The weekend featured a familiar story for Sounders fans as the team lost 1-0 in New York to the Red Bulls. The offense generated good chances, but failed to put any away. The Red Bulls took advantage of the counter and eventually put in a winning goal. The Sounders return Friday to play the Houston Dynamo in the friendly confines of Quest.
Neutral Look at the Galaxy's Tactics: The LA Galaxy also used the counter to good effect against the Sounders. Steve Davies has a good piece on the tactics that Bruce Arena used to secure the win. The Galaxy utilized a simple approach to the game and were consistent in executing their game plan. The patience was rewarded late when the Galaxy took advantage of Osvaldo Alonso moving out of position and Erik Friberg made a poorly weighted pass.
More After the Jump:
NW Rivalry Starts Off All Wrong: The storyline for the Pacific Northwest Rivalry wasn't supposed to start this way. The Seattle Sounders were supposed to start off the season with a core ready and able to challenge the best teams in the league while the Vancouver Whitecaps struggled to find their footing in a new league. Well, someone didn't get the memo. It was the Whitecaps who looked like the MLS veterans. The offense that has often been the butt of jokes during the preseason dismantled a shoddy Toronto FC defense. Eric Hassli was everything Sounders fans hoped Blaise Nkufo could be, but it was a team effort that put the Caps up 4-2. Well, at least the Portland Timbers defense lived up to the preseason predictions as it was picked apart by the skilled strike partnership of the Colorado Rapids.
Tis Better to Share: With two consecutive losses to start the season it's hard to remember all the little things that the Seattle Sounders have done right. Fortunately, we have the rest of the league to remind us. Sporting KC hired a 21-year old Brit to lead their broadcasts. Callum Williams, whom had previously worked at the BBC as a freelancer, contacted Sporting KC first about a potential job. Also, on Saturday, FC Dallas had their first march to the match at Pizza Hut Park. The new tradition was capped by Norma Hunt, the wife of the late soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt, placing a ceremonial scarf on his statute. The "scarfing" tradition will become an integral part of future games. Does any of this sound familiar?
CD9 is Back: Saturday was a great night for Charlie Davies and DC United. Davies came on in the 2nd half and promptly scored twice in a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew at RFK Stadium. The 2nd goal showed that the striker still has plenty of the speed and skill that made him such a success for the US National Team. It was a year and a half of work for the speedy striker to come back on the pitch and you can hear the emotion in his voice during the post-game interview.
Tomlinson Signs with Wolves: Former USL Sounder Craig Tomlinson was part of the Sounders team that made two successful runs to the USL championships. The 38 year old is still playing soccer in the area having just signed as a senior player for the PDL club the North Sound Sea Wolves.
FSC Improves Its Game: The Fox Soccer Channel has made a commitment to improving the quality of it's games with the singing of announcer J.P. Dellacamera. Dellacamera leaves a much bigger network in ESPN for the job. Steve Davies at Daily Soccer Fix has a good story on why this move is a great long-term move for the network.
MLS to Play in Hawaiian Island Invitational: Major League Soccer and ESPN have reached an agreement to create a new preseason soccer event featuring teams from around the Pacific. The four team tourney will begin Feb. 23 & 25, 2012, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. There is a good chance that the Seattle Sounders will be the MLS representative.
Soccer Rooftops in Miami: Plenty of cities have a love of the game of soccer, but no land for fields in or near downtown. One answer is rooftop fields which are profiled in a recent interview on the Brotherly Game blog.