Steve Clare is Editor of Prost Amerika Soccer which covers the
sport throughout the Cascadia region. He is also the Communications Officer of
the North American Soccer Reporters.
Sounders
against Real Salt Lake is not a match between clubs that are fierce rivals. RSL
are not Portland Timbers and Sounders are not the Colorado Rapids. What this
match has become however is a battle between two sides harbouring a healthy
respect for each other.
Readers of RealSaltLake.com will know the
achievements of the Salt Lake well already, but it is worth reminding you that
Seattle was the scene of the club’s greatest triumph.
RSL made an impression both on the pitch where a display of guts hauled Jason Kreis’ side back from the early loss of Javier Morales and then a goal down, but also off the pitch where a large band of traveling fans represented their club and their city with pride.
In our naivety of that first year, we Seattleites were sure Los Angeles Galaxy would bring bigger numbers. How wrong that was.
Since that day both clubs have made significant progress.
RSL reached the CONCACAF Cup Final and saw themselves become the first franchise to feel the support of the entire league at their backs. Sites including my own, Prost Amerika Soccer, joined the MLS4RSL campaign and cheered and groaned along with their regular fans along that momentous cup run.
Sounders FC for their part have transformed from an exciting expansion club with a lingering love for the Open Cup to one of Major League Soccer’s big hitters. They stand on the verge of a Cup three-peat. They have made a superb start to their own CONCACAF Cup campaign winning both group matches already, and lastly, and most pertinently for this weekend, Sounders have launched a genuine and sustained assault on the Supporters Shield.
Five wins and a draw in their last five MLS matches have propelled Sounders to second leaving a defeated FC Dallas flustering in their wake. They have moved to within four points of the Galaxy (before LA played Colorado on Friday night) and of course upped the tempo Real Salt Lake need to keep up with them.
This brings us to Saturday. The match is perfectly poised.
Seattle are six points ahead of RSL who have two games in hand. A Sounders win would extend that gap to nine, as well as ensure Sounders hold the head-to-head advantage, so in reality the gap RSL would need to claw back would reach the taboo number of double figures. It is hard to see RSL making that gap up with their inconsistent recent form and Sounders excellent form.
Defeat would almost certainly leave RSL battling Dallas for that third Western Conference automatic slot.
A
draw would keep the gap at six points and again ensure Sounders retained that
head-to-head advantage, but it would keep the race for second open, and perhaps
even the Supporters Shield if Los
Angeles start to seep points.
Sounders fans may well even take a draw right now given that their remaining games are thereafter against sides well below them on the table. However by Saturday, they may also know whether the Colorado Rapids did them a favour in Los Angeles on Friday night and threw wide open the door to the Supporters Shield.
Defeat for Seattle though would begin to cause concern. The head-to-head with RSL would be even. Goal difference, (currently 14-13 in RSL’s favour) would be trending RSL’s way especially if they start winning games in hand. If coupled with a later Dallas win in New England, it leaves Sounders potentially in fourth as opposed to chasing first, assuming that Salt Lake win either of their games in hand. It’s that big a game. It’s that close.
Fourth place in the Western Conference means a game in the battle zone of the wild card play-in rounds and the possibility of elimination before they even reach the last eight. It would be at home against the tenth placed side but that could be someone like the New York Red Bulls or a dangerous D.C. United.
However, defeat has not been a word in the Sounders songbook recently. They have five wins on the trot in all competitions. There are no defeats in the last eight. In Major League Soccer, they have one defeat in the last 14 games, a run that ironically began on May 28th with that 2-1 win in Salt Lake.
RSL have only three home games left so they cannot rely on home form to gather points through the end of the regular season. They have to start adding to their three away wins. Sounders home record is solid though not as spectacular as their away record, as Salt Lake fans may painfully recall from that Sounders win.
Mauro Rosales has been the key player for Seattle but the rave reviews he has rightly received should not be allowed to disguise some very solid performances from players like Jeff Parke, Alvaro Fernandez and Osvaldo Alonso.
Fredy Montero’s numbers may have dipped recently but he remains one of the most dangerous players around the league. In addition, bits and pieces players like Roger Levesque and Zach Scott have stepped up and produced displays worthy of regular starters. There is barely an out of form player on the squad.
Sigi Schmid is not looking at a long injury list either and only Terry Boss the reserve goalkeeper was away on international duty this week.
RSL received decent news too though. Their internationals , Kyle Beckerman (USA), Will Johnson (Canada), Jean Alexandre (Haiti) & Arturo Alvarez (El Salvador) all returned yesterday and participated fully in Thursday’s training. They are all ready and fit to play as is Alvaro Saborio, who didn’t rejoin Costa Rica following their 1-0 friendly win over the USA last Friday, opting instead to be at the ready for RSL the following day for its 2-1 win over Philadelphia Union. That is a large amount of MLS talent, too much for Sigi Schmid to take anything for granted.
He has cut a relaxed figure of recent weeks and seems to have found that formula to rotate his squad without ever sending out a team unable to do the job.
If Real Salt Lake are to avoid a prolonged battle with Dallas for a place in the last eight, they will need to upset Sounders rhythm and flow. That will not be easy. If one player is having an off game, another has stepped up.
The momentum is certainly with the Seattle Sounders this season and RSL have not won here in their two previous regular season visits. Six different players have scored in Sounders five game winning run, eight if you count two own goals. Lamar Neagle and Mike Fucito have popped up with contributions alongside more familiar names like Fernandez, Rosales, Montero and Brad Evans. All six have also registered assists as have James Riley the right back and defensive midfielder Alonso. There is no one player to stop in the current Sounders side. Three of the last four wins have also involved a clean sheet.
Jason Kreis and his international brigade will have to bring their best this Saturday, but the rewards if they do will be well worth the effort.
