Who: Seattle Sounders v. Columbus Crew Where: Century Link Field, Seattle WA When: Saturday, 3/29/14 7:00 pm Watch: Q13 Fox Back home to play Columbus who have looked pretty good in their first couple games under their new coach and are currently 2-0-0. I haven't seen any injury updates so I'll assume Bowen is still out and Evans is a maybe. Dempsey, obviously, is out. Maybe the big question for the game is if Sigi sticks with the 4-3-3 that worked rather well in Montreal.
I can't lie, I enjoy watching Columbus play and are my surprise team in the east this year. That being said I feel we win this in a close one 1-0. Since Demps is still out, I would roll out the same lineup and if Evans is healthy he would take Rose's spot.
I would probably wait to bring in Evans. Maybe in the second half, but it seems like to early in the season to start jeopardizing our players... especially with Brad's history of being injured.
I've picked Columbus to do well the last 2 years to disappointment. 2012 was particularly bad, just missing the playoffs. They have been the 1 team in the East that I make an effort to follow. Curiously, I haven't watched them yet this year and they've won. Hmmm.
Sorry, you're not allowed to watch Saturday. Columbus fan here, coming in peace. Though, seriously, please don't watch Saturday. We're injury free after last week's win vs Philly. Will likely roll out the same group. Williams, Parkhurst, Gonzalez, Francis Jiminez, Trapp, Tchani, Anor Higuain Arrieta Listed as a 4-4-1-1 there but plays as a 4-2-3-1. Trapp drops very deeply when we have the ball, sitting in between the center backs while the outside back push extremely high and the outside mids pinch in. Higuain goes where ever he wants to find space and the ball. The offense moves much less through him this year than it did last year. The other guys don't look for him every single time which makes us much more dynamic. We started with a whipping of DC. Against Philly we looked strong for stretches but it would be hard to argue that it was a complete performance. The Union outshot us, including many more chances from inside the 18. I'd say this is another step up in competition. I'd say where I see a potential to exploit you guys would be bringing Oduro in off the bench late. Marshall never was the fleetest of CBs, Oduro could cause him some trouble. I'd like to see us with a chance to grab a 1-0 win late by controlling the tempo during the first 60.
Zman, It's been wet here all week. When our field is soaked, it's difficult for any team to establish any kind of rhythm. The speed of the players is not so much a factor as the finesse of the passes. Under these conditions, the Sounders have an advantage as they are more practiced with the speed of the field. So if it rains on gameday, I predict the crew will leave town with zero points.
How do you guys feel about Williams and Francis? I feel like your outside backs could be a weak spot (I could be way off though). Oduro as a sub is worrisome with our Marshall - Traore tandem, speed kills us through the middle. Also Michael Parkhurst might be the most under the radar pick up that has the biggest impact. He has looked great so far and I think he has a shot at defender of the year.
Parkhurst and Gonzalez are both tremendous MLS players and I think that is a very big surprise strength for this team. The outside backs is a plus-minus thing. They haven't been tested too much in 1v1 defending where I think they are likely weakest. Francis should be the finished article, a left back by trade. Williams is more of a project. He's played all along the backline and now seems to have found a spot. He has a green light to go forward and has the fitness to do it all game long. With Trapp sitting so deeply and Parkhurst and Gonzalez being fairly quick we are not getting exposed by the outside backs getting caught up field. However, there is space there to attack and it is a concern. We've just dealt with it fairly well. I saw an analysis after the DC game, 53% of Williams passes were completed in the attacking half of the field. He turns the ball over some, but when he's that far up, he doesn't worry me too much. The Crew are still a work in progress. We're not thought of as being an whole new team for some reason, but we really are. Williams is the only holdover from defense. Trapp and Tchani were on the squad last year but didn't feature together too often. Jiminez is another new player in the midfield. They've been organized, created chances and seem to have a direction and cohesiveness that is surprising for how new the group is. Credit to Berhalter who got a lot of crap from Crew fans based on the hiring process and his short and less than stellar resume (as a coach, no question he was a top level player).
Okay, just watched the Crew-Union match and here are a few of my impressions. Sure looked like a 4-2-3-1 formation from Columbus. But actually, since Williams and Francis were bombing down the flanks so much in the 1st half, it was something altogether different. Trapp was very important in this game as he had to be smart with his positioning. Often it was a 3 man backline with the outside backs somewhere up the pitch. The counter started by Trapp in the 49th minute was beautiful (Trapp-Higuain-Williams-Anor). The 5 on 4 counter in the 58th, not so much. Philly didn't play poorly, but the 1st goal was some terrible defense by Seba on what was kind of floating corner from Higuain. The Crew were put to the sword for large parts of the 2nd half, but they held on, barely. JackMac should have equalized in the 67th. So, it will be interesting to see how much the Crew's outside backs press forward against the Sounders. Could make for a very entertaining match.
Oduro was so obviously offside it's not even funny. MLS refs are back baby! FWIW I had a pretty positive take on the Sounders game before the refs took over.
I am really enjoying reading comments from Seattle fans around the interwebs. I like the theories of Oduro was offside(he wasn't, but barely made it back in time super close) and that it wasn't a foul on Traore. Every single time you make contact from behind and the guy goes down it is a foul. 100%. Even if the player stops on purpose to draw contact, it gets called. It's why you don't let the guy in front of you. Did anyone else's stomach drop on each Seattle corner knowing Chad was coming in the box? It's been so long since we haven't had him on our side that i never realized the calming presence he had on corners for me and the dread he could show when we play against him. He was a beast for Seattle, maybe their best player. Seattle should be better. I really think the plastic pitch is holding them back by hindering the way Sigi wants his teams to play.
Legit PK. Red seems harsh but is what it is. Have not watched the full replay yet but was happy with our play overall. Wish the stadium would show replays of calls like Traore's. Oh to the douche bags throwing cans of beer go die in a fire. Guess what wont be for sale next match.
A really open match up till the red card and even after. Oduro had moved onside for the flick-on (Traore was a couple steps deeper than the other defenders), Traore's foul was definitely a penalty and 9 times out of 10 I'd expect a ref to show red for it as well. But really, if I had to pick where Seattle made their biggest mistakes it would be failing to score on all those dangerous breaks they had in the first half. Martins and Cooper had a handful of chances and they only took one of them. Had they scored a couple of those it would have been a rout. But Clark stayed big in goal for Columbus and Seattle's strikers didn't take their chances. Seattle got behind Columbus' defense several times even after going down to 10 men, so I really don't think it's fair to point to the penalty/red card as the only reason for the result. I saw some Seattle fans trolling on Twitter, I think that's what people are responding to. A Seattle fan called Higuain's celebration low-class, which is mystifying.
That one hurt. I was all very pleased with what I saw until the penalty: Lots of pressure, good anticipation, some nice passing, dangerous on the counter (minus the actual finishes) Then it was a matter of hold out for the draw, which looked very promising...until everyone (including curse-ed ref) was caught thinking about the corner that just was and not the corner that was happening....ugh.
The only questioning thing in the game was the ref at the end. If you are having a conversation with a group of players you can't allow the ball to come into play until everything is settled and you allow the play to start (not sure on the exact rule). I only saw the highlights so maybe someone who got to see more of it can clarify it. Otherwise, Columbus is a good team and got the well deserved 3 points.
Exclusive video: Columbus Crew locker room interviews after 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders http://soccerly.com/article/zielojo/seattle-sounders-fc-monday-morning-breakdown