The Importance Of The Next Five Games

Saturday begins the start of a relatively tough 5 game stretch. Here are our next 5 games.
Away to Philadelphia Union
Away to Colorado Rapids
Home to Toronto FC
Away to DC United
Away to Columbus Crew

Following this 5 game stretch, we have a 3 game home stand, started off by the first visit from the Portland Timbers. Going into this stint at home, I think we need to do a good job of grabbing a good chunk of points. There are 15 points possible here, and I think we need to a minimum of at least 7 or 8 points to put us in a good position for this home stand. How do I see this happening?

Ideal Scenario:
Away to Philadelphia Union- Win
Away to Colorado Rapids-Loss
Home to Toronto FC-Win
Away to DC United-Win or Draw
Away to Columbus Crew-Draw or Loss

Looking at these 5 games, the only team that I think is legitimately better than the Sounders is the Rapids. Everyone else is still unproven in my eyes, and I think the Sounders are in a great position to pick up points on the road. I think picking up at least 2 wins and a draw over the next 5 games is reasonable, if not the bare minimum we should pick up. In the end, I think we could feasibly pick up anywhere from 9 to 12 points with wins over the Union, Toronto, and DC United.

Over our first 5 games, we have only gained 1 point per game, which currently puts us 12th in the league if you go on a single table standing. We are 6th in the Western Conference. We need to start raising the number of points per game we pick up, both to put us in a good position in the playoffs, and because if we want any shot at the supporters shield, we obviously need to pick up more points.

Secondly, we have a three game home stand coming up. Ideally, we should not lose our home games. Following this 5 game stint, I am thinking we should have 7 to 9 points coming our way. To those wondering, these games are against Portland, Sporting KC, and FC Dallas. These won’t be easy games, but I see 2 wins and a draw being more than reasonable.

Why This Matters

We need to move up the table. We are currently 12th if you looked at this from a single table point of view. Secondly, just from a playoffs standpoint, we want to position ourselves to be one of the top three automatic western conference berths, and not a wild card. Last year a slow start over the first ten games or so made the end of the season a bit too dramatic. Let’s position ourselves to challenge for a supporters shield rather than a wild cup berth to the Playoffs.

Perhaps I am just a bit of an overzealous Sounders fan, but I want to see us move up the table! Is that too much to ask?