Who: Seattle Sounders vs Los Angeles Galaxy Where: Home Depot Center, Carson CA When: 6:00 PM, Sunday, 11/11 Watch: ESPN Well, the Sounders finally made it out of the first round, yaaaay! We now have LA who upset Supporters Shield winners, the Quakes, in the first round, which I found absolutely hilarious as it was happening. Not laughing too much any more. LA put in, probably, the best performance of any of the playoff teams thus far. Should be a difficult game Sunday and a difficult series for us to advance. Haven't seen any injury updates, but current injured players Gonzalez, Ianni, and Rosales didn't make the 18 against RSL Thursday and in his post game comments Sigi didn't know if Rosales would be ready in time for this game on Sunday. Also, Burch could very well be suspended for this one. Oh an did I mention we're going on 3 days rest and back to back away games? Don't know what else to say other than I expect a more conservative approach from Sigi in this one similar to what we saw Thursday. Anyways, discuss...
Burch is gone for three games, which means he's a spectator for the rest of the playoffs.. With Gonzo injured and supposedly not healthy for tomorrow, could Brad Evans be getting the nod to play the last position not FW or GK? The good news is that Rosales is available for tomorrow, but if I'm Sigi, I'm holding him out and relying on our defense to keep a 0-0 draw and unleashing the Kraken in the final game and MLS Cup. Yoshou's Guaranteed to be Wrong Predicted Lineup is: --------Johnson----------Montero------- Zakuani----Tiffert/Alonso----Martinez Evans------Hurtado/Parke-----Johannson ---------------Gspurning---------------
Scott was an LB during CCL against Marathon game, but he's awful. There is another big issue though. AJ De La Garza is OUT. So, the question would be if you're Gonzalez, who would you mark, because I believe that the person who is not marked whether its FM or EJ should have a goalfest. https://twitter.com/PROreferees/status/266921723654451201
First of all, I hate LA. As much/more than portland. But if I'm being honest, I would say Omar Gonzalez is league MVP, and it isn't close. On the other hand, I don't rate Meyers highly at all. He is certainly the weak link... just like RSL (Borlave) collapsed on Montero when he chipped to Martinez for The Goal-- we need to occupy Gonzalez and isolate Meyers and we'll find net.
I have a difficult time pegging LA down. At times they play some really outstanding soccer. And then for no apparent reason, they seem to be all over the place. The obvious indicator of the two is when Beckham starts launching 40+ yard passes up pitch. He certainly has the skill to pull this off, but it seems to be an act of desperation when LA has lost the midfield battle. I agree with Ajas, Omar Gonzalez is the best player in MLS. If EJ does nothing more than occupy OG's attention all game, job well done. Our defense is rather slow, so I would expect Sigi to hold them back a bit more. Hoping for a great couple of games and that Mauro torments LA's left side. Seeing Mario start wide left with Zak coming on the last 20 wouldn't bother me one bit. LA has a great team, but I think we have the talent to win this. God damn, I'm nervous as hell.
yeeesh, looks like we'll be short 3 of our defenders today. I'm guessing we'll see an injection of Seamon in the 18.
ECS is saying 400+ Sounders fans going to be at HDC tonight. Wowzers. Considering the morgue like atmosphere at HDC, they should be able to own the place...
Excellent result for the team that wins the Western Conference today. Houston just took a 3-1 lead over DCU in the Eastern Conference championship. Houston is the lowest ranked team in the playoffs this year and if they win the East, the West will host the MLS Cup. Go Dynamo.
Nice to hear about Hoston doing good in the first leg. Time for the Sounders to take advantage. Obviously this is a tough game, on the road again, little rest and down several defenders, so just getting a draw out of this game would be huge. Even losing by a goal wouldn't be the end of the world, though it obviously is not the preferred result. Just as long as the Sounders don't lose 3-0 like they did last year in the first leg at Rio Tinto they should be in a good position to take the series in the 2nd leg at CenturyLink next Sunday.
Definitely going for the 0-0 draw... I'm not seeing much in the way of goal scoring from this lineup.. --------------Montero--------------- ---------------Tiffert---------------- Caskey---Evans/Alonso---Martinez Scott----Hurtado/Parke----Johansson -------------Gspurning-------------
Sounders just did a fabulous job mailing in that first half. They're doing a better job killing their own chances than LA is defending them. And leaving Keane all alone in stoppage time to score an easy header. Can't shake my head enough at that. I'll be flat out shocked if Seattle manages a goal in this game. They don't have anything resembling a cohesive offensive attack at all. Just please don't concede another goal.
Magee again! Him and Keane have just heated up at the right time. And now Johnson in for Montero? Some strange decisions from Sigi.