I wasn't worried about this game. That's what I said in my abbreviated preview post. I still wasn't worried about it in the minutes leading up to the second goal. The Sounders had chances most of the night. Good chances. Chances that didn't find their way into the net.
(seriously, there's no reason to bring Scott into the box for corners anymore. He scored his goal for the year.)
What I took away from this game is that the squad is tired. Like, just beat. I mean, either that or someone threw 30lbs of Dr. Scholls in everyone's cleats, because linking play in contested areas was impossible, and few crosses came close to their mark. And that isn't surprising. I mean, they've only had one Wednesday off for, what... more than a month? I've probably had more Wednesdays off in that time frame, and I don't GET days off. And I don't spend my job running 2 hr marathons.
So really, it's the same theme from the Vancouver match (which we tied, and which was still awesome) and the Salt Lake fixture (which FUCK Salt Lake). At a certain point, this team's depth couldn't keep up with the number of minutes it was playing. It was probably the worst time to lose Patrick Ianni, because we could have really used him today (either subbing in for Parke or playing for Hurtado, allowing Man Marker to spell Johannson, who is now hurt). The depth has... failed is a strong word, but i'm going to go with that for now... FAILED this team when it was needed most, and as of right now the health of even the four projected "starters" for Saturday against Chivas (Burch, Hurtado, Parke, Scott) is questionable. And there's not a lot that can be done about it.
Thankfully, the squad only has two more fixtures before a two week break (TWO WEEK BREAK? WHAT THE HELL MLS SCHEDULERS?!?!?) There's a game against a seemingly sneaky Chivas squad, and the first open cup match with old USL foes Atlanta. I feel like Duran has to get some minutes in one of these games. Right now, I could see us losing both.
But really, how is it that we can be talking about a two week break directly after a leg-melting stretch of nine games in a month+2 days (Of which Parke has played every minute so far)? Was it really impossible to schedule, say, the Dallas match a week from this coming Wednesday? I mean, no wonder the league was scared of adding two additional matches to the calendar this year, keeping a balanced schedule. Their planning crew is clearly a group of complete morons. (Unless there's something I'm missing, in which case I invite the peanut gallery to chime in).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KqqRPvM_Sw