Before I head to work on this cloudy Friday- a few thoughts on last nights' SSFC v. RSL match:
- Was it just me or did Ozzie Alonso and Kyle Beckerman completely dominate this match? Those two were absolutely all over their opposition and imposed their will on this match from the beginning. Sans Keller's beautiful save on Robbie Findley's horrid PK- Alonso and Beckerman were the main reason why this ended up being a scoreless draw.
- About that Findley PK: Definitely a deserved PK due to Parke's trip, but didn't the ball go out of bounds just before that? The play was on the opposite side of the field from where I was sitting, but I coulda swore...and as I tweeted yesterday- I really hope that Bob Bradley was watching last night. Here's to Robbie Findley never being called up for the USMNT ever again. Cheers!
- The Sounders attack seemed more than a bit disjointed last night. Is fatigue starting to set after a pretty congested schedule over the last month? Or is this just a bump in the road? I personally feel that it's not a coincidence that our attacking struggles the last couple matches mirror Blaise N'kufo being out with an injury. Many of my fellow supporters have been somewhat critical of the Swiss striker due to a lack of Swiss-based goals up to this point. However, it became more clear to me last night why he's so critical to our attack. Jaqua did a pretty decent job last night being that the target man. However, he wasn't able to hold the ball up nearly as effectively as Blaise has been doing the last month or so. Blaise's physical presence and ability to hold the ball at the top of the 18 has opened up so much for the team offensively. I wonder if the result would've been better against the stingy RSL defense if Blaise would've been available for the tie.
- Considering RSL is (in my opinion) the class of the MLS right now and we definitely were off from an offensive perspective last night...I'll take a draw. It was the right result and not an entirely terrible one.
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One more thing...many of you read that one of the Sounders Pac NW soccer neighbors, the Portland Timbers, put up a billboard promoting their 2011 inagural season just a few minutes south of Qwest. This has certainly stoked the rivalry to another level, but I'm certainly not upset about it. As a fan of the game, I welcome it. Next year's inclusion of the Whitecaps and Timbers will bring a TRUE soccer rivalry to MLS for the first time. It's a great thing for the sport in this country.
And as a Sounders supporter, I welcome it as well. Bring it on Portland. I have full confidence that we'll do our talking on the pitch next year.
- DTRT
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