The Seattle Sounders Suck

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by pirozhok, Oct 25, 2019.

  1. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good point. Seattle isn't a team that dominates enough to compete for the Supporter's Shield year in and year out, but they have enough tactical flexibility to adapt for a 3-4 game stretch when it counts the most and the stakes are the highest (i.e. playoffs).
     
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  2. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Oh, and they suck.
     
  3. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    #103 skydog, Nov 11, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2019
    They were also pretty lucky in their last two games. They somehow scored a total of 6 goals against LAFC and TOR despite having "expected goals" of only 0.7 and 1.2 in those two games. That just means their low probability chances found the back of the net at an unusually high rate.

    tldr: Seattle "ran good" at the right time. They should hit the craps table next.
     
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  4. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Also, the 3rd Seattle goal looked to be a clear foul. Easily a red card if the defender had pulled back the forward on a breakaway instead of vice versa.
     
  5. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, if Seattle sucks, where does that leave the Galaxy? o_O
     
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  6. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Seattle shut down LAFC and then Toronto, in quite convincing fashion. Got to give them their due. That's what playoffs are all about.
     
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  7. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Number one in my heart.
     
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  8. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    We won three titles in the 2010s, made 3 finals in 4 years (4 in 6 if you go back to 2009), and won back-to-back Supporters Shields in the only two MLS seasons with a balanced schedule.

    The Sounders have 2 titles, a shield.

    They also have 3 USOCs, 2 of which were won back when you could legally purchase home field advantage from your opponent, which they did frequently, especially against minor league teams that couldn't really afford to turn it down (3 if you go back to 2009 - I'm nothing if not consistent :p ). But then it's the Open Cup; an entity second only to Adam Serrano in drawing disdain from Bruce Arena.

    So objectively by any measure, no the Sounders do not have a valid argument for being the best team of the 2010s. That's us, no matter how many goals a choking Mexican journeyman scored in front of a bunch of cosplaying wannabe-hooligans this season.
     
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  9. GreenRaver

    GreenRaver Member

    Seattle Sounders FC
    May 31, 2018
    Bothell, Cascadia
    Nat'l Team:
    Qatar
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  10. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    :ROFLMAO:
     
  11. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And then came the Monday Night Football game.

    Let’s just say I’m not a big fan of this city right now.
     
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  12. kaburu

    kaburu Member+

    Jul 12, 2009
    los angeles
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  13. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The way that MLS has constantly tweaked the schedule and the playoff format makes it impossible to compare teams across years. The unbalanced schedule is HUGE in making the Supporters' Shield less impressive, and the playoff format that was adopted this year makes it much easier for a less complete team to steal an upset.
     
  14. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Have I subjected this forum to my idea for a unique MLS format?

    Basically two concurrent tournaments: 2 or more regional single-table divisions for the "regular season" with the MLS champion decided via a Champions-League-esque competition featuring the best from each region.
     
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  15. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I don't think that is true. I understand why it feels true - it's only one game and anything can happen in one game. But unless everything we know about home field advantage in soccer is wrong the "better team gets one game at home" format will see the better teams advance more often in the long run. The fact that we had 3 big upsets this time (NYCFC, ATL, LAFC all losing at home) doesn't prove otherwise -- it's a tiny sample size and low probability events sometimes happen. Also remember that in the old format the worst reg season record playoff teams often did quite well - including, I think (?), us winning the Cup one year.
     
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  16. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Agreed.

    Something to take note of with regard to playoffs in MLS is that the combination of parity and soccer already being a low-scoring game prone to upsets, means that no system will ever prevent lower seeds grabbing wins most if not every season.

    The thing is though, no system should do that. There seems to be an attitude more prevalent around MLS than in other sports based in the US, that if the advantage granted by seeding isn't so pervasive that the higher seed progresses, the system is broken.

    I'd argue that it isn't. Otherwise, why bother playing the games? Home field and byes are objectively advantages, supported by decades of data. They don't stop being so, just because a team receiving those advantages doesn't make it count. The fact of the matter is, had we reached MLS Cup, we would have done so having played zero games at home. The whole point of seeding, as well as being something to play for, is that a lower seed that succeeds will have done so having had to take a more difficult path.
     
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  17. Ghosting

    Ghosting Member+

    Aug 20, 2004
    Pendleton, OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's a very reasonable argument... you may be right.
    My frustration with the system is not who it favors, it's that it keeps changing. Frankly I'm less engaged in MLS because I feel like the league markets it like professional wrestling. They try to make it more theater than sport, and that just doesn't appeal to me (although I fully realize I'm not their target audience). I want a balanced schedule and a fair, predictable competition that remains consistent over a longer period. I want it to feel like a championship one year means that same as a championship in another year.

    Yeah... I know I'm naive... can't help it, though
     
  18. MPNumber9

    MPNumber9 Member+

    Oct 10, 2010
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, there was a lot of discourse about this around the format change. I think the US soccer establishment is still very self-conscious about the playoff system and the fact that it means something like the 2010 MLS Cup can happen, when two schmucks like Dallas and Colorado make it to the final. But for me, the solution is not to rig it for teams that are already the best in the league, especially when home field advantage is already huge in MLS. I feel the solution is to make the playoffs more rigorous, not less.

    I think if you're marginal team like the Rapids, or SJ or RSL in a rough year, you get the comfort of knowing that you at least get a home game where even strong teams will find it tough to play. Good teams should have to go those places and get results to prove they're champs.
     
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  19. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    This goes back to my frustration with MLS manufacturing a narrative, rather than promoting the organic one.

    Colorado vs Dallas shouldn't have been viewed as "Oh dear lord, what a crap pair of finalists!", it should have been pushed as "year of the underdogs" or "anything can happen in MLS".

    Actually, their pushing of LAFC meant they lost a viewer in me for the conference finals. Even though the outcome of that game mattered to me, I resented them peddling a narrative that devalued past champions, trivialized league history and lauded a fan base with an ugly, violent contingent to it, that had by-and-large rejected the league and its biggest team until now. I had no desire to support that, so I elected not to watch.

    In fact, I watched no further playoff games except MLS Cup itself.

    I have staunchly defended this league, tolerated some of its sillier/dodgier decisions and have previously made it a point give it my support, so if you've got me disillusioned, you're getting something badly wrong.
     
  20. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dunno, I kinda like that we’re not so beholden to history we can’t make things better. I thought this year's format was better. More thrilling with the threat of one and done.
     
  21. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No question this year's format was much better.
     
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  22. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    #122 skydog, Nov 16, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2019
    I agree that the new format is better because each game has more riding on it and because it makes regular season games matter more. Even with all of the upsets this year every team in the semis was a top 4 seed who used the reg season to earn the right to play their first playoff game at home.

    But something that isn't talked about as much is that the new format helps solve MLS scheduling problems. The league struggles every year to fit the regular season and playoffs into the tolerable weather window while also allowing breaks for many of the international dates. Longer playoffs make that harder. In 2018 the playoffs lasted 5 1/2 weeks and with the Cup on Dec 8 -- that is too long and the Final data is too late for soccer games in the US/Canada. The switch to single elimination reduced the playoffs to 23 days and the Final was a much more reasonable November 10th.

    But now that I think about it there is also a downside to the new format. The old two leg format did give more time for between game discussions, articles to be written, tension to build up, and more impossible situations to be overcome compared to the new format which has a bit of a rip-off-the-bandaid feel to it. For many teams the playoffs last all of 90 minutes. That's not close to being true in any other US sport. First to four game series in the NBA, MLB and NHL have their own kind of excitement, right?

    Maybe we need to go back to a hybrid? Honestly I don't know.
     
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  23. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think you can really use those arguments. You win the Supporter's Shield or win MLS Cup, you're the winner. If anything, Seattle's more recent wins are more impressive because there are more teams in the league. That's the biggest difference in comparing teams from different eras. It's like the Montreal Canadiens having by far the most Stanley Cups, yet most of those were won when there were only 6 teams in the league. Much more difficult to do it now.
     
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  24. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nope.
     
  25. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As I recall, that was the main reason to go to the current playoff format. The international break made people forget all about MLS because no one was talking about it for two weeks during the middle of the playoffs.
     
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