Sounders, 3rd place with 21 pts, 5-3-6

vs.


NY Red Bulls, tied for last in the league with 9 points, 2-10-3

First meeting, March 19, 2009, 3-0 victory for the Sounders

Papa Bear Kasey Keller is angry, and when the team's oldest and most seasoned player talks, everyone should listen.

Keepers in general are only a last resort in defense; a really good defensive line shouldn't even let a shot off. Losing a 3-1 lead is inexcusable.  (A lesson from Heading the Ball 101: Defensive heading is up and out; offensive/goal-scoring heading is down and over.  Please make a note of it Mr. Marshall.)

Yes. We're undisciplined.  Yes, we have a lot to work on.  Yes, a team should never blow a 3-1 lead.  We have a long ways to go.

But being the positive guy I am, you must admit, we've come a long way for a four-month-old, new team.  Our goal—as I've stated before —is to learn from our mistakes now and continue to improve for the games that matter.

Consider the accomplishments on Wednesday: No red cards, no ejections, not even a yellow (that must be a first for us); we played with our starting 11, Fredy  "made his comeback,"Alonso scored his first goal, King made an impressive, if not impossible, shot.  

Now all we have to do is not score on ourselves.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marked man.

Which should be easy to do today.  Our first game  against the Red Bulls (First! Game! Ever!) launched us into the league with a 3-0 victory.  Since then, the Red Bulls have firmly found their place safely at the bottom. Regardless, Colombian Juan Pablo Angel leads the club in goals, shots, and shots on goals.  He has 33 caps for his national side.  The assignment for our less-than perfect defense is to mark this guy and don't let him score.

SIDE NOTE: MLS is conducting online voting  for the All-Star team that will face Everton FC, runners-up in the English FA Cup.  All of our starters are among the contenders. I broke down and stayed loyal to the team, voting Riley over Frankie Hejduk and  (reluctantly) for Montero over Brian McBride, leaving Ricardo Clark my sole non-Sounder selection, based on his performance on the US side against Honduras. Voting is limited to 10 votes per person, per day (how's that for democracy?) so log on and skewer the process like only a city of techies can.