Columbus Crew
5th place, Eastern Conference
2-6-2 Overall, 0-3-2 Away
Away Goals Scored: 5
Away Goals Conceded: 9

Form: D D W D W

Old Friends

Last year Sigi Schmid won the MLS Supporters shield, MLS Cup and MLS Coach of the Year in his third season with the Columbus Crew. He was also the second coach to win 100 games in the league. After the season, Sigi up and bolted to Seattle. Having been to Columbus, Ohio, I do not blame him one bit.

“It was hard because it had taken us three years to put the team together,” Schmid said about his departure from Columbus. “You can see, despite the record, that it’s still a quality team and a quality group. Winning a championship always puts you in a special place. The way things happened, it is what it is. I’m here now and so you move forward.”

It gets interesting as Scmid will face off against ex-assistant coach Robert “The Polish Rifle” Warzycha. How much the two know each others style is unclear, but it could have a big impact on the match.

“I always have a saying that you always want to win when you play friends,” Schmid said. “If you’re playing somebody you don’t know you only hear about it that day. If you’re playing friends you hear about it for a long time. So you always want to get the win when you’re playing friends because it gives you bragging rights for a little bit of time.”

“El Mellizo”
MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto strikes fear into the heart of MLS defenders, and he should. He scored 62 goals in 192 matches for Boca Juniors to go along with a handful of titles and a near diety-status in his hometown of La Plata, Argentina.

Schelotto came to the MLS in 2007 in search for more playing time. In 2008, he recorded 7 goals and 19 assists and put on one of the more impressive MLS cup performances in league history when he recorded 3 assists in a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bull.

Much like Blanco, there is not much the Seattle defense can do to slow the Argentine ace down. He already has 6 goals this year, good for a tie for the scoring title. The best Seattle can hope for is to keep his back to the goal and make other players try and beat them instead.

Veterans- Good News, Bad News
The Bad News First: Besides Schelotto, Frankie Hejduk, Emmanuel Ekpo, Brian Carroll, Robbie Rogers, Chad Marshall, and Eddie Gaven all have years of experience playing in the MLS (not to mention Pat Noonan, who is struggling with back problems). They are a talented group, built by Sigi, but it was not just Sigi and Schelotto that led this bunch to a championship last year.

The Good News: Hejduk and Carrol are both out, leaving the Crew minus two of their top defenders and their team Capitan.

Somethings Gotta Give
The Crew are unbeaten in their last 6, but have yet to win on the road. The Sounders are unbeaten in their last 5, but with four draws and one win. 10 of the Sounders 16 points this year have come from home. Will one of these teams walk away with a victory, or is ANOTHER draw in order?

Crew Quotable:

We’ve been really unlucky with injuries. To lose BC in the middle of the field, he’s kind of like the heart and soul of this team. We have guys ready to step up. Everyone else on the field is going to have to step up as well but we can do it.

-Robbie Rogers

Injury Report
OUT: MF Adam Moffat (Lhamstring strain); DF Andy Iro (Lquad strain); GK William Hesmer (lumbar back strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Frankie Hejduik (Lgroin strain)

Seattle Sounders FC
2nd place, Western Conference
4-2-4 Overall, 3-1-1 Home
Home Goals Scored: 8
Home Goals Conceded: 2

Form: W D D D D

Tie One On
Anybody else sick of watching the Sounders tie games? No doubt last weeks 2-2 draw against a dangerous Colorado team can be seen as a positive, especially considering the patchwork midfield, but if the Sounders want to get it done in the regular season, it will not be 1 point at a time.

Considering Seattle’s expansion status, the team’s performance to date has been incredible, but we have all seen the way this team can play when it all comes together with great build up and POISE AND COMPOSURE in front of the goal. Fredy Montero has it, so does Freddy Ljunberg and Brad Evans, but Sebastien Le Toux’s pass first mentality, Steve Zakuani’s panic attacks (or just plan bad luck) and Nate Jaqua’s “rapist touch” (Copyright Drake Townes-Witzel 2009) have cost us a lion’s share of goals this year, and with it a fair share of points.

The Midfield
A week removed from losing central defensive middy Osvaldo Alonso, the group should be bolstered by the return of Freddy Ljunberg and possibly Brad Evans. The disparity between Ljunberg/Alonso v. Vagenas/King was very evident last week, as the defense struggled mightily and the midfield failed to have much impact on offense for the Sounders.

Alonso is key to the success of the defense because of the way he makes opposing midfielder’s lives complete hell. However, at least with Freddy and Brad back, the passing out of the center of the pitch should improve.

Sounders Quotable:

They had a lot of guys that can win the game for them. They are the type of team that if you focus too much on what they do, that’s too much to focus on. So you just have to know you’re back home in front of 30,000 fans – just focus on what you can do and come away with the three points.

-Steve Zakuani

Injury Report
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC – OUT: GK Chris Eylander (Lmedial knee bone bruise); DF Zach Scott (lower abdominal pain); DF Taylor Graham (R mid-foot); DOUBTFUL: MF Osvaldo Alonso (R quad strain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Brad Evans (Lankle sprain/Ltibial bone bruise); FW Jarrod Smith (L
hamstring strain); PROBABLE: MF Freddie Ljungberg (migraine recovery)

Prediction
At full strength, the match up is a push talent-wise. However, with two of the Crew’s most important players (Hejduk, Carroll) on the sideline, Seattle is at a major advantage. Mental errors, poor finishing, defensive miscues and Guillermo Barrios Schelotto are the only thing capable of stopping the Sounders. This is not a must-win situation for Seattle, but it is a game they can and should win.

Sounders: 3-1

Seattle cruises into halftime with a 2-0 lead and hold on for the 3-1 victory despite Schelotto’s antics.
Montero with a brace.

FC Dallas
8th place, Western Conference
1-6-1 Overall, 1-2-0 Home
Home Goals Scored: 4
Home Goals Conceded: 7

Form: T W L L L

Nobody Loves You When You’re Down
Dallas is in the midst of a 3-game losing streak, their second of the season. They have been outscored by a 2-to-1 margin both at home and on the road. Their last victory was a 3-2 home win against Toronto on April 29, a game only 6,813 fans showed up to watch.

Besides dismal form, record and attendance, Dallas has been horrible on defense. They have yet to record a shut out and have given up two or more goals in 6 of 8 contests. To make matters worse, starting goalkeeper Argentine Dario Sala, will miss 4-6 weeks after an MRI revealed bone bruising on the left knee he had operated on in March. Ray Burse will bring his 1.79 GAA (goals against per 90 minutes) and .600 AVG (saves per shot) to start between the pipes. To get an idea of just how soft the Dallas defense really is, compare that to Kasey Keller’s .32 GAA and .875 AVG.

Wide Shoulders
National team prospect and runner-up in the Budweiser Golden Boot last year, Kenny Cooper may only be biding his time in Dallas while he awaits the call from a European club. However, he is doing so in style with 4 of the side’s 7 total goals. He leads the MLS in shots (31) and shots on goal (19). The rest of his team has a combined 3 goals, 5 assists and 22 shots on goal.

Beyond Cooper, the midfield pair of Dutch national David van der Bergh and Brazilian Andre Rocha have shown some signs of life on offense. van der Bergh leads the team with 2 assists. Rocha has started at RM since April 2, and recently recorded his first goal of the season against DC United on May 2.

Seeing the gargantuan Cooper bang it out with Hurtado and Marshall should be fun to watch.

Local Boys
Rookie defender George John was born in Shoreline, WA and was a four year member of the University of Washington soccer team.

Seattle Sounders FC
2nd place, Western Conference
4-2-2 Overall, 1-1-1 Away
Away Goals Scored: 3
Away Goals Conceded: 3

Form: L L W T T

Discipline
Seattle has had 3 players ejected this season, all in the last five games. However, the club is only 12th (80) in fouls committed. Those two numbers do not add up. The fans must love the intensity players show on the field, but I would expect Sigi Schmid to run a tighter ship.

James Riley’s ejection for “violence” was warranted on Sunday, and definitely cost the Sounders points in a game that was there to win. I would expect Seattle players to be on their very best behavior on Saturday, lest they start to get a bad boy reputation with referees around the league.

Defensive Discipline
Seattle is tied for second in the MLS for goals allowed (5). Two of the five goals were scored while shorthanded. The CB duo of Tyrone Marshall and Jhon Hurtado has exceeded all expectations, aided by my MVP candidate Osvaldo Alonso and workhorse Brad Evans from the midfield. The man running the show, Kasey Keller has been playing like he was 30 years old again.

Spreading it Around
Seven players have combined to score Seattle’s 11 goals this season. Three players are tied for the team lead with three assists each (Alonso, Jaqua and Zakuani). Seattle’s leading scorer, Freddy Montero (3) will be back from suspension this week.

Finding his Form
Anyone watching the LA-Seattle game on Sunday might have noticed a bald 30-something-year-old running around the field, jump-starting attacks and controlling the tempo. That would be designated player Freddy Ljunberg finding his form.

Watching him play was a joy on Sunday, and it looks like he may have found a good chunk of his match fitness and pace that made him the 11th ranked player on Arsenal all-time top 50 list. If he builds on that performance he could end up making a major impact on the MLS in his first year.

Heating Up
Sebasiten Le Toux is on a tear in the last three games. On top of a two goal, two assist performance against RSL in the US Open Cup, he came off the bench against a tough Chicago side and played a key role in bringing the 10-man Sounders back for the tie. On Sunday, Le Toux scored his first MLS regular season goal by burying a dime of a pass from Jaqua into a wide open net.

He should get the start at the LM spot this week and cause plenty of problems for the Dallas defense.

Sigi Versus Schellas
Sigi Schmid saw Schellas Hyndman in the NCAA six times, going 4-1-1 against the head coach of SMU, including two NCAA Championship wins in 1985 and 1990.

Prediction
FC Dallas has given up an MLS-worst 15 goals this season, on pace for 56.25 goals for the year. That is one goal every 48 minutes. Things don’t look good as they welcome the high-flying Sounders to town, who score a goal every 65 minutes of play. Unless they catch some big breaks, this may be a very, very long day for the Hoops.

Seattle wins in impressive fashion, 3-0.

Projected Lineup