In their third year in the league the Seattle Sounders are poised to make the jump from mid-table team to Western Conference title challenger. Joined in the northwest by rivals Portland and Vancouver, Sigi Schmid’s men will also, for the first time in the MLS, be challenged as the northwest’s top dog. Yet to advance past the first round of the playoffs in two attempts, the Sounders are hoping that this will be the year they join the top tier of the MLS.
Pre-season MVP candidate and MLS superstar Fredy Montero will lead the line for Seattle along with former Swiss international Blaise Nkufo, who has already said this will be his last season with the Sounders. Only two MLS players have more points over the last two seasons than Montero, who has also made the MLS All-Star team in each of his two seasons in the league. The Sounders leaned on the Colombian for a big chunk of the second half of the season last year and, in order to make the leap many are predicting, will need guys like Steve Zakuani, Nkufo, and Nate Jaqua to pick up some of the scoring slack.
Anchoring the Sounders defense will once again be U.S. soccer icon goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The 41-year-old from Olympia, Wash. has captained the side for 59 consecutive matches and had a microscopic 1.19 goals against average in his 40 appearances last season. Leading the defense in front of him is a familiar and veteran group Sounders followers will quickly recognize. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, James Riley, Patrick Ianni and Leo Gonzalez give Seattle a defense that is comfortable with each other and used to the battles of a MLS season.
Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso maintain, much like the rest of the team, a group of guys used to playing together in the Seattle midfield. Attacking wide men Alvaro Fernandez and Steve Zakuani will need to be the playmakers in the final third and take advantage of space left open from defenders marking Montero. Zakuani scored an impressive 11 goals last season and will likely need to have a similar total this season for the Sounders to be near the top of the Western Conference table.
The Sounders finished fourth in the Western Conference last season and saved rough start which saw them sitting in 11th place 15 matches into the season. They then faced the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the MLS playoffs, their second appearance in as many seasons, and lost 3-1 on aggregate.
In their third term the Sounders will have their highest expectations since their stay in the MLS began. Many are predicting Seattle to challenge for the top spot in the Western Conference and push deep into the MLS playoffs. World Football Daily guest, future FIFA President hopeful and Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl (Don’t stall, vote for Wahl) posted his predictions earlier this week and has Seattle finishing in third place in the West.
These expectations have been somewhat tempered after last weekend’s Cascadia Summit in Tukwila, Wash. The Sounders faced off in a three team preseason tournament with rivals Vancouver and Portland and lost both matches against the MLS rookies. After falling to Portland 2-0 Friday night Seattle lost to Vancouver 3-2. Neither Portland or Vancouver have the expectations of the Sounders and losing both matches to big rivals so close to the season will have sent the team a message.
Winning the U.S. Open Cup in their inaugural MLS season, the Sounders were hoping to retain the crown and their ticket back into the CONCACAF Champions League. They did just that, defeating their rival Portland Timbers, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA en route to defeating Columbus 2-1 in the final on their home field in Seattle. This season Seattle will try to be the eighth team in U.S. Open Cup history to win the title three times and the first to win it three times consecutively since New York Greek American Atlas did so from 1967-69.
The Sounders open the season in the MLS opening match against the well equipped Los Angeles Galaxy at Qwest Field in Seattle on March 15th on ESPN. They then travel to New York and play another high profile early season match just four days later in the opening Saturday of MLS action. Avoiding a bad start like the one they had last season and playing catch-up the second half of the season will play a major role in whether or not the Sounders reach their full potential.
Heath Harshman is a sophomore Communication major at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. He recently appeared on the IKTS segment with WFD and hopes to be back covering the NW of the MLS for WFD. He hopes to have a career in public relations and is currently the media relations coordinator of minor league baseball’s Tri-City Dust Devils. Follow Heath on twitter @heathharshman or add him on facebook. Thoughts or comments can be sent to Heath at heath_harshman@yahoo.com
World Football Daily
