Super Bowl Update

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders have finally gotten the monkey off their back. Last night, the Rave Green came into the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals knowing that they needed to win in order to avoid a fourth straight early round exit, and that's exactly what they did. The Sounders defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on a stunner in the late stages of the game by Mario Martinez to advance to the Western Conference final where they will meet the Defending MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. The Conference final will also be a Home-and-Away series with the first leg taking place this Sunday at 6pm at the Home Depot Center and the second leg next Sunday at 6pm at CenturyLink Field.

In the 10th minute, Alvaro Saborio sent Ned Grabavoy in behind with a nice ball. The angle was tight however, and Michael Gspurning had the near post covered all the way and made an easy save.

Eight minutes later, RSL had a better look at goal. As a matter of fact, they had an opportunity that they should've capitalized on. Kenny Mansally delivered a great ball into the middle of the area. Paulo Jr. looked to have been offside at the time of the delivery, but he should've scored. There is no excuse for missing a golden opportunity like that one right there. Again, Mansally put that ball right where it needed to be and Paulo Jr. at the last second loses his concentration and let's it bounce off his knee and wide of target.

In the 31st minute, the Sounders had a free kick opportunity from a dangerous position. Everyone thought Fredy Montero was going to take the kick, but instead he stepped over the ball and forced the RSL wall to break which gave Mario Martinez a clear shot on goal and Nick Rimando who was the hero in the first leg, comes up huge once again as he got a fingertip to the ball to direct it off the crossbar. The Sounders had so many opportunities back in the first game and if it hadn't been for Rimando, the Sounders probably would've had at least four or five goals up to that point.

10 minutes later, RSL had a free kick opportunity of their own. Javier Morales stepped up and curled the free kick over the wall but it was too central and didn't test Michael Gspurning. That was the last opportunity of the half and the score remained as you were at 0-0.

Less than 30 seconds into the second half, the Sounders were denied again. Seattle worked the ball out wide to Christian Tiffert who whipped in a low ball into the area. An attempted clearance by Kyle Beckerman was fluffed at and the ball bounced to Brad Evans for a first time hit and Nick Rimando got down and parried it away.

On to the 61st minute of the match, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet on a free kick. RSL are a dangerous set piece team with big guys like Saborio, Olave, Borchers, etc. Javier Morales's free kick was aimed at Borchers and the ball almost bounced all the way into the net as Michael Gspurning alertly parried the ball away. Seconds later, Kyle Beckerman chipped the ball back into the box for Borchers, but Adam Johansson had him contained all the way and Borchers couldn't control the ball properly.

With 15 minutes to go, another RSL chance goes begging. Eddie Johnson's pass for Brad Evans was too hot to control and Seattle lost possession in their own area. Ned Grabavoy fed the ball to Fabian Espindola who poked it back to Saborio for a first time shot from about 20 yards away, but he didn't get enough power on it and Michael Gspurning made yet another save.

In the 81st minute, the deadlock was finally broken and it was the Men in Rave Green who got the goal. Ozzie Alonso stepped in to intercept a pass from Jamison Olave. Brad Evans worked a give and go with Eddie Johnson in the midfield to get the attack going for Seattle. Evans fed the ball to Fredy Montero in the middle of the field and about a few yards outside the box. Montero then chipped the ball to the far side for Mario Martinez who catches it on a half volley with his left foot and scores and absolute beauty to give the Sounders a 1-0 advantage. Martinez was given the start after Mauro Rosales was ruled out with an injury and what a time for him to get his first Sounders FC goal.

In the 89th minute, Michael Gspurning comes up with a big save. Javier Morales's cross to the near post found the head of Alvaro Saborio who directed it goalwards and Gspurning stood his ground and punched the ball over the bar. The Sounders had everyone back defending the rest of the way. Five minutes were added on to the end of the second half. The Sounders had an opportunity at one point in stoppage time to get a second from Eddie Johnson but he didn't get enough power on his shot. With about two and a half minutes left in stoppage time, another big defensive play help prevent yet another opportunity at an equalizer. Jonny Steele's cross deflects off the head of Adam Johansson toward the six yard area and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado stepped in and got a foot to the ball, otherwise Alvaro Saborio and Nat Borchers were there to tap the ball in the back of the net. That was the last chance of the match and the Seattle Sounders hang on and advance to the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.


Observations:

I think the Sounders backline deserves a lot of credit. Despite the fact that they were put under a lot of pressure, they were strong enough to hold their ground. Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado made things really difficult for Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Jr. and also Fabian Espindola who came on as a substitute in the 2nd half. I think people have overlooked this backline saying that they're not that good. They've had a great second half of the season since the return of Michael Gspurning and they have two clean sheets this postseason. So I'm not worried at all about the backline, and I don't think anybody should worry about the backline. They've been solid lately and their confidence must be high leading up to the conference final against LA.

Now, there have been a lot of tweets and Facebook posts regarding Marc Burch's inappropriate gesture which appeared to be directed at RSL midfielder Will Johnson. Nobody could hear what he said, but apparently a few people may have read his lips. He issued an apology to all of MLS earlier today. Here's what he posted on Facebook earlier today.....

"I want to let everyone know that I apologize for my horrific choice of words last night during our match. This is something that is inconsistent with my family values and because of that I am both disappointed and embarrassed by my level of poor judgment. I take seriously my role as a leader in the community and this is completely regrettable and unacceptable. Character matters and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

Personally I'm glad he stood up and apologized for his actions last night. We had a similar situation back in March in a match between Seattle and Houston when Houston midfielder Colin Clark used a homophobic slur which was directed at a Sounders ball boy and was suspended for three matches. I was expecting a two match ban at the least for Burch, but the MLS disciplinary committee hasn't done anything about it which would mean that Burch would be allowed to play this Sunday. I understand this is the playoffs and we can't afford to lose anybody, but honestly I think there should've been a suspension and the fact that there's nothing is a bit shocking because it appears MLS will let him slide.

The Sounders didn't put together their best offensive performance in the second leg, but the only thing that matters is who scored the most goals in a match and just so happened to be the Sounders. What a moment for GM Adrian Hanauer, Head Coach Sigi Schmid, Assistant Coach Brian Schmetzer and the rest of the Sounders FC organization to get their first playoff series win in MLS after early round exits their first three seasons. To go on the road and finally pull it off is a big moment for the Sounders and their fans. Before the start of the second leg, there were hardly any concerns about this team despite drawing the first leg at home because the fans kept believing in this team and that trend has to continue next round. I can't wait for the series, it's going to be a good one and I think the Sounders will be ready to come out give their full 90' like they've always done.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mario Martinez 1 (Fredy Montero 1, Brad Evans 1) 81'

Seattle Sounders FC advance 1-0 on aggregate.


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 51'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Christian Tiffert (Andy Rose 73'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Mario Martinez (Zach Scott 87'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero (David Estrada 89')

Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran (Luis Gil 85'), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Kenny Mansally (Jonny Steele 86'); Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Will Johnson; Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Jr. (Fabian Espindola 58')

By Money Mike


The MLS regular season is over so now it's time to turn our attention to where it really counts, the MLS Cup playoffs. The Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake faced off against eachother in last years MLS Cup quarterfinal. RSL won the first leg 3-0 and Seattle won the second leg 2-0. Unfortunately, that second leg win wasn't enough to keep their MLS Cup title hopes alive as Salt Lake advanced 3-2 on aggregate. Tomorrow, it will be a rematch between the Sounders and RSL. The first leg kicks off at 7pm and will be aired regionally on ROOT Sports, locally on KONG-TV and nationally on the NBC Sports Network. The Sounders are well overdue to advance in the playoffs and perhaps this could be the year for that to happen. Since their nine game winless run in the middle of the season, the Sounders have gone 8-3-5 the rest of the way leading up to the playoffs.


Injury report:

Real Salt Lake - Salt Lake has three defenders currently on the injured list.  Chris Schuler and Nat Borchers are dealing with quad strains and Jamison Olave is dealing with a strained left hamstring.  Borchers and Olave are listed as probable and Schuler is listed as questionable.  Another player that's dealing with a quad strain is midfielder Ned Grabavoy.  He might be good to go, but I haven't heard anything yet.  Right now he's listed as probable.  Lastly, Paulo Junior has a contusion in his right foot and is also listed as probable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Rave Green, of course rookies Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade are out.  Leonardo Gonzalez has a strained right hamstring and Patrick Ianni has a right calf strain.  Both have been working their way back, but they have been ruled out for tomorrow's match.  Lastly, this is what's been concerning the entire Sounder nation all week.  Eddie Johnson left late in the first half of sunday's 1-0 loss to the LA Galaxy.  The MRI showed that he suffered a left adductor strain.  He hasn't been ruled out of tomorrow night's match, at least not yet, but there's a chance he will not play in the first leg.  Right now, EJ is listed as questionable.


Who will start if Johnson isn't available?

We've had to deal with the same situation last season with Mauro Rosales.  At least we won't have to worry about him this time.  Again, there is a pretty good chance that Eddie Johnson will not play tomorrow.  If that is the case, head coach Sigi Schmid has plenty of options on the bench with David Estrada, Sammy Ochoa, Steve Zakuani and Mario Martinez.  Estrada and Zakuani are both working to get back to full fitness, Ochoa has struggled to find that breakout moment and Martinez has had trouble settling in because of international duty.  There's a pool on Seattle Times that is also asking who should start and the results are pretty even.

In my opinion, I'd go with creativity here, so I think Mauro Rosales should push up front and Mario Martinez should get the start on the right hand side.  He's been in big matches like these before (but then again, everybody has), he handles the pressure very well, he looked pretty good in the Champions League and we saw what he did for Honduras in their World Cup Qualifying match against Canada.  So I think this match will be an opportunity for him to prove, not that he's happy to be here, but that he want's to be here and that he belongs here.  Of course that's who I think should start, but my guess is that Ochoa will probably the one that will get the nod up front with Fredy Montero.

Right now, anything but a win in the first leg for the Sounders will not work at all.  The lads are at home in the opening match of the playoffs, so here's there opportunity to come right at Real Salt Lake and put them under a ton of pressure.  If the Sounders can win by at least two goals, given the fact that RSL has struggled to score, I think this will put Salt Lake in a heap of trouble.  They have the home field in the first leg, so they have to make the most of it if they want any chance of advancing in the playoffs.

By Money Mike


The Sounders started the month on a high note with wins over the LA Galaxy, the Philadelphia Union and FC Dallas. Since then, they have struggled to produce as they are winless in their last four MLS matches. After a long month where the Sounders had to play a total of eight matches, including the U.S. Open Cup, I'm going to look back and give you guys some positives (Bryan Meredith filling in very well in goal) and negatives (lack of finishing and poor defending) from this past month and look ahead to what we have going on for the month of June, including Steve Zakuani's road to recovery.


Positives:

Back on May 2nd against the LA Galaxy, Bryan Meredith came on as a halftime sub for Michael Gspurning after he suffered a hip injury. He was ruled out for 2-3 weeks, but I wasn't surprised that Meredith got the start in goal for the rest of the month. Since filling in, Meredith has done an excellent job as he finished the month with a GAA of 0.92 in six starts and he also has a couple of clean sheets. The Sounders have dealt with their goalkeeping crisis since the end of last season starting with Terry Boss's season ending concussion which also forced him to retire. Josh Ford has been dealing with a few injuries as well and Andrew Weber has had ankle problems that dropped him to the #3 spot in the Depth Chart. I still remember Bryan Meredith making his debut against Monterrey in the final Champions League group stage match and putting together a great performance between the pipes because he just joined the team at the time following Kitsap Pumas PDL Championship run. I've been impressed with this kid and I think he has a great future ahead of him, but unfortunately he won't be in goal much longer when Gspurning returns in a couple of weeks.

I think Fredy Montero has had a solid month for the Sounders and has answered all the stupid and unnecessary critics with four goals and three assists during the month. People have been calling him lazy and I will say that he hasn't been aggressive at the start of the season, but last month was a different story as he really began to challenge the defenders and test the goalkeepers. The Montero/Johnson partnership has had its ups and downs during the month, but I think it will start to take shape as summer rolls around. Montero has been accounted for six of the seven goals Seattle has scored in league play last month.


Negatives:

I'm not sure what to make of this. Last four MLS matches, poor defending and on the other side, poor finishing. This is definitely not the Sounders team we saw at the last half of the 2011 season all the way up to the midweek road match against FC Dallas. On the defensive side, the man who has disappointed me the most is Adam Johansson. He has been caught napping in his last three starts and those three times he got caught, the opposition went ahead and scored. He is 10 times better than that. The coaching staff needs to get in his head, get him fired up or whatever. They need to do something because getting caught in three straight matches is ridiculous. The defense needs to wake up and the offense needs to finish when they get the chance.


Western Conference standings:

1. Real Salt Lake, 9-3-2 (29 pts) GF 22 GA 14 GD 8
2. San Jose Earthquakes, 8-3-3 (27 pts) GF 27 GA 17 GD 10
3. Seattle Sounders FC, 7-3-3 (24 pts) GF 16 GA 9 GD 7
4. Colorado Rapids, 6-6-1 (19 pts) GF 20 GA 18 GD 2
5. Vancouver Whitecaps, 5-3-4 (19 pts) GF 13 GA 14 GD -1
6. Chivas USA, 4-6-3 (15 pts) GF 9 GA 14 GD -5
7. Portland Timbers, 3-5-4 (13 pts) GF 12 GA 15 GD -3
8. FC Dallas, 3-8-4 (13 pts) GF 15 GA 24 GD -9
9. Los Angeles Galaxy, 3-8-2 (11 pts) GF 15 GA 21 GD -6


Look ahead to the month of June:

There's really not much going on this month unlike last month. All we have are four league matches and a couple of U.S. Open Cup matches as well, unless the Sounders end of losing to Cal FC this Tuesday.

Upcoming schedule: June 2012

June 5 vs Cal FC, 7:00pm (soundersfc.com, FOX Soccer)*
June 16 @ Montreal Impact, 4:30pm (KONG TV)
June 20 vs Sporting Kansas City, 7:00pm (KONG TV)
June 24 @ Portland Timbers, 2:00pm (ESPN)
June 30 @ New England Revolution, 4:30pm (KONG TV)

Note: * - U.S. Open Cup match

Now this is huge for the Sounders. Last night Steve Zakuani appeared in a reserve match against the Whitecaps reserves and played a full 45 minutes. It was great to see him back out there as he winds down his long road to recovery from that broken leg he suffered April 23rd of last year. With the struggles the Sounders have gone through late last month and the fact that they have yet to get past the MLS Cup Quarterfinal, having Zakuani back will be a major boost for the Seattle Sounders on their road to MLS Cup 2012.

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders had an opportunity to climb on top of the Western Conference standings. Instead, the Rave Green failed to register a shot on goal in a poor second half performance and they found themselves on the losing end 1-0 to Real Salt Lake. The Sounders despite the loss still have three games in hand with Salt Lake and they have a chance to pull within a point of the conference leaders this Saturday when they travel to BC Place to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Sounders got off to a bright start and looked like the better side in the first half. Off a Mauro Rosales corner kick, Jeff Parke nodded the ball down for Fredy Montero as he looked to turn and volley it goalwards but it was broken up by Jamison Olave and headed out of the box by Nat Borchers but not out of danger. The ball bounced to Andy Rose who settled and had a go from the top of the area, but the ball bounced wide of the goal. There were a few appeals from the Sounders about a possible handball in the box, but the referee didn't see anything.

Four minutes later, Mauro Rosales fed an overlapping Adam Johansson who had time and space to send in a cross to the far post. There were four Sounders in the box. Eddie Johnson got up well, but he couldn't get his header on target. Seconds later, Johnson had a player in support after beating three RSL defenders, but instead he went for goal himself and made a complete mess of it.

Salt Lake didn't test Bryan Meredith until the 23rd minute. Luis Gil fed Will Johnson on the left wing. Johnson made a nice cut inside of Adam Johansson and tried to curl his shot into the far corner, but he slipped as he got the shot away and his effort was straight into the hands of Bryan Meredith.

In the second half, Real Salt Lake took advantage of some sloppy passing from the Sounders and broke the dead lock. In the 51st minute, Luis Gil lifted the ball over the top for Fabian Espindola who let the ball bounce in front of him before maneuvering around Adam Johnansson and finding the back of the net with his left foot. Bryan Meredith didn't move a muscle because he had absolutely no chance of making the save after some good movement by RSL and some crappy passing and defending by the Sounders. Espindola made the Sounders backline look bad all match, winning the long balls and outrunning every loose ball like the one against Johansson that led to the goal.

Alvaro Fernandez came on as a sub in the second half for David Estrada who really struggled in this match. In the 60th minute, he had an opportunity to made an impact as he cut to the end line and whipped in a driven cross but it was straight into the arms of Nick Rimando.

Seattle had one more opportunity in the 87th minute. Alex Caskey fed the ball out wide to Cordell Cato who took on Will Johnson and sent in a driven ball into the area for Fredy Montero but Rimando came off his line to punch the ball clear. That's how it was for the Sounders, creating a few chances in the second half, but not able to register a shot on goal. A poor second half performance resulting in a 1-0 loss.


Observations:

Eddie Johnson had his worst game of the season since he joined the Sounders during the offseason. He's been holding on to the ball for long, he took a couple of unnecessary shots on goal when he should've passed the ball to his teammates, and he also picked up an unnecessary yellow card for knocking the ball out of the goalkeepers hands with his head when the keeper had control of it. He's a veteran player. He should understand that when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball with his hands, you have to leave it alone until it's put back into play. Even though his team was trailing and ended up losing, this is not the time to do something stupid like that. Hopefully, he'll get back on track next Saturday.

Fredy Montero also had a rough ass time in this match. He didn't have one real opportunity in this match because his former Deportivo Cali teammate Jamison Olave shut him down. He basically outdeuled Fredy Montero for 90 minutes. He doesn't need to watch any video clips, these two were teammates at Cali so he already knew what Fredy Montero was gonna bring to the table and Olave made sure he brought nothing.

The goal in the 51st minute by Real Salt Lake was the first goal Bryan Meredith conceded in 276 minutes of work since taking over for Michael Gspurning in the second half against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He has started the last three games for the Sounders since Gspurning was ruled out for 2-3 weeks with a hip injury and it's likely he'll get the start again Saturday against the Whitecaps. If he had another good outing against Vancouver, would he take Gspurning's job and become the new starting goalkeeper? Absolutely not. Michael Gspurning will be back in net when he is fully recovered from his hip injury and medically cleared by the doctors, but it looks like Meredith will get at least one more start in net before Gspurning recovers.

Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson and the Sounders backline weren't the only one's who had poor performances. David Estrada, god damn. It was a long night for him. Tony Beltran didn't feel tested at all against this dude. Estrada is a hard working player and he's doing everything he can to prove he deserves a spot on the roster after rarely seeing any action in 2010 and 2011, but he looked like he was pushing himself too hard and really did not have it in this match. Now one thing I have to disagree on is somebody called David Estrada overrated. Now that makes absolutely no sense to me. Estrada hasn't even played enough to be considered overrated. As bad as he was last Saturday, you can't just go ahead and call somebody overrated when in reality they haven't gotten much media attention and they've recently just jumped on the scene. It doesn't work like that. David Estrada overrated? Eh eh, I don't think so. Personally, I'm not calling him a one hit wonder, but he lacks skill and he's also lacking a bit of confidence. He's probably going to be dropped to the bench when this team is fully healthy.

After that long stretch of five games in 15 days, the players got a much needed day off from training on Sunday. Since they don't have a midweek match this week, the Sounders will have plenty of time to get settled and prepare for their Rivalry match down in Vancouver against the Whitecaps which will kickoff at 2pm. I'm just going to throw this out right now, it's also the day of the UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Seattle still has four more games left two play this month before their two week break to start the month of June, with the exception of the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal on June 5th if the Sounders advance. They'll travel to Vancouver on Saturday then they'll return home for a Wendesday night match against the Columbus Crew. After that they'll travel to Carson, California to take on Chivas USA (who need to be relocated). After that, they kickoff U.S. Open Cup play on May 29th and they'll find out tomorrow who they'll face.


Scoring summary:

Real Salt Lake - Fabian Espindola 4 (Luis Gil 2) 51'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson (caution; foul) 53'

Real Salt Lake - Alvaro Saborio (caution; foul) 70'


Lineups:

Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert (Chris Schuler 20'); Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Jonny Steele 75'), Will Johnson; Alvaro Saborio (Yordany Alvarez 81'), Fabian Espindola

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Adam Johansson (Alex Caskey 82'), Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales (Cordell Cato 75'), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, David Estrada (Alvaro Fernandez 58'); Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson

By Money Mike


These last couple of days, you think about the 2011 playoffs and you continue to ask yourself how this team couldn't get the job done especially when all the momentum was in their favor. That was then, this is now. In a city that over the years has proved to be the Soccer Capital of America (Seattle, WA), inside a fortress filled with over 38,000 fans (CenturyLink Field), the top two teams in the Western Conference get set to collide in a rematch of last years MLS Cup quarterfinal. Coming off their fifth straight win, the Seattle Sounders (7-1-1, 22 points) return home to the Emerald City to face Real Salt Lake (7-3-2, 23 points) with a massive opportunity not only at revenge, but to take over first place in the Western Conference. The only chance of taking over the top spot is to pick up a sixth straight win.

The Sounders may have two games in hand with the San Jose Earthquakes and three games in hand with Real Salt Lake. It may be early in the season. However, with the Sounders in a tight race for the top spot in the Western Conference and possibly the Supporters Shield, every game is a must win.


Injury report:

Real Salt Lake - For Salt Lake, Cody Arnoux has a strained left adductor and he's listed as doubtful, although I don't think he would've been on the squad for this match. Javier Morales strained his left quad during training and is listed as questionable, but he is not on the squad and will not play. That's a big loss right there. Lastly, Nick Rimando missed RSL midweek match against the Chicago due to impingement on his left shoulder. Right now he's listed as probable, so there's a chance he might be in net.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Rave Green, of the guys that are out are Josh Ford, Michael Tetteh, Steve Zakuani and Babayele Sodade. Michael Gspurning will be out once again for this match with a strained right hip, but there's a chance however that he'll return for Seattle's Cascadia Rivalry match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Last but not least, Alvaro Fernandez has missed the last five games with a quad injury. It looks like he's officially cleared and ready to go for tomorrows match.


Suspensions:

Real Salt Lake - NONE

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott has been handed a one game suspension by the MLS disciplinary committee for his challenge on Fabian Castillo that resulted in a yellow card. That challenge was not red card offense, I don't know what the committee was looking at.

The Sounders have been in so many big matches over the years. They know what it takes to get the job done. RSL may have knocked the Sounders out last year, but that was last year. This years Sounders team is a lot tougher than last years with Mauro Rosales back healthy, new acquisitions like Eddie Johnson, Marc Burch, Adam Johansson and I would've added Gspurning but they won't face him because he's out injured. Bottomline is, the Sounders have conceded the fewest goals in MLS so far with three and they're facing an RSL team that so far has conceded 12. To me, this is one of the biggest matches in club history and maybe one of the biggest matches in Seattle Sports history.

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders take on Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the Quarterfinal of the MLS Cup playoffs down in Salt Lake tomorrow night at 7 p.m. This is a huge week for the Men in Rave Green as they look to advance past the quarterfinal round after failing to do so the first two seasons in MLS. These two teams split the season series with 2-1 road victorys. Real Salt Lake are coming into this series under heavy pressure after ending the regular season on a 6 game winless run. If Seattle can come away with at least a draw in this first leg, that would give them an even greater advantage going into the second leg on Wednesday night in Seattle.


Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - Here's the injury report for the Sounders. Terry Boss, Mike Seamon and Steve Zakuani are shut down for the remaining part of the season. O'Brian White looks to be done as well. Mauro Rosales re-spained his MCL last Saturday against Chivas USA and we just recieved word earlier today that he did not make the trip, so he is out. There's a chance however that he'll return for the second leg. Josh Ford has a knee problem and he didn't make the trip either. And finally, Amadou Sanyang has a knee sprain.

Real Salt Lake - For Real Salt Lake, Nelson Gonzalez has a fractured right foot and Cody Arnoux has a strained left hammie and both are out. Tony Beltran is listed as questionable with a left adductor strain, however he will not play tomorrow. Ned Grabavoy, who has a left adductor strain, and Kyle Reynish, who has a right ankle bone spur, are both listed as probable.


Key matchups:

Mike Fucito vs Jamison Olave - I'm expecting Sigi Schmid to start Mike Fucito over Sammy Ochoa to test RSL defender Jamison Olave. Back on May 28th, Fucito was brought down be Olave to deny a breakaway chance for the Sounders. That resulted in a straight red card for Olave.

RSL Midfield vs Seattle Midfield - I think the midfield battle will decide the match here. Salt Lake will get a boost with Kyle Beckerman coming back following his three match ban to team up in the central part of midfield with Javier Morales. On the other side, the Sounders will be missing Mauro Rosales, so the question will be, do you start Lamar Neagle, do you start Erik Friberg, only Sigi has the answer to that.


What to look out for in this game:

- The Sounders have had a week to get prepped for the first leg down in Salt Lake and are feeling confident that they will walk away with a result. First legs are always huge.

- Real Salt Lake will of course be attacking all game and trying to put one past Kasey Keller while Seattle will do the same and attack but in my mind will also play more of a defensive minded game.

By Money Mike



After a much needed break, the Seattle Sounders hit the pitch as they host Real Salt Lake. Kickoff time is at 1pm and will be televised on KING 5 and on Radio at 97.3 KIRO FM. The Sounders are coming off a weeks rest after playing 8 matches in all compititions in the month of August in which the Sounders finished 7-0-1. The last time these two clubs met was on May 25th at Rio Tinto Stadium aka The Fortress (at least until that match ended), where the Sounders ended RSL's 29 game unbeaten streak at home in MLS play by defeating them 2-1. Patrick Ianni and Lamar Neagle were the goalscorers in that one for the Sounders. Now with the Sounders attack stronger than ever, RSL's defense is going to be under so much pressure with the creativity coming from Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero, the speed of Lamar Neagle and also pressure coming from the central midfield with Erik Friberg and Ozzie Alonso.


Injury report:

Real Salt Lake - God damn, look at this list. Chris Agorsor is out. Nelson Gonzalez, Javier Morales and Chris Wingert, also out. Kyle Reynish is doubtful. Robbie Russell is listed as questionable. Jean Alexandre, Kyle Beckerman, Fabien Espindola, Ned Grabavoy, Jamison Olave, Nick Rimando and Alvaro Saborio are all listed as probable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green, one new player listed on here. Backup goalkeeper Terry Boss suffered a concussion last weekend on international duty with Puerto Rico and has been shut down for the rest of the season. Steve Zakuani still rehabing from that ugly injury. Just a question if he'll be back at all by the time the playoffs begin. Mike Seamon is also out. O'Brian White, also questions about him being back this season. I tell ya what, setbacks are never pretty.


Key matchups:

Lamar Neagle vs Tony Beltran - The Sounders should come right at the defense right away at the start of kickoff. Lamar Neagle coming off a hat-trick a couple weeks ago against Columbus, I don't think Tony Beltran will have a chance to get forward.

Mauro Rosales vs Chris Schuler - Just like Beltran at right back, Schuler is gonna have some nervous moments going up against Mauro Rosales who has 5 goals and 9 assists. It's gonna be a long day for Schuler and his teamates.

By Money Mike