I'm just glad we have Marshall now. If we had this defense plus Hurtado still... we definitely need some improvement.
Yeah, hopefully Evans return shores up the midfield. Our backline hasn't been great, but I think they are taking a lot of the blame for a porous midfield especially on the wings. Portland and Dallas both got in between our midfield and backline too easily and too often. Particularly, Cooper is an absolute terrible midfielder. His workrate sucks. You might as well have Yedlin a blindfold and cigarette at the start of the match, because he got no support on the right. On the bright side, Pappa put in another great shift as a 70th minute sub. Time to consider him again to start. Also, decent argument to make Dempsey and Martins are the best forward combination in the league right now.
A tale of two teams. The first half was everything everyone has already commented on. Flat out awful. The second half was like a totally different team in a different game. LOVED LOVED LOVED that final goal. The pass and movement by Papa, the little kick back by Martins to Dempsey. Clint's patience and vision to chuck it out to Barrett and to op it off... Clint, Oba and Pappa all crashing the goal on the final pass. Unstoppable. For the first half of last year, when Sounders went long stretches without hardly getting a decent shot off, it was the defense that kept them alive and in the running. So far this year the roles are reversed. It is the Offense that is keeping the Sounders alive and kicking. I am a little unnerved by Yedlin lately.... a tale of 2 Yedlins. He can be unexpectedly brilliant and before I can even open my mouth to celebrate it, do something unexpectedly awful. Or Vice Versa. I know he has been isolated a lot in the past couple games but it is more than that. Hoping for a little more consistency from him. I actually think he is better in the attack than on defense.
Yedlin relies on his speed too much instead of technique to defend. He would do well to pick leos brain about 1v1 defending. He is still very young and will learn. I wonder if Pineda may have some tired legs he seems to be playing too slow. I agree that Evans return should settle things down in the midfeild. Myself i wish we had Parke back there with Chad. I agree with gstommylee about the wind as it was a contributor along with poor play that led to awful first half as Dallas had some of the same issues with clearing the ball. Now that doesnt cause the stupid turnovers with bad passes that we keep seeing. That has got to stop. The positive is our offense. These guys are clicking.
The wind WAS a factor in the first half. But cannot be blamed for all the crappy tackles and the space/time Dallas was allowed in the midfield in the first half when the Sounders GAVE them chance after chance after chance. You KNOW they are dangerous on set peices. I lost track of how many they were given, just outside the box in the first half. Heavans to Mergatroid...It was atrocious.
Yea that pretty much settles that argument. Seattle really need another out wide player or two that can cover for defense like evans.
Unanimous decision on Dempsey being player of the week again... http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-player-week-unanimous-vote-after-brace-vs-fc
What he really needs to figure out is how to defend against players who are as fast as he is. He won't run across many, but those guys with top class speed have been able to do work against him.
Exactly. Sigi needs to recognize that maybe, just maybe, a midfielder needs to help out when going against a Darlington Nagbe or a Fabian Castillo. Yedlin needs to do better, but giving guys free run 1v1's is not a recipe for success.
That would be the biggest argument for why he won't go to Brazil this year. He wouldn't be able to handle someone fast and skilled such as a Ronaldo or Asamoah. That's not a knock on him really though because there are few that truly can defend those guys. He's still young, so I think he will figure it out...or they'll make him a midfielder.