My Sounder Concerns

Well, it has been an exciting few days. First their was Bucknell punched their ticket to the dance. The next day UW followed suite. Then last night, The Crappy One came out of hiding with not 1 but 2 blog entries. With the Devils remaining on their hot streak and the Nets on a 5-game winning streak with a win at home over the Celtics, it is has been an amazing few days. Lost in all this awesomeness is the fact that the Sounders, a team who led to the creation of this blog, have their first game of the 2011 season tonight.

It is a day I have been waiting for since late October. And yet, I find myself sitting here Tuesday morning not as excited as I should be. At first I thought it was because my Bison love was overshadowing my Sounder love. But that's not it. I love all my teams equally. My next thought was that the anticipated rain was making me soft; that I didn't want to stand and be miserable all night. But that's not it either. I can handle the rain. hell, I've played soccer in the rain for two straight days.

So what is it then? It took me a while to come to the conclusion: I am feeling a little scared. It's funny because yesterday I wrote about how I believed in the Bison against all odds. I opined how they were going to win even though no one in America thinks that way. Yet when I think about the 2011 Sounders, a team that has higher expectations, I am not feeling the same belief.

I think it stems from the fact that the first two seasons were like a fairy tale. Two playoff appearances. Two US Open Cup titles. Highest attendance. Model of success. They still haven't accomplished all of there goals yet so there is something to strive for. They are only in their third year yet all I hear about is how this has to be the year they win MLS Cup; that this is the last year of their championship window; that the core will be broken up if they don't win. This is certainly a fresh attitude to have - I mean, in a way it's nice to have a team tell its fans that it is committed to winning and that playoffs appearances aren't good enough. That's all nice, but I just feel uneasy about the whole thing. Announcing such lofty goals in preseason will only intensify the pressure on the team all season and I have real concerns whether they handle it.

Let's go through my concerns:

• I am concerned that Keller might be starting to show his age. He has looked a little shaky on several occasions both last year and then in the Cascadia Summit against Portland
• I always want more from Montero. Don;t get me wrong, the kid is oozing talent and puts together some nice spells, but where was he the past two years in the playoffs?
• N'kufo does not look any faster this year. I am hopeful that he is simply going through the motions in pre-season and that he will be the holding forward we need, but I am definitely concerned that he won't be
• I am concerned that we lack a creative center midfielder. Look, I'm a big Brad Evans fan but I will need to see him get back to pre-USA camp Brad Evans before ruling out whether Friberg or Rosales as potential starters
• I am concerned that match congestion due to CONCACAF Champions League and US Open Cup will have a negative impact on our legs
• I am very concerned that Terry Boss is one injury from being our starter
  
• I am concerned that we will continue to play attractive soccer and that we will be happy when we lose but control the pace of the game. I love that we play great soccer, but sometimes I feel that we don't know how to win ugly.
• Mainly I am concerned that everything will come to an end. I am not suggesting in any way that I will stop supporting them in bad times - hell, I'll support them more in the bad times. I am just worried that 2011 is the year that the good times come to an end. That is something that I don't want
  

With all that being said, we are crazy talented. We are super deep. We have an accomplished coach. We should be a lot of fun to watch. Come On You Sounders!!!

(oh, and for Sounders season previews, check out the amazing job that Dave Clark does at SounderatHeart. For overall MLS previews, Ives is the guy to go to. I had planned on doing a preview but other things got in the way)