Seattle Sounders Keel Over

The Seattle Sounders FC played the LA Galaxy over the weekend. Oh wait, excuse me, the Seattle Sounders forgot to show up. They lost the match 4-0, but the entire match was dominated by the Galaxy. LA captain Landon Donovan was apart of every goal in the match as he scored one and assisted the other three.

At least when Landon Donovan suits up for team USA it will be okay to root for him

Luckily for Seattle, there is a bright spot coming from Saturday’s shellacking. Newly signed Columbian Miguel Montaño made his Sounders debut. And with Michael Fucito going on the disabled list and Nate Jaqua not quite ready from his stint on the disabled list, he could be seeing more action very soon.

The most interesting story coming from the weekend’s game is the reaction that the franchise itself is taking. Because of the poor effort resulting in the worst home loss in Sounders history, the club is going to provide a refund to the season ticket holders who were at the game. Only the season ticket holders though, so if you aren’t a season ticket holder then no dice. This is just the latest action taken by the Sounders to ensure that the franchise stays fan orientated. Minority owner Drew Carey is a major part of that commitment to the fans and has been since he signed on to the Sounders ownership. The Sounders may have lost, but it looks like the team is making sure the fans still win.

With that, here are the game day awards for the May 8th game vs the LA Galaxy.

The Sloppy Joe Award goes to the entire team. Since joining the MLS last season the Sounders have always, at the very least, put up a decent challenge, but Saturday was the first showing of a team that had zero chance to win. I’m just glad the scored was kept at 4-0.

The Shining Light Award goes also to the team, but not the players. It goes to the ownership and the rest of the upper level individuals who decided to refund the season ticket holders. Keeping the fans happy is clearly the main objective of this team and now its clear that they will go to extreme lengths to ensure that the fans are given the best experience.

The Sounders next game is on Saturday May 15th. They travel to the new Red Bulls Stadium to take on the New York Red Bulls for a 4:30 PDT kickoff. Hopefully this time the team will decide to actually play this time.

Two Debuts in Sounders FC Loss

The Seattle Sounders FC suffered their first loss of the 2010 MLS season Saturday night. The loss came at the hands of Eastern Conference foe the New York Red Bulls. Last year, the Sounders defeated the Red Bulls 3-0 in the franchise debut for the Seattle club.

Red Bulls forward Macoumba Kandji scored in the 21 minute off of a corner kick that got deflected right to his feet. His shot even caught a piece of a Sounders defender before bouncing off the crossbar and into the net. Seattle goalie Kasey Keller hardly had time to see the ball, let alone make a play on it. It was a good shot and the Red Bulls were able to take advantage of a great opportunity.

Sounders newcomer Pat Noonan showed lots of promise against the New York Red Bulls

The Sounders saw the debut of two new faces in Saturday’s match as rookie David Estrada and recent waiver signee Pat Noonan subbed on in the second half. Noonan came on shortly after halftime for Roger Levesque and Estrada entered in the 83 minute for Leo Gonzalez.

I’m introducing my new Sounders Game Day Awards in this post after watching the week 2 match up. There are two awards; the Sloppy Joe Award (given to the player who disappointed the most) and the Shining Light Award (given to the standout player or who showed the greatest upside)

The Sloppy Joe Award for week 2 goes to James Riley. Riley missed the opener against Philadelphia due to his card overlapping from last season. His 2010 debut was far less than spectacular. He had many bad touches and his play seemed, simply, sloppy. I hope to see a quick improvement from Riley.

The Shining Light Award goes to Sounders new comer Pat Noonan. Noonan was added to the squad after last week’s opener in hopes to add some experience and versatility. He entered the game in the 52 minute and quickly made his presence known. He showed a knack for getting the ball to where it needs to be and showed signs that when the ball is at his feet he can make plays happen. I hope to see much more from him as the season goes on.

I think that with Noonan’s show of ability he should quickly find his way into more playing time. With Nate Jaqua out till May, and Levesque filling in at the outside midfield spot, I think Noonan should step into that spot. Levesque is a Seattle favorite, but has not shown a level of play that shouts “I should be starting in the MLS!” He worked very well last season as a fresh pair of legs in the later parts of games and thats where I think he can make the greatest impact for the Sounders.

Up next for the Sounders is defending MLS Cup champs, Real Salt Lake in Utah. Let’s put this loss behind us and get a head start towards next week!

Sounders Add Swiss Striker

The Seattle Sounders FC have announced the signing of a new striker. The Sounders have announced that they have signed Swiss National Team striker Blaise Nkufo. Nkufo will not join the team until after the 2010 World Cup however.

Blaise Nkufo will join the Sounders after the 2010 World Cup

Nkufo is a 34 year-old striker was born in Zaire and has played in 29 international caps for Switzerland since 2002 and has found the back of the net 7 times in international games.

Nkufo has been playing for the Dutch team FC Twente since 2003 and has appeared in 213 matches for the team known as the “Tukkers”. The Captain is also the record hodler for most goals in franchise history with his current total of 111 and has over 200 career goals counting club and international play.

Before joining the Sounders Nkufo will finish his Twente season and then participate in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with the Swiss National Team. The scheduled date for Nkufo’s arrival to Sounders is July 15. The latest move by the Sounders puts all the pressure on, and off, the current Sounders strikers.

The pressure comes off of Fredy Montero, who led the team with 12 goals last season. When Nkufo arrives he will bring a vetern mentality and a knack for finishing in the box and finding the net. Having two goal hungry strikers on the field at the same time will drive the defenses of the MLS wild.

The pressure goes on to the other strikers. Nate Jaqua already had the pressure put on and was moved to the midfield after he began to cool off towards the end of the season. 11th overall pick in this year’s SuperDraft, David Estrada will have his fair share of pressure as well. He will have the first half of the season to make his case before Nkufo shows up. If he doesn’t perform well the transition will be easy.

The forward position just became a heated battle for playing time. Who will come out on top with the most playing time? MLS First Kick is less than a month away! Get Ready Sounders fans, this season just got better and it hasn’t even started yet.