there's a reason. Mike Magee has said into a microphone that he wants to go this weekend, but I've begun to trust any and all injury reporting out of LA Galaxy camp about as much as I trust a hound dog with a hamburger.

Significant injuries: Jack McBean, (potentially) Mike Magee, (potentially) Juninho

Projected Lineup: Cudicini; Franklin, DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Dunivant; Donovan, Juninho, Sarvas, Magee; Keane, Zardes

* * *
reverse

LAGC: Seattle's in good form after a slow start. Is it simply shaking off the fatigue from CONCACAF Champions League, or is something else clicking?

SaH: Three things have happened during this hot stretch. Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins are both playing, though Oba isn't starting regularly. They and Lamar Neagle are finishing, which has been huge. Seattle just was not converting at an acceptable rate until recently. Each has three goals during the hot stretch and Seattle could possibly have the best three headed attack in the league, even including healthy sets for San Jose and Sporting KC.

Lastly, the midfield defense is quite strong. Teams have to go through two natural defensive mids (two of Alonso, Joseph and Carrasco) as well as a wide mid that is a two-way player rather than pure attacker. This is leading to fewer passing lanes in the middle and rapid transition to attack from higher up the pitch. This change has helped the offense as well as an improved defense. With all of those things clicking Seattle is performing like the team people thought it was when they had it near the top of the preseason power rankings.

LAGC: Eddie Johnson collects player of the week as Seattle finds the key against FC Dallas. What's he been doing right?

SaH: Last year Eddie was all head. So much of what he did was from crosses and dead balls thrown into him about eight yards from goal. This year he's added his speed game back into his arsenal breaking away on all varieties of direct play. A defense that plays off of him will give him space to shoot. Playing tight means he can blow by them. Giving Seattle the opportunity to cross it into him and he's still got that great header that put him back into the National Team. He's better than he's ever been.

Seattle finally has variety in their attack. Plan A last year was a cross. Plan B was pray for Fredy to be awesome. Fredy isn't here this year. Plan A right now is Route One soccer and they are very good at it. Plan B is the cross. Rosales to Johnson is still as effective as ever.

SaH: Sigi Schmid has only thrown a full reserve out in a tournament when they've already been eliminated from it. They will send a mixed squad to Tampa and keep the rest in LA if I had to bet. Any player, coach and front office personnel that talked about getting knocked out of the CCL mentioned that they wanted to get back to that tournament. The US Open Cup is the quickest route for a Sounders return to international competition and will not be blown off. Plus they may want to add to their undefeated during MLS era Open Cup run.

LAGC: DeAndre Yedlin seems to be showing well as Seattle's Homegrown signing. How's he mixing in?

SaH: About perfectly. He still makes errors in positioning and needs to improve his crossing ability, but his speed means he can recover at a great rate. Yedlin is also pretty good at underlapping and running into the box leaving Mauro Rosales out wide. With his speed and decent touch this creates issues for defenses. He won't do it often, but when he does it creates a threat either from himself or the cross that Mauro puts into danger.

Significant injuries: Osvaldo Alonso and Steve Zakuani are both going to be out for the Galaxy game.

Projected lineup: Gspurning; Gonzalez, Traore, Hurtado, Yedlin; Carrasco; Evans, Joseph, Rosales; Martins, Johnson

Inside The Numbers: Who's Handling Seattle's Defensive Workload?

2013-05-23T21:05:00Z

As Sidereal started the discussion on Sounders defensive statistics, this analysis is going to look a little deeper into the numbers to see who is winning possessions for Seattle and how they're doing it (recoveries, interceptions, clearances, tackles won). The table below is sorted by possessions won per 90 minutes. Interestingly, though many have maligned him, Hurtado has been among Seattle's defensive standouts so far. Any other surpises?

Major Link Soccer: New York hype explodes

2013-05-23T14:00:05Z

I wanted to do a link-post today that wasn't overwhelmed with New York City FC links, I really did.

But then Major League Soccer and the NYCFC folks topped Tuesday's press release with a full-on press conference Wednesday that included, among other things, Don Garber "congratulating" the city on being chosen for the 20^th franchise, the mayor of New York talking about how football - and not the "American kind "- is really the city's sport, and the team announcing Claudio Reyna - "El Capitan America" for all those years we were forced to watch national team games on Spanish-language networks - as director of football for the new squad.

And the media actually went nuts over it. Really. For a day, at least, MLS got the kind of attention in New York (and because of that pretty much nationally) that it has always dreamed of.

Here are links to some of the madness.

The press conference (video from YES Network).
An interview with the mayor, with specific emphasis on the desire to get a stadium built in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens (Video from YES Network).
USA Today story on Reyna's hiring.
And finally, Steve Davis at Pro Soccer Talk, a guy who has been covering MLS for many, many years, explains why the league was so dead set on team 20 being in New York.

The Disciplinary Committee did their weekly thing by suspending Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell for an extra game on top of the one he got for the red card for head-butting a New England forward. It was a crazy play if you haven't seen it. He just up and took a shot at the guy with his head, nowhere near the ball or the play or whatever (houstondynamo.com).

Meanwhile, FC Dallas' coach weighed in with his objection to the red card Blas Perez received in Seattle last weekend (mlssoccer.com).

The Timbers have added another defender, journeyman Rauwshan McKenzie, previously of Chivas USA(Stumptown Footy).

In Toronto they are hoping for the return of Dutch striker Danny Koevermans, who is apparently eyeing a June 1 debut (Waking the Red).

In Utah, Real is currently on pace for their best away performance ever (RSL Soapbox).

And finally today, a nice look at the left-footed players on l'Impact de Montreal and what they bring to the Eastern Conference's most improved side (Mount Royal Soccer).

- Scott Ayers