03/16/13 :: SSFC : Portland - Kick 17:00

[ericgi]

well, to be honest, a point is really all we deserved. Started off well, but why don't we go for the jugular after going up a goal? This team is maddening sometimes how we have a game in control and we just let teams back into it. Last 25 min's or so of the first half were awful, lucky not to have been level or worse going in.

We've got our work cut out with our next two away games... hopefully the league gives us a break with CCL fixture congestion, because we're an absolute mess right now, and postponing games is very advantageous to our cause right now. Just going to have to keep the ship afloat until our form improves later in the season...

[Sounderfanboy]

Thoughts on the game:

Ochoa shouldn't ever start anything but a early open cup game IMO. One of the weakest players today and against Tigres. Just frustrating to see a lineup built around a player who is so immobile playing in a fluid system.

Thought Yedlin did well again, got caught out a bit but considering he was matched up against Nagbe I was impressed. Not sure if Johannson is a step up.

Pulling Mario and Steve killed our offense and we payed for "mailing it in"

Hats off to Martins for flying this far and playing with total strangers before jumping on a plane right back there.

Did not think Hurtado had a good game at all. Weakest defender, was caught in bad positions, gave the ball away, and committed a PK that went uncalled.

[FuzzyForeigner]

yall sounded great on TV. had a 6 pack of bud light and watched from my hotel bed.

good stuff. not quite paradise but close to purgatory

[seadoc]

say what you will about Stott, he kept himself from showing us all his favorite spot on the field (when he definitely could have)
Loved the cross from Zak, gotta be honest, a little disappointed to see EJ celebrate on his own & not w/ SZ.
Sammy was naughty...
EJ stopped his run on the cross from Martins, just for a second, but it was enough.
JKH has to do better, not just better defending, but smarter. vs tigres at clink he had his arms out in the box while defending the ball & here he scissor tackled a guy...in the box and lost his man for the equalizer last night. jeez.

It's not all bad, Zak looked amazing, Gspurning was Gspurning and we did create chances. Once Obafemi & EJ jell it's going to be excellent.

Fun fact: We drew a point at home vs pdx in 11 in the 1st cascadia match & won the cup anyway. Also, LAGs had 11 pts last year though MID-JUNE. Even if I'm only talking to myself here, this is good stuff to remember.

Pdx is improved, gotta say.

[Mazzacani]

Rose needs to work on his touches big time. Every time the ball was passed to him i cringed.

[Llarian]

I thought Rose looked pretty poor.

JKH looked great for moments and very poor for others. I don't think the goal is entirely his fault, but he shoulders a lot of the blame.

Zak is starting to look like 2010 Zak again, I hope he can do that consistently
Sammy was fine as a holdup player for Tigres, didn't do so well here. Had a terrible game.

We let them control the tempo of the match from about the 15' mark on. It was only a matter of time before they scored, we were just hoping the clock ran out first. I don't know if that was tactical, or subconscious, but either way it was embarrassing.

[bulldog]

say what you will about Stott, he kept himself from showing us all his favorite spot on the field (when he definitely could have)
Loved the cross from Zak, gotta be honest, a little disappointed to see EJ celebrate on his own & not w/ SZ.
Sammy was naughty...
EJ stopped his run on the cross from Martins, just for a second, but it was enough.
JKH has to do better, not just better defending, but smarter. vs tigres at clink he had his arms out in the box while defending the ball & here he scissor tackled a guy...in the box and lost his man for the equalizer last night. jeez.

It's not all bad, Zak looked amazing, Gspurning was Gspurning and we did create chances. Once Obafemi & EJ jell it's going to be excellent.

Fun fact: We drew a point at home vs pdx in 11 in the 1st cascadia match & won the cup anyway. Also, LAGs had 11 pts last year though MID-JUNE. Even if I'm only talking to myself here, this is good stuff to remember.

Pdx is improved, gotta say.

comparisons to LAG is night and day..we are not them..they have won the MLS cup we haven't..we are are still all hype

Zak? you must have been watching a different game m8 because when exactly did he use his infamous speed?
try never....very hesitant at running at defenders..
the broken leg took more out of him then people imagine

there was a ton of mediocrity out there today...
a poor display and we got what we deserved which was fuck all
you want to win the supporters shield..win your home games at least

slow build ups = predictability...what do we do it?! high tempo games suit us much better

2 poor regular home games
and put things in perspective...we beat a reserve Mexican side that had 10 men for a long period..and they nearly snatched victory to go through.
what's going to happen against Santos with 11 men going by our last 2 MLS games?

[bulldog]

I thought Rose looked pretty poor.

JKH looked great for moments and very poor for others. I don't think the goal is entirely his fault, but he shoulders a lot of the blame.

Zak is starting to look like 2010 Zak again, I hope he can do that consistently
Sammy was fine as a holdup player for Tigres, didn't do so well here. Had a terrible game.

We let them control the tempo of the match from about the 15' mark on. It was only a matter of time before they scored, we were just hoping the clock ran out first. I don't know if that was tactical, or subconscious, but either way it was embarrassing.

as an Englishman...embarrassed to say Rose is shit..need more skill to play midfield

hats off to Martins for even stepping on the pitch after a long flight...
wonder what he thought of his decision now to pay off some of his contract?

[RatCity]

Look zak plays more offense then defense, we know that. But he stole a ball, ran 50 yards and dished a beautiful cross in for an assist. He also dribbled around a few players, an was tripled teamed a lot. His touch is a little off but by no means is he my biggest concern.

Rewatching the game, hurtado actually played decent. He cleared a lot of balls and the "scissor" in the box was a dangerous yet necessary challenge that he got all ball before taking the player down. Stot made the right call. And the goal was not his fault. He had two men to cover becuase yedlin got caught ball watching. Why yedlin was in the center I do not know. But what I do know is that hurtado grabbed the far man, and then yedlin and I think burch were caught off guard. Was it a steller performance? No. But I fail to see where hurtado was bad or should not be playing.

The fouls outside the box, by everyone in the back have to stop. Scum had about 5 FK front around the 20.

We didn't pussh enough when we were ahead, and we gave scum to many chances which eventually burned us. I often feel that in these derby matches we play down to our oppenents and they drag us into a chippy match which leaves us open. I hope that will be fixed.

[Crouchatola]

...
JKH has to do better, not just better defending, but smarter. vs tigres at clink he had his arms out in the box while defending the ball & here he scissor tackled a guy...in the box and lost his man for the equalizer last night. jeez.
...

Regarding the goal last night, it wasn't Hurtado that allowed the goal. Hurtado was marking his man (#9) and Wallace (#21) was seemingly left by Alonso to wander free unmarked near the top of the box for seconds before the service. Yedlin was also standing around in the area and could have picked up Wallace.

Once the ball was in the air, Hurtado seemingly read where it was headed, left his man and moved toward Wallace, but by that time it was too late. Ozzie and Yedlin were standing dumbfounded next to each other (marking no one) a few yards away. Could Hurtado have yelled at Alonso or Yedlin that there was an open man? Sure, I'll give you that, and maybe he did or maybe he didn't, but from what I saw of watching this again and again on my TiVo today, there's plenty of other guilty parties to blame.

Another point of interest, watch the replay again and you'll see that service was put over the heads of *seven* Sounders that were at least 5 yards away from opposing players that they could have been marking. That's just piss poor defending.

You're up one goal and it's in the 90th minute. You don't allow anyone to go unmarked in your penalty area. It was a complete lack of focus and Sigi should be chewing so much ass he could skip the Easter ham.

[Llarian]

Liviu posted a similar analysis on S@H: http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/3/17 ... ra-wallace

Now that I've looked at it more closely, yeah, JKH wasn't really at fault at all. Wallace didn't correctly get passed off to Alonso or Yedlin and JKH was making a last-ditch effort to mark him when the ball came in.

[ProdigalReality]

I think we wasted a sub by bringing in Oba. Needed to change the formation, instead we continued to stick to the 442. Is there a reason Neagle isn't playing? I'd much rather see him come in late in the game over Mauro if we need to protect a lead.

[Llarian]

I think we wasted a sub by bringing in Oba. Needed to change the formation, instead we continued to stick to the 442. Is there a reason Neagle isn't playing? I'd much rather see him come in late in the game over Mauro if we need to protect a lead.

I've been wondering that. He would've seemed a much better sub. Wonder if he has a minor injury or something?

[Llarian]

as an Englishman...embarrassed to say Rose is shit..need more skill to play midfield

Lucky for you, Rose is technically an Aussie.

[Cstrom476]