Certainly we are all proud of the 5 game winning streak the Sounders went on and of course our team was tired, hurt and some of them suspended after playing 5 games in a little over 2 weeks. RSL was coming off of a very active schedule as well but they came with a game plan and it worked. They were set on getting out of Seattle with at least a tie, they sat back and defended with numbers the whole first half. They carefully looked for their opportunity to strike and found it in the 50th minute on a mental lapse by Sounders defense letting Espindola in behind to shoot and score on  a volley.

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This was the first time the Sounders were trailing in 500 minutes of play, it ended a 321 minute shut-out streak that Meredith directed for 275 of those minute in the bright yellow sounders Goalkeeper uniform. The game was a tactical one, the Sounders lacked creativity in the mid-field and in the attack. Our forwards (Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero) both looked tired and really had nothing creative to answer the tough and big RSL back  line. Montero was outmatched every time he got the ball by Jameson Olave a much larger player that for the most part smothered Fredy’s game. Eddie Johnson had a huge chance in the first half as he skinned 3 players to only blow his shot way over the cross bar.

The Sounders played 30 balls in as “open field crosses”, they had 6 corner kicks, they held possession for 53% of the game but only managed 7 shots and of those none on frame. We suffered from lack of experience in the midfield without Evans and lack of work rate on the front line in the second half of the game.

The full write up by SSFC staff (Kyle Alm and John Crouch) can be viewed at AmericanSoccerNews.net.

We would like to extend a second opportunity to try out for the South Sound FC U20 team this coming Sunday May 6, at 4pm. We will start promptly at 4pm so please show up early to get ready. If you have not filled out paperwork for the South Sound FC U20 trials, then you will need to fill out paperwork and you can find it here or we will have opportunity to fill out paperwork starting at 3:30 pm.

Please note will will be holding this session at Ferucci Junior High School in Puyallup, Wa. Here is the address-

3213 Wildwood Park Drive, Puyallup, WA and you can find it on a map by clicking here.

We are very excited about the playing opportunities that are coming around for this team and we look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!

The Seattle Sounders coaching have seemed to have their minds set on a target forward for quite some time now, we painfully watched Nate Jaqua get what some would argue too many chances at this position, we watched O’Brian White come out strong last  year and play the position well but lost him shortly after to injury. Now it looks like the controversial trade losing fan favorite Lamar Neagle for Eddie Johnson may be paying off. You could hear the excitement in Sigi’s voice in last nights press conference as he spoke of the role that the Sounders are filling with Eddie Johnson.

Eddie has scored in his last 2 outings, he’s a strong player that can play with his back to goal, he’s dangerous when he is going at a defender and he can win headers and flick the ball on like no player we’ve really seen yet since the Sounders have been in the MLS. Now that may be a bold statement and we certainly don’t want to get a head of ourselves, but things were really clicking last night.

It was great to see Freddy Montero break his streak of goalless games as he scored an amazing goal just minutes into the second half. It felt like the whole stadium could feel the relief as everyone involved had been waiting for the Sounders leading scorer from last year to crack his drought and get into the mix.

I think the most exciting part of the Sounders right now is the wide variety of weapons. After an interesting Seahawks draft last weekend and all the talk of finding the right player for every role on the team, we spent some time last night discussing the Sounders and the roles that our players are filling to make a complete squad. It starts with the back line always, a strong group that plays with shape and gives no space. Our center backs are strong and we have backups. We’ve found strength getting forward on the outside, especially last night with Zack Scott. A workhorse central midfielder in Alonso that is literally everywhere to cause havoc, he plays tough, wins the ball defensively constantly and plays the ball into our attackers exceptionally well. Mauro Rosales is a game changer in getting the ball up the field and to our forwards, he has taken over a large leadership role on this team and has been on the beginning of a lot of goal scoring plays. In the attack we have a 3 headed weapon with the pace and work rate of Estrada on the left wing/midfield position, we have a really strong target forward that is dangerous on many levels with Eddie Johnson and of course Fredy Montero who should benefit heavily from the play of everyone behind him.

We are playing a 4-4-2 or that’s how they write it up, but it seems to me that with Estrada on the left we are easily getting 3 forwards into the attack a lot. The shape changes as the ball moves up the pitch and our central midfielders  for the most part seem to hold a little more in the middle allowing our outside mids and backs to get higher into the attack. The formation easily becomes staggered the way it is set up and creates a lot of triangles and opportunities for possession and attack. This team has a weapon in every area and we still haven’t plugged Zakuani back into the mix. Fernandez, Levesque and Ianni were  all out last night as well.

I have to say, this is an exciting team that is very dynamic and should go far this season. My favorite part of the night started before the game in the team huddle, Rosales gave his usual speech to the players and Zack Scott put it on them right after Mauro, saying “If we really believe we are the best team in the league right now then it’s our time to F@#$’in prove it tonight, right here, right now!” Well the Sounders definitely proved something to me that was thrilling to discuss and think about after the game.

One last thing, shout out to Kitsap Pumas’ goalkeeper gone Sounders backup for holding down the second half. PNW developmental soccer is playing their role at the top level in our area!