Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders recap and thoughts

This is my first blog post about my beloved Seattle Sounders and I first thought I would lay out my thoughts on our first game of the Season. First off, it was just really exciting to actually be watching the Sounders again. Unfortunately, I wasn't actually at the game but just the excitement of waiting for the clock to strike game time and flip on the television was a feeling I have missing since November 8th 2009, which was the day Houston knocked the Sounders out of the playoffs.

With all that said, lets move on to actually breaking down this game. The crowd was awesome, and ESPN made sure they miked the crowd and it made the TV viewing experience even more exhilarating. Also, it is very cool to have a new team in the league in the Philadelphia Union. Although, I must say, I am not the biggest fan of your jerseys, at least the away ones…

Moving on. Overall, I was pretty happy with the way Seattle played. It was raining, and the field was pretty wet, and on that turf it just makes controlling the ball all that more difficult. I have played on that same type of turn numerous times, both wet and dry, and when wet, it just makes the game even more un-natural than it already did by the fact that it is an artificial surface. I don’t say this as a turf hater, but when it gets wet, it makes it very difficult to play on. Anyway, because of this, there was a decent amount of sloppy play from both teams with balls squirting off their foot out bounds. I don’t read too much into it, although some players seemed worse than others such as Zach Scott and Roger Levesque. Although, even Ljungberg lost several balls that just seemed to get away from him due to the wet.

I am going to give my views on each positional area of the field, starting with the defense and Kasey Keller in goal. Overall, they were pretty solid. Keller was never really challenged in goal, other than a long range effort from Orozco that he easily tipped over the bar. There was also a chance that Le Toux made it behind the defense, but a little bit a bad touch, plus Hurtado covering snuffed it out. Other than that, there just wasn’t a whole lot to be concerned with. Hurtado and Marshall were pretty solid, as was Leo Gonzales, although I would like to see him try and get forward a little more. Zach Scott had a few poor touches, but overall was serviceable as a replacement for James Riley, but nothing that will give him a play for a starting spot. In the coming weeks, I think we will start seeing a better test for out defense, especially next week when they go up against a great striker in Juan Pablo Angel.

The midfield did a pretty good job keeping possession and moving the ball around, but I think there is definitely room for improvement here. The wet turf definitely played a factor here, but there were just a few times too many bad passes or holding on to the ball a little too long. For example, Zakuani had a few moments where he would receive a ball, run at the defense, and then never really make up his mind as to whether he was trying to beat his defender for a shooting or crossing opportunity, or play the ball back to another player. In the end, he sort of just made a few too many touches and then ended up losing the ball. However, a big issue with Zakuani that I saw on Thursday was an improved desire to play defense. When he lost the ball he fought to get it back. He also helped out on the defensive side of the ball a better than he did last year, which is good for the team, and take a little bit of pressure of off Gonzales. Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso were also quite good, especially Alonso, who was probably the best player on the field. Evans took his goal well, and being able to arrive in the box to get on the end of crosses is a great skill we can take advantage of. The one blemish on the night from the midfield was Roger Levesque’s play. He had a horrendous miss from a Zakuani, and his touch just seemed to be off the whole night. When Fucito and Nyassi came in during the second half, I was impressed with what I saw, but they were also running at a tired, 10 men Union team. I am completely fine with Levesque continuing to start for the mean time, but his performance does need to improve next week against New York.

Our forward line is interesting, and is going to be a talking point throughout the year until after the world cup when Blaise Nkufo is cleared to play. Right now we lack a physical presence in the air making winning goal kicks and other free kicks a bit difficult. However, as much as we don’t have a big target forward, Montero is quite skilled at playing with his back to goal and being able to hold up play and get the midfield involved. However, the play between Ljungberg and Montero does need to improve a bit. I would like to see Ljungberg score a few more goals this years as well as pick up a few more assists. Montero should be in the top 5 goal scorers again this year. He just has a great ability to feel the game and put himself in positions to score. He is a bit of a poacher in that regard; he isn’t really a player who is going to beat 3 or 4 players to score, rather just find places where he can receive the ball with space and put the ball in the back of the net. I am looking forward to next week and seeing how Montero and Ljungberg play together. Last week they were in more a 4-4-1-1 formation with Ljungberg under Montero. After the game Sigi made some comments about wanting Montero to play off of the last defenders shoulder rather than floating out wide as he has a tendency to do. If I have their tactics figured out, (which I probably don’t ;)) I think they are trying to put Ljungberg into more of a playmaker role, and run at the defense before dishing the ball off to another player either out wide, or playing it through the middle.

Well, that pretty much sums it up for me. Hope you enjoyed it, and I will be posting some more thoughts in the coming days!

SoundersForever