Initial (Over)Reaction: Toronto

The Sounders ended their 2 game roadswing with a 2-0 defeat to Toronto FC. While the result is a poor one, I can't help but be more upset with the Dallas game than this one. I think overall I saw some positives that I hadn't seen days before. Here are some of my observations:

• The second unit stepped right in and I thought played pretty well. Hell, they even showed off some of the short quick passes that has been sorely lacking. My wife wasn't surprised by the good passing noting that the second stringers are fighting for playing time and thus are trying to do everything Sigi has asked of them.
  
• That being said, if they are going to employ this type of offense, Ljungberg needs to be involved more. I don't see how you can have him playing forward when he is clearly the most talented player with the ball at his feet. The ball he played to Sturgis was modest and brilliant at the same time.
  
• I thought Brad Evans made a lot of nice runs and his versatility really shows why he is a such an important player to this team. He wasn't spectacular at forward but also didn't look out of place
• Toronto fans - where were ya? I know it was raining, but come on. You claim to be the best in MLS yet I saw more than a quarter of empty seats
• Two big mistakes led to the two Toronto goals. First by Alonso who tried to be too fancy in the box with the ball, leading to a DeRo goal and then just a terrible turnover by Marshall in the midfield. The Reds made us pay for them - unlike last year when DeRo missed a sitter 2 minutes into the game.
  
• Besides stumbling over the ball in the box I thought Alonso won every ball and really had some bite to him

I think the best thing to come out of the game was seeing our bench perform solidly. No, they are not the best players out there, but with the potential of 5 more games this year than last, our depth will be tested. Ianni and Wahl stepped in nicely on the backline. I thought Sturgis played well and I can't really get on Vagenas too much. We even got to see Nyassi and Boss on the roadtrip. All in all, a poor result, but I am not panicking quite yet.