Sounders, Looking for Answers, Prepare for NYCFC
By Ben Renner
The Sounders couldn’t dig themselves out of the doldrums of ninth place in the Western Conference with another loss to the Red Bulls. Up next is New York City Football Club at the Clink.
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On Saturday, the Sounders will play their first of five “full bowl” matches in MLS play this season. All of the 68,000 seats at CenturyLink Field will be filled for their game against NYCFC, providing an electrifying atmosphere for fans and players alike in Seattle.
The Sounders are still looking for answers after a short-handed but still disappointing showing against the New York Red Bulls last weekend. They have already gotten some of their players involved in the Copa America tournament back, with Chad Marshall and Brad Evans getting starts last week, and Nelson Valdez and Oalex Anderson coming on off the bench in the Red Bulls match as well.
NYCFC, an expansion team last season, boasts a roster full of international stars, including David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, and Frank Lampard. Villa has scored 11 goals in 16 matches for New York and leads MLS in shots and shots on target. Saturday’s full-bowl match against the Sounders will be NYCFC’s first trip to Seattle and the extremely loud environs of CenturyLink Field, where the schedule of excellent soccer will continue for Seattle fans, who have already enjoyed excellent international action of late.
The MLS season is long and the Sounders still have many matches to go before their position in ninth place in the Western Conference will come back to bite them. What’s troubling is their lack of scoring up to this point in the season. In 14 matches, the Sounders only have 13 goals. Head coach Sigi Schmid has continually juggled the lineup throughout the season, trying to find an offensive combination that works. The eventual return of Clint Dempsey will certainly help matters, but this is a team that has struggled to generate offense even with the star forward in the lineup.
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The Sounders will face NYCFC on Saturday at 2pm at CenturyLink.