The Seattle Sounders got the 2010 MLS season off to a grand start on Thursday evening with a masterful performance in a 2-0 victory against the Philadelphia Union, and while the victory wasn't a surprising result, the match helped provide some early evidence of just what types of seasons each team may be in store for.
Here is my take on last night's match for Fox Soccer. Obviously, the Sounders victory needs to be put into some context considering the state of Philadelphia's team, but it was a comprehensive victory to build on, regardless of the opponent.
As for the Union? Philly fans shouldn't fret too much. No, the Union may not match Seattle's first-year success, but Peter Nowak has assembled a strong collection of young talent that could set up Philadelphia to be a league power for years once it matures. That maturity will come at the cost of some first-year pain.
What did you think of last night's match?
Share your thoughts below.
JMac is going to be a real talent. I love Levesgue’s energy and desire but he made several glaring mistakes and he didn’t need that coming off his mistake in the playoffs last year that led to Ching’s goal. The best part of the game for me was when my eight year old son saw Moreno on tv and said, “Isn’t that the guy on Columbus who always pretends to get hurt?” Then the camera showed Montero and he said, “There’s the guy from the Sounders who always pretends to get hurt.” I couldn’t help but think, “My son has already equalled JP Delacamera’s broadcast ability!”
Are you complaining about the theatrics or Are you saying the fouls didn’t deserve cards? I agree that sometimes the freddies stay down longer than they have to. But that doesn’t mean that they weren’t sent to the ground by fouls worth of cards. I think most people that watch both MLS and european football will agree that the MLS allows much more physical play. That said I thought the ref did a good job of controlling this game. I hope that it’s going to be standard going forward. Coaches and players will adjust when they see players starting to build up yellows and serve suspensions for things like shoving players to the ground and tackling from behind with no intention to play the ball.I’d like to see MLS refs quicker with yellows and fouls but slower to pull out straight red cards.
I agree. MLS refs go for the cards so quickly. Honestly the Califf foul at the beginning of the game deserved a talking because it was off the ball but it was embellished by Montero. Just tell him the next one is a card and move on.
Yeah it caught everyone by surprise I think. It still needs some work…a lot of empty space to fill. I’m sure it will come along.
Levesque had no business in the midfield, he’s a forward. Sigi still thinks that Ljungberg is a forward, and he’s not. The Sounders are at their best when he’s playing in the middle or on the right, and Levesque (or basically anyone not named Jaqua) is up front. I’d like to see Nyassi or Fucito get some time up there, quite honestly.
Montero is a diver.
Ljungerberg is an exaggerator.
I noticed Philly had more ball earlier, but even at that, their movement was not real fluid and was not (with some nice exceptions) getting into the front 1/3 of the field.
I saw the MLSSoccer.com thing on the sideline billboards, and even looked it up quick. But I had no clue it was replacing MLSnet.com, and even thought it was Adidas related. That said, it looked like a pretty good site that I would frequent.
I may have overlooked it, but I go to MLSnet.com every week, and i NEVER noticed that this change was going to happen. Where was it communicated?
Here’s a little soccer lesson for everyone. If you have a one goal lead, you don’t need to dominate posession. It might not have been pretty, but allowing Philly some time with the ball didn’t have anything to do with the result.
I don’t know how anyone can defend that tackle or the lack of red, and I’ve heard plenty of it. I’m a Sounders fan, sure, but that was just ridiculous.
I’m going to be down in Sandy for the match on 4/10. Can’t wait to see Rio Tinto (although I will be bringing my own beer, if you don’t mind).
Philly didn’t look good for the most part. Which is understandable for an expansion team, but they were really hacking the Sounders all night. Califf is the worst at that. He got a yellow 2 min into the game! Stahl looked out of his league and the cards he got were well deserved. I think they will have a tough season this year.
I like their uniforms but I think they should get rid of the gold shorts.
As far as the officiating, I thought it was just super inconsistent. I’m all for MLS refs getting tougher and calling more fouls, but it seemed like a lot of fouls weren’t called and then the ones that were resulted in cards. How about calling all the fouls, giving verbal warnings, and then if players keep it up start giving out cards.
My girlfriend is sporting a Philly Union as we speak!
As a former central defender/defensive Mid I can tell you that in the beginning of matches many players (esp. enforcers) will commit a foul in order to make more skilled players look over their shoulder, or rush things a little. Not saying its the right thing to do…but it is a part of gamesmenship when your team cannot match your opponents technichal ability. Will likely see this from the Union for the 1st half of the season while they develop the team chemistry and the young guns develop.
I was in total disbelief that Myrie didn’t get a straight red. Ref must have felt bad for them and just gave a yellow. Myrie didn’t even attempt to play the ball.
BTW – watch out for the sounders this year. I have a feeling we are going to see them romp all over MLS. When ever they got possession in the first half it was off to the races with a lot of nice passing sequences and ball/player movement. I was truely implressed.
I’d agree with that. He didn’t get enough service to go to ground as much as he would have preferred.
On a completely different note, I saw a plane pulling a banner that read “ACES – Let’s Go Union!”
I love it. ACES now hates Seattle so much it’s wasting money on flying banner ads. Why don’t you give some of that money to the respective clubs the members support and try and improve your teams.
Also, Philly’s uniforms – definitely looks like a landing strip as DomiNate said in a different thread. From now on, women going to get waxed can just ask for the Philly Union, instead of having to ask for a Brazilian with a landing strip.
If there is an intention to harm or intimidate, why not a card on the first foul? Nothing says there can’t be. Califf probably should have been given a card for plain stupidity of doing that away from the ball in front of the AR.
I agree that Montero and Ljungberg are prone to embellishment, but if you think that players putting their knee into the back of an opponent without a chance at the ball only deserve a foul being called, then you can expect to see ugly, ugly soccer on the pitch and lots of injured players throughout the year.
lack of an offensive edge*
Both Freddy and Freddie are divers. the early yellow on Califf was a joke. Seriously a card on the first foul of the game.
To all Sounders fans:
Both Fredy Montero & Freddie Ljungberg are not dead, while action on the field made it look like they should be taken into emergency services both were discharged from the hospital with a hangnail and E D, respectively.
Moreno should could have been captain of his high school’s swim team…
You obviously were watching a different game, because philly up until the red was moving the ball well and picking good times to attack. do not mistake patience in the opponents half for an offensive edge. Seattle scored against the run of play in a counter attack. The entire first half was seattle sounders defending then counter attacking as quickly as they could. Once moreno gets off the field and philly can find a natural central midfielder they will be a decent team and maybe a playoff contender.
Dude. You are high or guilty of overwhelming homerism. Stahl’s cards were well deserved, and Myrie should have seen a straight red for his tackle on Zakuani.
All this diving talk is purely reputation. I guess straight kicks to the back only translate to “diving?” Come on. And Califf’s foul of the ball to start the game was intentional and blatant. Nowak tells his team to rough up the Sounders, gets punished, then whines about it.
Agreed
Montero and Ljungberg wasted our time diving.
Looking forward to watching Jack Mac develop.
You gotta give MLSsoccer.com time. I think they thought they had a good timeline but got caught at the last minute with some snags. It’ll be tits in a month or so
Jmac and mwanga are the future and last nights game showed that jmac was ready to play in the mls. you could see the instincts. I hope mwanga plays at forward next game.
It was easy to tell who the weak link in the Seattle midfield was. The Sounders need to find somebody to replace Levesque if they want to improve on last season. Other than that, they look really good.
Fuh Sho, I hope the referees wont get duped into throwing cards at guys because marquee players go down screaming. Stahl’s cards were fouls and not worthy of any cards, but he fouled the wrong guys (Ljungberg and Montero)
I felt the ref was over leniant. It was obvious union were told to just hack the freddies when ever they touched the ball. I saw three clear reds if this was Europe. I want mls to allow some creativity and expression and that can only happen if the refs protect these type players to some degree. Or else you get more and more athletes in the league and less skill players turning into kickball fests that are the hardest things to watch as a fan. Last night had both. Shame on Seattles right back fill in.
I watched it again this morning. Philly dominated possession up until the red card. I’d venture to say 60/40
uh, Jon… both of the yellows on Stahl were WELL deserved.
All in all, I thought the officials did a pretty good job last night.
The hell is going on with mlssoccer.com and mlsnet.com?
No coordination between the two and no instant highlights of last night like happened last season? Bring back mlsnet.com!
Wow, we must have watched two different games. Philly’s attack did not have an edge, pre- or post-red. If Philly gets 35 points this year, I will be shocked. The Red Bulls were a far better opponent (despite Goldwaithe’s presence) on opening night last year that the Union were last night. It is a long season but Philly has a lot of work to do to be competitive.
Were you watching the same game? PHL did fine for 10 minutes, but after that it was all SEA. The red card was just insult to injury.
Exactly…Mwanga should have been playing a target position, or at the very least play up front pushing Hurtado and Marshall deep into their own end. They would have to respect his speed.
Unfortunately, Nowak didnt have his team ready. I really respect him as a coach, but Philly looked like a team of guys that just met each other for the first time in the locker room before the game. Yes, the red card, weather and first game jitters played into it, but in to play that unorganized as a team falls on the coach.
Looks like it’s going to be another red card filled season if last nights game was any indication. Hooray MLS Officals…..(sarcasm).
After watching Champions League and everything Messi lately I was a little disappointed. I have been anxiously awaiting the MLS season for a while. Games on turf just aren’t as appealing to me. There were definitely some pretty moments out there, but plenty of blind hoofing it as well.
Couldn’t agree more. They needed pace up front and Mwanga should of move up top in the second half.
Torres looks like one heck of a player and if Philly can hold onto him, he’ll be a fantastic player for many years to come.
They really need to get an enforcer in the middle. They were torn about constantly.
Good game and showing by both teams, anyone know what the TV ratings were for the game?
Surprised that Nowak with all his experience ended up with nobody to cover center midfield. Orozco and Mwanga both are way out of position and Fred is a bit of a gamble …
Still there were glimpses of hope for Philly …
Torres looked outstanding. I’m hopeful for a US player to look that comfortable on the ball.
Moreno is past it. They should take their lumps now and get Mwanga and J Mac the experience up top now.
They (along with Torres ) seemed the most comfortable on the ball with the most talent.
Though, Nowack is far smarter than I, so we’ll see.
The red card killed PHilly, obviously, but Philly dominated possession up until that point. I think Philly could be better than Seattle by the midpoint of the season. I saw alot of attack and alot of talent out there.
if thats the way philly is gonna play no worries
Philly had some chances and they certainly could have gotten one in the first half. The game was pretty much over with the 1st half ejection though. Too bad, because I was hoping for a good game to watch.
Why was Mwanga playing in midfield?
Torres looks like a good talent.
I think Philly can do better if they work on the midfield. Seattle did a great job of breaking up all of Philly’s attacks.
Hey does anyone know why there’s nothing new on MLSnet.com? It’s as if last night’s game hasn’t happened yet…
(SBI- MLS has moved its main site to MLSSoccer.com.)