After a few days to cool off, here's a few notes on Saturday's match... That was one of the most lopsided games I've watched where the dominant team looses. All things considered, Sounders played a pretty good match. They just couldn't find the back of the net. Meanwhile, Chivas gets a couple of chances and finishes one. I guess this is just a lesson in the sport of soccer.
I'm optomistic the squad will bounce back next week even though they'll be missing Jaqua. This will be yet another chance for Le Toux to show us what he's done for the Sounders for the past two years—score goals. And boy do we need them. If I were coach Sigi (in my fantasy world), I'd even consider starting Levesque for Montero. For one reason or another, Fredy just seems to be unmotivated.
Although tempted, I'm not going to bash the players who have been underachieving as of late. Lets just say we need better hustle, better passing and willingness to pass, better finishing, more toughness, a lot better attitudes, and a lot less red cards.
I will, however, do a little ref bashing. They were awful once again. The hackish tackle against Ljungberg must be a red card—Freddie had every right to be ticked about this one. I'm not sure if they're purposefully going after the Sounders or not, but it's starting to feel this way.
I'm excited to see the Sounders come back strong on Saturday. If they don't start to turn things around (especially in the attitudes, toughness, and hustle categories) it's going to be harder and harder to continue to support these guys. The "full 90" has to go both ways.
Here's what I'd like to see on Saturday:
LeToux - - - - - - Levesque
Ljungberg
Zakuani - - - - - - - - - -- - - Nyassi
Evans
Riley - - - Marshall - - - Wahl - - - Ianni
Keller
What do you think? Would you like to see Sigi mix things up a bit? What would your line-up look like vs San Jose?
By Matt
(Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 9:40 PM)
I actually like the idea of trying out Wahl as a central back. He seems to be a strong and focused defender, so he might be a nice option to try out.
For some reason, I really want to see Montero in the CAM position. I think this would give him more space to work with the ball, instead of having him receive a ball and try to beat 2 or 3 defenders. With the CAM position, he will be able to receive a ball and work it up to Jaqua/Le Toux?? Of course, this would mean losing Evans, Alonso, or Zakuani as a midfielder, or losing a defender, so could we sacrifice one of them for Montero as a CAM, I don't know?
How about this for a different look:
Le Toux----------Zakuani
Montero
Ljunberg-------------------------Evans
Alonso
Ianni--------Marshall----------Wahl---------Riley
Keller
How about Zakuani up front? I'm not quite sure how it would work out, but it would be interesting to see. I know how Zakuani likes to use the sideline to beat those outside backs, so I'm not sure how he would be used as a striker.
If Alonso isn't ready to go, we'll probably have to move Ljunberg back to the middle, Zakuani back the left wing, and Levesque or King up top. Hopefully we have Alonso ready.