I’m working nightshift this and next week at the warehouse so I have been afforded the unique opportunity to sleep in and spend the late mornings and early afternoons at home. This allowed me the opportunity to be looking through my Twitter page that is mostly populated with tweets from soccer bloggers, actors from the show “Community” and my beautiful girlfriend at around 11:00 a.m. the other day. At that time, the newest tweet was from the MLS Insider Blog and it stated that the 2010 MLS schedule was to be released the following day. You see, I am a proud 2010 Sounders FC season ticket holder and have been waiting to see when the Sounders would be playing who for a good while now.
So needless to say, when the schedule was released the next day I was glued to it. I was analyzing when our tough match ups would be, how often they would be broadcast on ESPN2 when away from home and what home games I may not be able to attend. My thoughts are now collected.
Anyone that follows soccer in the US will tell you that Seattle undoubtedly claimed the title of “Soccer City, USA” last year based on their passionate following of the Sounders. The team embarked on an unprecedented inaugural season which was highlighted by a U.S. Open Cup trophy and a MLS playoff appearance. The club was also a mere 2 points from claiming the MLS Supporters Shield which is awarded to the team with the best overall regular season record. Needless to say, this sophomore campaign is littered with high expectations. Despite the fact, that we still about 50 days from the season actually kicking off (and rosters are not even CLOSE to being finalized), here are my early thoughts on the 2010 campaign…
March/April (The Kick Off)
FIXTURES:
3/25- Philadelphia Union
4/03- New York Red Bulls
4/10- @ Real Salt Lake
4/17- Kansas City Wizards
4/22- @ FC Dallas
4/25- @ Toronto FC
This season marks the first time in MLS history where the schedule is “balanced”- meaning that every team will play a home and home fixture with each of the other 15 teams in the league. I have broken down the campaign into five sizeable portions. Last year, the Sounders burst out of the gate like Seabiscuit at 3-0-0. The first five weeks of the season provides an ample opportunity to get off on the right foot in the race for the Supporters Shield and the playoffs.
The MLS “First Kick” match-up pitting them against the expansion Union is going to be more challenging than most people expect. This will be the first match in the Union’s franchise history and nationally televised on ESPN2 which only adds to the pressure. However, the atmosphere inside of Qwest Field will be absolutely electric (among the best sporting experiences in the country) and I see the Sounders riding that excitement to the first win of the season. Prediction: Win.
Next up will be Red Bull New York. They were the Sounders’ opponents in their opening 3-0 victory last year on ESPN2. RBNY have completely overhauled their roster after a extremely disappointing 2009 season. They hired former Swedish national, Hans Backe, as their new manager, but still have ace forward, Juan Pablo Angel. Angel should be better this year due to being fit again, but the Sounders should continue to defend their home pitch to move to 2-0-0. Prediction: Win.
The first road trip of the season takes the Sounders to Salt Lake City to take on the defending MLS Cup champion, Real Salt Lake. The Sounders were basically outplayed by RSL last year in their visit to Sandy. Their back line could not seem to contain the speedy Robbie Findley and ended up breaking on a counter attack which left Kasey Keller helpless. This is RSL’s home opener and all signs point to the Sounders being happy with a draw out of this fixture. However, I can certainly see SSFC dropping all three against the defending champs here as well. Prediction: Loss.
The next three fixtures are to be played over just nine days and with the team starting at home, then flying to Dallas and finally ending up in a packed BMO Field to face Toronto. The KC fixture is a rematch of the odd match that found our beloved keeper, Kasey Keller, red carded for an out of the box handball last year at Qwest. As long as that occurrence does not happen again, SSFC should get the positive result. Prediction: Win.
The trip down to Dallas last year was a match that saw the Sounders create numerous chances, but little to actually show for it ending in one of many frustrating draws. However, the Hoops are a young team viewed to be on the rise led by their not so young 2009 Golden Boot winner, Jeff Cunningham. Prediction: Draw.
Until 2011, when Portland and Vancouver enter MLS, there really is only one other group of supporters that truly rival Sounders’ fans in terms of overall passion. Those supporters happen to hail from Toronto. Dwayne De Rosario leads a club with new manager and former Tacoma Star, Preki. Preki managed a gritty Chivas USA last season and managed a stellar 2-0-1 record against the Sounders last year. Despite the Rave Green getting all three points at BMO last year, I see a more level result here in 2010. Prediction: Draw.
OVERALL predicted start: 3-1-2 (11 points)
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