The Sounders playoff game against the Gals is a mere two days away. I sit here on Friday, not really know how to feel. Part of me thinks that the Gals are prime for an upset. After starting the season on fire, they are 7-6-2 in their last 15. They are clearly not the same team that beat us 4-0 and 3-1 earlier in the season. Buddle looks tired from the WC. Beckham is back and messing with chemistry. They just aren't the same. On the other side, Seattle is clearly a team in form (not withstanding last weekend's lost to Houston), having gone 10-2-2 in their last 14. Even if we ignore the recent form of both team's, part of me says that the Sounders owe them one. This is not high school ball where one team might intimidate the other. These are professional soccer players. Losing 4-0 and 3-1 won't intimidate them - if anything it will light a fire under their ass. They didn't like getting embarrassed and I know Kasey Keller will remind the team of that at every opportunity.
So yeah, I feel pretty good about the game. But then I think about the game a little more and I wonder if we match up well against the Gals. Something clearly went wrong earlier in the year when the Sounders faced the Gals (I won't mention the score lines again) and I have to wonder if it simply was that they are better. I think for us, the strength will be down the wings. The 2002 US Men's National Team, err I mean the Gals, don't have the speed to match Zakuani and Nyassi. The key this time around will be to finish the chances we get. The last two meetings Omar Gonzalez dominated our forwards - any ball that was swung in was quickly eliminated. This time around we got Blaise Nkufo who will be a more physical presence. He will need to get Gonzalez off his game or it will be no different than before. On the defensive end, Ozzie Alonso will need to shut down Landon Donovan. While he doesn't play in the middle of the pitch, Landycakes is the puppetmaster of this offense - someone we need our best defender on. If Donovan can work his magic, then that opens up space for Edson Buddle, who even when off form should be a handful for Riley or Leo. I'm not smart enough to no the exact specifics of how they destroyed us last time, but I think stopping Donovan and Buddle is an obvious place to start.
The one final thing that is on my mind is the overall makeup of the teams. Seattle is young and have been playing an exciting brand of soccer. Their seems to be more of a freedom to try things, to be creative. LA on the other hand is an aging team. Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, gregg Berhalter and Eddie Lewis (not to mention Beckham) are all over 34, yet still play an important role with the team. While they can't match-up physically with the Sounders, they have veteran guile that can't be taught. They have seen everything and won't be thrown off by the Sounders pace. They can adjust, but I worry that the Sounders can't.
It's not often when I don't have a feeling as to how a game may go, but this is one time when I really could see either team getting the result. I won't be at the game or even watching the game, but my thoughts will never leave the team. Come on Sounders, Beat LA.
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