Sounders monthly rewind: April 2012

By Money Mike


For over a year now, I've been doing a lot of soccer related stuff regarding roster moves, previews/recaps, etc. At the end of each month during the MLS regular season, I plan on doing a rewind on the Sounders. So on the rewind I'm going to be talking about the clubs performance during the entire month, give some positives and negatives, look ahead to the next upcoming month and I'll also throw in some info with the Sounders U23 squad who will kick off their USL Premier Development League campaign on May 11. Most of that however, will relate to the young guys who could end up signing with the Sounders as Homegrown players. The Sounders had three matches this month and came way with two wins and a draw and are now getting ready for a long month of May where they have to play a total of eight matches in all competitions, starting on May 2nd at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy. They have seven league matches as well as a U.S. Open Cup match on May 29th which will be the last match of the month.


Positives:

Eddie Johnson has made significant progress with his form that he, over the last couple of years, has seen dip since he moved to Europe in 2008. It was great to see him score his first Sounders goal last night against the Chicago Fire. I know it was just a tap into an empty net, but it's better to get that first goal out of the way. I think he and Fredy Montero have linked up very well with one another in these last couple of matches since Johnson was inserted into the starting lineup and if Johnson can stay healthy and maintain his form, I think the Montero-Johnson partnership up front will be the most dangerous in MLS.

Speaking of Montero, I did mention he has had his ups and downs this season. He well overdue to score his first goal of the season. Despite the fact he still hasn't scored, I think he was a little more aggressive this month getting forward a lot more than he did at the start of the season. I've said this over and over again and I'll continue to say it. Montero will end his scoring drought soon.

The Sounders so far have done a great job defensively, shutting their opponents down and are tied for the fewest goals allowed with only three goals conceded. Ozzie Alonso is ranked as the best holding midfielder in MLS and he showed that against DC United, Colorado and Chicago after making some huge defensive plays to deny the opposition any chance of scoring. Jeff Parke is also doing a great job since he was re-inserted into the starting 11 after sitting on the bench the first two games of the season. The back line needed improvement during the offseason and so far, I haven't seen any real problems with this team defensively, not to mention the injuries.

After the beating the Sounders got from Santos Laguna earlier this season in the Champions League. Fans for some reason were criticizing new goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, saying he would never fit in with this team. I wonder if all of them are going to take back those critics after the start he's having. He has three shutouts this season, he has a goals against average underneath one and he has an 84% save percentage. So all this crap about Gspurning not being good enough should've ended right before the start of the MLS campaign because he is a solid goalkeeper and he's proved that so far in this young season.


Negatives:

The real problem I'm having with so far regarding the Sounders are the injuries. The first week of the season was completely brutal. Mauro Rosales who suffered two left knee sprains at the end of last season, suffered a right knee sprain after he took a shot intentionally from Toronto FC rookie Aaron Maund and he was out through April 14th. Adam Johansson suffered an injury during practice and was also ruled out through April 14th. Alonso took a shot from one of the TFC players during the opener, but luckily he hasn't missed any action. Of course we have Eddie Johnson, who missed the last couple weeks of training camp and started both legs of the Champions League Quarterfinal on the bench. He came on in the first leg and didn't seem to have any problems. Same with the second leg, but then he suffered a strained hip flexor. It's great to see that Johansson, Rosales and Johnson are back on the pitch now, but when you are out there without you're key players, things can get pretty rough for you and your team, but the Sounders just like last year, were able to get through it.


Western Conference standings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes, 19 pts (6-1-1), GF 15 GA 6 GD 9
2. Real Salt Lake, 19 pts (6-3-1), GF 16 GA 11 GD 5
3. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 14 pts (4-2-2), GF 7 GA 6 GD 1
4. Seattle Sounders FC, 13 pts (4-1-1), GF 8 GA 3 GD 5
5. Colorado Rapids, 12 pts (4-4-0), GF 12 GA 10 GD 2
6. FC Dallas, 12 pts (3-3-3), GF 10 GA 12 GD -2
7. Los Angeles Galxy, 10 pts (3-3-1), GF 11 GA 11 GD 0
8. Chivas USA, 9 pts (3-5-0), GF 4 GA 9 GD -5
9. Portland Timbers, 7 pts (2-5-1), GF 9 GA 13 GD -4


Look ahead to May:

Like I said this is going to be a long month with seven MLS matches scheduled for the Sounders. Overall in the month of May, the Sounders are 3-5-8. To me, this is a huge month for the Sounders because they've struggled in the May as you can tell by the record, but also because this is the only month where they have to play more than about 4-5 matches like they normally do in a month. So I think Sigi Schmid will be switching his lineup around every match this month. Which means Mauro Rosales could be left out of the squad for a couple of these matches, but of course this is my thought. Looking at their upcoming opponents, this is where the Sounders can really improve on their 3-5-8 record in the month of May.

Upcoming schedule, May 2012:

May 2 vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 7:00pm (KONG TV)
May 5 vs Philadelphia Union, 1:30pm (NBC Sports Network)
May 9 @ FC Dallas, 5:30pm (KONG TV)
May 12 vs Real Salt Lake, 7:00pm (KING 5)
May 19 @ Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 2:00pm (KONG TV)
May 23 vs Columbus Crew, 7:00pm (KONG TV)
May 26 @ Chivas USA, 7:30pm (KING 5)

Aside from MLS, we also have the Sounders U23s who will kick off their USL Premier Development League campaign on May 11th. The Premier Development League is where mostly college players spend their summer gaining some work experience during their collegiate offseason, but the league also features over age players as well. Right now the Sounders U23 have about 6-7 players on their roster that have been in their youth program including Sean Okoli (Wake Forest University), DeAndre Yedlin (University of Akron), Darwin Jones (University of Washington) and Nick Palodichuk (Duke University). These players as well as a few others are eligible to sign with the Sounders as a Homegrown player. Sean Okoli was rumored to become Seattle's first Homegrown signing in 2011, but instead he decided to play college soccer at Wake Forest University. I still think Okoli will sign as a Homegrown player as well as Yedlin, Jones and Palodichuk. With what the Sounders U23 has on their roster, the future is definitely bright for the MLS club who are already enjoying success.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading the April 2012 edition of the Sounders monthly rewind. Hopefully, I gave you guys enough detail about this team and their performance. This is something new for me, doing a rewind every month during the regular season, but I hope I gave enough detail on this one. If not, sorry, there wasn't much to talk about for the month of April.

Sounders nearly snatch one late, but settle for a draw

By Money Mike


In 2011 the Sounders had the best road record in MLS. In the first road match of the season, it was an evenly played game on both sides from start to finish and in the end the Sounders came close to stealing all three points in the final second of the match, but sometimes close isn't good enough as this match ended in a goalless draw. The Sounders are now 2-1-1 on the year with still a couple games in hand with the Western Conference in this young season. The team looked better than last week with the return of a couple of key players, however they were still without Adam Johansson, Mauro Rosales and Steve Zakuani. Johansson and Rosales are expected to return to the lineup next week when the Sounders return home to face Colorado while Zakuani is expected to return within a month or two.

The Sounders didn't really test D.C. United goalkeeper Joe Willis until the 22nd minute when Fredy Montero gave it a go from about 19-yards out, but it was right into the arms of Willis. Montero has still yet to score this first goal of the season, but he's looked more lively these last couple of games and will surely break through soon.

A minute later, Seattle nearly found themselves a goal behind. Nick DeLeon made a nice cut toward the endline and sent in a low driven ball to the near post for Hamdi Salihi who had Michael Gspurning beaten, but the crossbar denied D.C. the lead and Salihi's first D.C. goal.

In the 34th minute, Seattle had probably the best chance of the match. Alvaro Fernandez took the corner which was headed out. Ozzie Alonso stepped up and volleyed it back into the area which found the head of Fredy Montero who was onside, but his header just missed wide of the far post. It didn't look like Fredy was expecting it at all.

Eddie Johnson came on in the 66th minute of the match for his MLS debut for the Rave Green and nearly made an impact. Zach Scott sent in a good cross for Johnson who got up high, but couldn't direct it on target.

With just over 15 minutes to go, D.C. came close to breaking the deadlock. Chris Pontius, who scored twice against us in one of our home matches in 2010 (not three), got around Zach Scott and worked a give and go with Maicon Santos before missing the far corner. Nick DeLeon tried to follow up, but the ball rolled out of play.

Five minutes later, Seattle failed to clear and the ball fell through to Maicon Santos who couldn't get a clear shot on target and was easily saved by Michael Gspurning. Gspurning had a great night in goal for the Sounders especially on set pieces and long throw-in's on his way to his second clean sheet of the season.

In the final minute of stoppage time, Seattle came so close to snatching a late goal. Just seconds after coming on against his old club. Marc Burch followed up on a long range effort from Ozzie Alonso, but he was denied by the crossbar.


Observations:

Neither team played like they deserved to win. Some key players like David Estrada were kept in check. Alvaro Fernandez didn't do much either. As a matter of fact, I think he had a somewhat disappointing night. Especially that one opportunity that was goal bound. A centering pass for David Estrada was an awful one and we've rarely seen that from Fernandez in the early stages of the season. Again, Seattle was still missing some key figures like Mauro Rosales. But they did get Eddie Johnson back after he missed the first three matches of the season due a hip flexor injury he suffered in the Champions League Quarterfinal against Santos Laguna. 

Dwayne De Rosario has been kept quiet all night which is something you rarely see out of him, but the backline of Seattle stood tall and shut down D.C. United's attack force. Salihi still has yet to score his first MLS goal, Maicon Santos couldn't add to his two goals he scored against FC Dallas and both Danny Cruz and Nick DeLeon didn't really do much on the wing for United.

The fact that we were missing Mauro Rosales and Adam Johansson, I think to head to D.C. and get a draw was a pretty good result for this team. It just shows that the Sounders will never back down and once their key players return, this will be a dangerous Sounders team in 2012.


Scoring summary:

NONE


Misconduct summary:

D.C. United - Maicon Santos (caution; foul) 12'

D.C. United - Dejan Jakovic (caution; foul) 30'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leo Gonzalez; Roger Levesque, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Marc Burch 92'+); David Estrada (Eddie Johnson 66'), Fredy Montero

D.C. United - Joe Willis; Robbie Russell (Chris Korb 74'), Dejan Jakovic, Emiliano Dudar, Daniel Woolard; Danny Cruz (Chris Pontius 59'), Perry Kitchen, Dwayne De Rosario, Nick DeLeon; Hamdi Salihi (Branko Boskovic 72'), Maicon Santos

Sounders hit the road for the first time this season as they take on D.C. United

By Money Mike


After taking six points out of nine in their first three matches of the season (all at home) the Seattle Sounders get set to play their first road match of 2012 as they invade the nations capital. The Sounders take on D.C. United today at 4:30pm. The Sounders are coming off their first loss of the season, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes. D.C. are coming off their first win of the season, winning 4-1 at home last week against FC Dallas. Maicon Santos scored two goals in that match and Dwayne De Rosario who has yet to score this season picked up two assists. The Sounders are 4-2-1 all time against D.C. including their U.S. Open Cup final victory in 2009 which was the first of three in a row for the Men in Rave Green.


Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Sounders, Eddie Johnson who's been dealing with a right hip strain looks like will be good to go for tomorrows match. I expect him to be on the bench to start this one. Adam Johansson missed the last two matches with a strained left hamstring. Right now there's about a 50/50 chances he'll return. I don't expect Mauro Rosales to return until next Saturday when the Sounders return home to face the Colorado Rapids. He suffered a knee injury in the season opener against Toronto FC.

D.C. United - For D.C., Ethan White is out after having surgery on his right knee. Rookie Lance Rozeboom has a torn left ACL and he is out. Bill Hamid sprained his left ankle while he was with the U.S. U-23 national team in their bid for the 2012 Olympics (which was unsuccessful). He is listed as questionable, expect Joe Willis to get the start in net. Dejan Jakovic, Kurt Morsink and Josh Wolff are all listed as probable.


Key matchup:

Danny Cruz vs Marc Burch - Well Burch will have his work cut out for him against his former team. Going up against one of D.C. United's offseason acquisitions Danny Cruz. We've seen what Danny Cruz can do with his left foot, he loves to cut inside which is where he's dangerous. It's a question of how Burch will fare against a young talented player like Cruz.

Mauro Rosales suffers a late injury as the Sounders win 3-0

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders are back to their winning ways as they give D.C. United an ass beating in front of 36,242 fans in attendance at CenturyLink Field. The Sounders defeated D.C. United by a score of 3-0 and remain in second place, now three points ahead of Real Salt Lake, but here's the problem, RSL have two games in hand so they're going to need lots of help to secure home field advantage in the quarterfinals. The Sounders could've clinched a playoff birth had both the Portland Timbers and the Houston Dynamo lost this week, but the Dynamo drew 2-2 at Columbus and defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 and the Timbers blinked the New England Revolution 3-0. A lot of folks are starting to get nervous in the closing stages of the season, teams fighting for the Wild Card spot, the first round bye and also for Home Field advantage in the playoffs.

The Sounders nearly broke through in the 30th minute. Tyson Wahl's inswinger from the corner found the head of Alvaro Fernandez at the near post, who flicked it back to the far post for Fredy Montero but it was just out of his reach.

The Sounders would find the breakthrough in the 35th minute. Mike Fucito took a pass from Mauro Rosales and immediately turned past Brandon McDonald to break free of rookie keeper Joe Willis. Fucito took a couple of touches and calmly found the left side of the goal with his right foot to put the Sounders up 1-0.

In the 43rd minute, D.C. United tried to answer back when Andy Najar was clean through after getting past Ozzie Alonso and Tyson Wahl, but Zach Scott was in the way of his shot that was goal bound.

In first half stoppage time, the Sounders doubled their lead to 2-0. Mauro Rosales found Alvaro Fernandez making a run behind Daniel Woolard with a sublime pass and "El Flacco" tapped it home beautifully with his right foot. Fernandez would get another in the 60th minute. Rosales was the set up man again. A majestic from the right side found Fredy Montero in stride. Joe Willis made the initial save, but Fernandez was there to pound in the Rebound for his 8th goal of the season. D.C. United were without Chris Pontius who suffered a broken leg last week at Chivas USA. In replace, head coach Ben Olsen decided to give Austin da Luz his first start in a D.C. United uniform since he was acquired in a midseason trade with the New York Red Bulls. The funny thing is, his last appearance with the Red Bulls was here in Seattle.

Well this is the last thing you want to see late in the game, just as your team is playing well. In about the 89th minute, D.C. United defender Daniel Woolard stepped on Mauro Rosales's foot and Rosales awkwardly turned something in his knee. He had to leave the game after suffering what was confirmed to be an MCL Sprain. Rosales will have an MRI on Monday to determine whether the injury is mild or moderate. And not is it referee Kevin Stott's job to ref a match, it's his job to keep the god damn players under control. If you're letting players make a bunch of dangerous challenges that could the opposing players season/career at risk, then you're doing a terrible job. Seattle keeps getting victimized by the players and the refs don't do anything but kick the Sounders players out of a game for no reason. That's pretty much the reason for the majority of their losses because Major League Soccer has so many Crappy refs and we already added last weeks referee to that list and Kevin Stott has been on that list for god only knows how long.

After the game, head coach Sigi Schmid said, "The league's got to start protecting him. The last two games teams have gone out there and kicked him, and I don't think the referees have done a good job protecting him. Today was a case in point. We're up on top of the game 3-0 and he's got the ball at his feet and it's a tackle that's just meant to get a little kick in. And who knows how long he's out now? We have a talented player in this league, a player who's a good player, who fans want to come and watch play, then we let thugs hit him and we don't protect him enough. I think that's something that's got to happen with the referees. I'm very disappointed with the last two games. The last game before this one, the first three times he touched the ball he got fouled and nothing got called. Today early on he got dumped and quite a few times he's not getting calls. I'd like to see the referee Kevin Stott stand there and let Brandon McDonald run into his back and see if he could stay on his feet. I'm very disappointed in that."

The Sounders have 5 games remaining in the regular season before the MLS Cup playoffs. They step aside MLS play on Tuesday for matchday 4 of the CONCACAF Champions League at home against C.S. Herediano. A win will surely put them through to the Champions League Quarterfinal which will take place sometime in February. After that they head North of the Border to Empire Field in Vancouver, B.C. to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, and I believe that'll be the Whitecaps last game at Empire Field before they make BC Place (which was the host of both the Opening/Closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics) their new home.

The Sounders won't be back at home until October 4th when they take on the Chicago Fire in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final at CenturyLink Field. I will be attending that match as Seattle look to become the first team since Greek American Atlas Astoria to win their third straight U.S. Open Cup title.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito 2 (Mauro Rosales 11, Brad Evans 2) 35'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 7 (Mauro Rosales 12, Fredy Montero 8) 47'+

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 8 (unassisted) 60'

Misconduct summary:

D.C. United - Joseph Ngwenya (caution; Reckless tackle) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Reckless foul) 41'

D.C. United - Austin da Luz (caution; Reckless foul) 63'

Lineups:

D.C. United - Joe Willis; Perry Kitchen, Ethan White (Marc Burch 78'), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard; Andy Najar, Clyde Simms, Dwayne De Rosario (Josh Wolff 62'), Austin da Luz; Charlie Davies (Stephen King 64'), Joseph Ngwenya

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Amadou Sanyang 82'), Alvaro Fernandez; Mike Fucito (Nate Jaqua 68'), Fredy Montero (Lamar Neagle 78')

Seattle Sounders FC preview vs D.C. United

By Money Mike



The Seattle Sounders return home from their Costa Rican trip as they play host to D.C. United. Last time these two sides met on May 4th, the Sounders had a chance to pull into a tie for first place in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Galaxy, but it just wasn't to be. Seattle came away with nothing as D.C. United struck twice and defeated the Sounders 2-1. While the Sounders try to at least hold on to the 2nd spot in the West, D.C. are in a huge fight for a playoff spot. As I've said before, every game at this stage is a must win game and the Sounders do have the tools to get the three points.


Injury report:

D.C. United - Let's take a look at the wounded D.C. players. Branko Boskovic has a torn ACL on this left knee and that will keep him out of this match. Chris Pontius suffered a right tibia fracture (yep, another player victimized) and that will rule him out for the remainder of the 2011 season. Jed Zayner is also out with a sprained left knee. Backup goalkeeper Steve Cronin has a strained right shoulder and he is listed as questionable. Also listed as questionable is Dejan Jakovic with a strained right hammie. GK Bill Hamid also has a strained hamstring and is listed as probable.

Seattle Sounders FC - For Seattle, a few new names added to the list as well as some information to take note of. Terry Boss of course is shut down for the rest of the year with a concussion. Mike Seamon is also done for the season after dealing with a lateral ankle tendon injury and you can also close the book officially on Steve Zakuani who suffered a fractured tibia and fibula from the Colorado away game on April 22. O'Brian White underwent a second blood clot surgery about a few weeks ago. He's not on the DL but he won't be back for a while, which is very very disappointing because this was supposed to be his breakout year, and he was off to a good start as well. Erik Friberg suffered a strained hip flexor last week in Seattle's 2-1 home loss to Real Salt Lake and is a game-time decision for this match, I don't want to take any chances, I'd leave him out of the lineup. Brad Evans just can't stay healthy, I don't know about this guy playing tomorrow. He is currently dealing with a strained hammie and is listed as probable. Ozzie Alonso didn't make the trip to Herediano during midweek due to an adductor strain, he is currently listed as probable.


Suspensions:

D.C. United - NONE

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado will be a big loss at the back. He picked up a red card last week after throwing a forearm at Alvaro Saborio (the referee felt for that bullshit). Servando Carrasco is also suspended for picking up his 5th yellow card of the season, this is the 2nd time he's had to surve a suspension this season.


Key matchups:

Fredy Montero vs Brandon McDonald - With Jakovic possibly out for the match, look for Montero to match up with former Earthquake defender Brandon McDonald who has seen him quite a bit and made some huge contributions since he was acquired by D.C. back in late June.

Charlie Davies vs Jeff Parke - Well this guy has just been the real deal for D.C. since recovering from that life threatening motorcycle accident. Charlie Davies has scored 11 goals this season in 20 appearances including a hat-trick last week on the road at Chivas USA. Jeff Parke was matched up against him in D.C. and I tell you what, looking back to that, this matchup should decide the factor in this game.

Previewing Seattle Sounders FC vs Columbus Crew + A look ahead to the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders take on the Columbus Crew this Saturday in their last road match before they return home for a stretch of three straight home games against the Portland Timbers, Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas. The Sounders are come head to Columbus after losing to D.C. United on Wednesday 2-1 which also ended Seattle's 6-game unbeaten streak as Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff combined on both the goals and each coming away with a Goal and an Assist. Seattle got the goal from the Penalty Spot which was converted by Brad Evans but it wasn't enough. On the other side, Columbus is sitting on a 6-game unbeaten streak right now after defeating our rivals from the north, the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1. They're a tough team to score against and at the same time, they don't score that many goals, so this looks like a pretty evenly side affair.

Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - Well of course, O'Brian White and Steve Zakuani are out and Pat Noonan is probable. One player to add to that list, Mauro Rosales. Now, I don't know what happened here, they said he suffered a hamstring injury, but I don't know when that happened. However with the lineup changes Sigi Schmid will make, one of which will be keeping Mauro Rosales out for this match.

Columbus Crew - For the Screwed up Crew (lol!!), we have Danny O'Rourke out with left knee surgery and Josh Williams out with right hip labral tear. Shawn Francis has a strained left hamstring and is listed as questionable. Last but not least, Tommy Heinemann is listed as probable after having to deal with a Right pes anserine bursitis.

Key matchups:

Emilio Renteria vs Jeff Parke - We need Jeff Parke out there, I don't understand why the hell he was kept on the bench these last couple of games, when there was really no need to bench him. The way Renteria's been playing, benching Parke for the third game in a row would definetely not be a smart move.

Fatigue vs Depth - This team has just been banged up. Ever since the Zakuani injury you've had to switch a bunch of things around, especially with O'Brian White out as well. Where's Lamar Neagle, where's David Estrada, where's Mike Fucito, where's Montano? You have a bunch of young players who are ready to show that they deserve to be on this team.

Key to victory:

Three words: QUIT! STANDING! AROUND!

There's no way in hell that you'll win a game when you have 9-10-11 players in your own area backing away from the ball and not going after it. That's just extremely stupid. They did that against New York and lost because of it. Quit standing around and go after the ball.

Look ahead to the Gold Cup:

Now I know it's a little early but the Gold Cup is just around the corner and the international teams are preparing their roster's for the tournament which kicks off on the 5th and ends on the 25th. Mexico already has their roster set up for the Gold Cup and the player to look out for on that team is...... and believe me I don't need any help with the answer. The player to watch for Mexico...... Manchester United forward, Javier Hernandez aka "Chicharito. Here's a player who I thought wasn't really gonna do much for United because he joins the team from Chivas de Guadalajara on July 1st and the fact that the Premier League is a lot tougher than the Mexican League. But I was wrong, so far Chicharito excelled in his first year with Manchester United scoring 12 goals in 25 appearances in the Premier League and 19 goals in 42 appearances in all compititions in 2010-2011, so yeah he's definitely a player to watch for Mexico. The New York Red Bulls are gonna spend the majority of June, practicing, traveling, all that stuff, without Rafa Marquez after he was added to the Mexican side.

The United States hadn't announced anything with their squad yet, I'm guessing Brad Evans will be left out this year. O'Brian White, unless he can recover quickly, looks like he will be left out of the Jamaican squad and Leo Gonzalez, I don't think will be added to Costa Rica's squad. Again, we'll find out sooner or later.

Seattle Sounders FC vs D.C. United preview. A win puts Seattle in first place in the Western Conference.

By Money Mike


With first place on the line, the Seattle Sounders get ready to invade RFK Stadium to face D.C. United who have been getting beat really hard these last couple matches. Back on Saturday, with Steve Zakuani and O'Brian White out with injuries, it was Alvaro Fernandez and Brad Evans who stepped in and lead the Sounders to a 3-0 victory over Toronto FC. On the other side, D.C. United are coming off a 4-1 loss on the road against the Houston Dynamo lead by a Hat-trick by rookie Will Bruin and Cam Weaver scoring the 4th goal for Houston. D.C. United have given up 16 goals so far this season and they are looking for ways to reduce that, but have been unable to find ways. Will they find a way against Seattle or will their misery continue?

Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green, no new updates. O'Brian White out with left leg surgery and Steve Zakuani out with a fractured Tibia and Fibula. Pat Noonan remains listed as probable with a right quad strain.

D.C. United - For the other guys, young Junior Carreiro has a right ankle sprain and he is out. Kurt Morsink and Devon McTavish, both with concussions, are also out. Branko Boskovic, who is their designated player, has a left knee contusion and is listed as doubtful. And last but not least, Jed Zayner has a left hamstring strain and is probable for this one.

Key matchups:

Andy Najar vs Tyson Wahl - I'm expecting Tyson Wahl to get the start at left back again, especially against the 18-year old Honduran, Any Najar who last season scored 5 goals in 26 matches and won rookie of the year. He'll be ready to challenge the back line.

Fredy Montero vs Perry Kitchen - Watch, Montero is gonna come right at the rookie center back. I think Kitchen will have a miserable time out there.

Charlie Davies vs Jeff Parke - Back from injury, currently on loan from FC Sochaux-Montbeliard of Ligue 1 in France, and look at Davies's stats, 6 matches played and 5 goals, do I have to say more? This dude is back in full force since that motorcycle accident. Let me give you a little bio. He played College Soccer at Boston College from 2004-06, during the summer of 06' he made 9 appearances for the Westester Flames of the USL Premier Development League and scores 6 goals. He headed straight for Europe to play in Sweden for Hammarby IF in Sweden and in his 3 years over there, he scored 21 goals in 56 matches, then he moved to Sochaux and so far has scored 2 goals in 8 matches for them. Internationally, he has 4 goals in 17 matches, including one against Grenada in a Gold Cup match here in Seattle. But he's been out for months after the motorcycle acctident, but now he's back and it may be Patrick Ianni or it may be Jeff Parke that will get the start, I don't care. All I'm saying is, whoever get's the start better be ready, because Davies will come at the Seattle defense in full force.

Key to victory:

Patience is always the key to success. The Sounders were good at that last match aginst Toronto FC. They moved the ball around unselfishly, made the right passes and they never rushed on their attempts. Stick with that game because it led to success last game and it will lead to success in this game too. STICK WITH IT!!