This graph representing the 1920’s stock market crash also happens to represent the exact trend of the team’s awesomeness since defeating Houston on July 11. Obama, we need bailout money in the form of someone who can finish consistently.

First, lets put it in an overall context:

German Bundesliga = 42,599 *Europe’s best
EPL = 35,582
MLB = 30,045
Sounders FC (est.) = 29,984*
Spanish Primera División = 28,491
Italian Serie A = 25,324
Scottish Premier League = 15,537
MLS = 15,434

So taking a more detailed approach Sounders would be:

…12th in Bundesliga, not bad considering German teams account for 9 of the top 20 best attendance records in Europe

…12th in the EPL, not bad

…8th in La Liga

…6th in Serie A

…3rd in the Scottish Premiere League

Well, that is all well and good, but soccer is not as popular as other sports in the USA, right? Soccer could never surpass our national pastime, baseball, could it? Well, check this out, the Sounders would be 13th in Major League Baseball with over 2,000 more fans per game than the resurgent Mariners.

Seattle attendance is not just respectable, it is downright impressive, so kudos to the Sounders fans who have been going and look like they will continue to go. There is no reason to think we will see a drop off in the following season.

On Saturday, we will see QWest’s beauty as a soccer stadium to its full extent: with a sell out crowd of 67,000 to see Chelsea. The question is, can Seattle find a way to one day fill out the 67,000 seat stadium against the likes of say… the San Jose Earthquakes.

If they can, the Sounders fan base and attendance can go from solid, to downright elite. I hope we see that day.

All European league figures are unofficial statistics from ESPNSoccernet.com
Sounders average attendance figures provided by MLS Daily
MLB attendance figures courtesy of MLB.COM

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.

The performance is open to all ages and also includes Live ‘BraziLatin’ music with Dinho’s ensemble and Alexandre Fatte’s ‘bateria’.

The show starts at 5pm so be sure to come by and bring your samba shoes.

Check out a few of Fernando Pitt’s Moves

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

LA GALAXY
6th place, Western Conference
1-5-1 Overall, 0-3-0 Away
Away Goals Scored: 4
Away Goals Conceded: 4

Form: D D D W D

From Laurie: I thought it would be easy to write a preview of the Galaxy players, given that I’m a recovering Galaxy fan. Then I sat down to start and… Not so much. The Galaxy have traded off most of the players I knew and loved, so I’m learning as I go along. So are they.

Donovan Ricketts — the goalkeeper for the Jamaican national team — was a huge acquisition this year. One of the reasons they were awful at the start of the season was that they were lacking quality in goal. Now they’re not. Having Kasey in our goal and knowing he’s there to clean up any messes allows our guys to be a little more daring and creative. Ricketts does that for the Galaxy. The Galaxy won’t be pushovers, and Ricketts is a major reason.

And, of course, everybody says “Watch out for Landon Donovan.” So…watch out for Landon Donovan. If he gets behind the defense, it’s almost certain that he will score. (Seeing him go one-on-one with Kasey could be interesting, although I’m hoping it doesn’t happen.) He’s also very good at making it happen for others, delivering perfect balls to create scoring chances. Three assists so far this year, so best to just shut him down from the start.

The Galaxy are among the best at getting penalty calls, too. I think there have been at least three so far this year? Versus our zero? Perhaps we could take lessons? When the Galaxy get the call, Landon generally puts them away, with the help of a bizarre OCD pre-penalty ritual that involves lots of touching and kissing, which I hope none of us have to witness. The Galaxy have scored 10 goals this season, and five of them are Landon’s. So…yeah… Watch out for Landon Donovan.

Edson Buddle is only recently back from injury, if I’m not mistaken, but he and Landon have proven in the past that they can be lethal on goalscoring opportunities. And Alan Gordon can score as well, usually off the bench, but in general I consider him overrated. (And for the record, he used to play for the Timbers. Which probably goes along with that whole “overrated” thing.)

The one player I still have fan feelings for is Chris Klein, who will probably be playing right midfield, and who has always played with his whole heart. He’s not as fast as he once was, but he has a good mind for the game, is great off the ball, and always gives 100%. So feel free to shut him down, guys, but don’t hurt him. Because I still love the guy.

Because LA had so much going on that didn’t work last year, they did some major housecleaning in the off-season. This means that there are a lot of players I have no clue about. Omar Gonzalez has been getting rave reviews as a central defender, but has also been responsible for the occasional screw-up, as can be expected from a rookie. He’s 6′5″, though, so watch out on set pieces. He already has one goal this year. Dema Kovalenko can be brutal in the midfield; if he were on my team, I think I’d love him. And Gregg Berhalter was brought in late in a desperate attempt to shore up the back line in April, and from what I hear he’s going a pretty good job of it despite being 35. And…wait… How did I not know they got Todd Dunivant?

(I am so out of touch with this team.)

I have absolutely no clue at all on guys like Stefani Miglioranzi or Mike Magee, either, although Magee scored the equalizer in stoppage time against Salt Lake.

And Bryan Jordan used to play for Portland. ‘Nuff said.

And I think that’s all I have to say about the Galaxy players. Except this: Watch out for Landon Donovan.

And now, back to Steve.

Seattle Sounders (is FC really necessary?)
2nd place, Western Conference
4-1-2 Overall, 3-0-1 Home
Home Goals Scored: 7
Home Goals Conceded: 1

Form: W L L W D

Fresh off a character-building and somewhat lucky 1-1 draw on the road, the Sounders are back in QWest field, where goals have been in short supply for visiting teams. In Kasey Keller and Ricketts, we have a match up of two stingy goalkeepers, but overall the edge has to go to Seattle on defense. Backed by a raucous home crowd, if the Sounders can manage to keep 11 men on the field (which has become a challenge this season) this is their game to lose. Let’s take a look at some keys to the game.

LA should be used to large crowds on the road by now, but this time they will not be here to see golden boy David Beckham. The energy and noise from the fans at QWest is unrivaled in the MLS, and a major factor for the Sounder’s home success.

On attack, Seattle will be without the services of Colombian starlet Freddy Montero, hit with a red card for throwing an elbow in last week’s game. How will Coach Sigi adjust? One option is to move Steve Zakuani up to the left striker spot.

Zakuani has been extremely effective starting at LM, part of an amazing rookie class. However, his natural place on the field is at LS, which could be a contributing factor he has not played a full 90 in his last two starts. It would be interesting to see how he responds with Montero suspended and if the good chemistry we have seen between Zakuani and other the rest of the midfield can carry over to a new position. Other options include shifting to a 4-5-1 with Nate Jaqua being the lone man up top. Clogging the midfield may be an effective strategy against the experienced, but slow and rickety, Galaxy middies.

We cannot talk about Seattle’s midfield without giving due props to Osvaldo Alonso, who was featured on the cover page of Seattle Time’s Sports section earlier this week. He is a cog in this team, making the defense that much more effective and providing that key link between the back line and the attack. I imagine he will be wildly dominant against a Galaxy midfield that offers little in creative attacking options.

Seattle’s defense will have its hands full with Donovan and Buddle, but after holding an attack that included McBride, Nyarko and Blanco to just one goal, I am not too worried about what has been a surprisingly solid defense, held down by center back duo Tyrone Marshall and Jhon Hurtado. James Riley has been serviceable in defense and particularly effective on overlapping runs with Evans or Le Toux on the right side.

The weak link on D is Nathan Sturgis, who showed a lack of ability to put pressure on any of Chicago’s attackers last week, giving up entirely too much space down the right flank. He may have just done enough to lose his starting job. If Sigi decides not to look down the bench to Patrick Ianni and Tyson Wahl, I would expect Bruce Arenas to test Sturgis all night long.

If Donovan gets behind the defense, like he often does, he will score. The Seattle defense was focused and organized against a potent Fire attack. Hopefully, that will carry over to this week.

Possible Lineup:

———————–Keller———————

Riley———Hurtado—–Marshall——Ianni

———————Alonso———————-

Ljungberg———————————-Le Toux

———————-Evans————————

———Jaqua——————–Zakuani———-

Key to the game: Disciplined defense to contain Donovan and Buddle. Loads of pressure by the midfield to keep the attacking duo from getting the ball in the final 3rd.

Match Up Advantage:
Goalkeeper: Seattle
Defense: Seattle
Midfield: Seattle
Attack: LA

Prediction:
Steve’s prediction: 3-2.
Seattle wins it in a high-scoring affair. Donovon picks up a brace.

Laurie’s prediction:
Laurie doesn’t make predictions before the games of teams she loves because she’s superstitious. She’ll be happy to predict the outcome after the game.

As many of you have already seen, the 2009 Sounders FC kits are out! I’ve certainly seen better jerseys… but they’re for our team… so I’ll wear it proudly. My biggest concern regarding the kits at this point is the decision to mismatch that jerseys and shorts. I personally would’ve rather seen all Green kits for home matches and all Blue for away… but… you can’t win em’ all.
Here are the Home and Away jerseys modeled by our Great Gambian Midfielder Sanna Nyassi!

You can shop the new Sounders FC merchandise here
This also works as a great Christmas gift… for everyone you know…

That’s right! There’s a strong possibility we’ll be adding another Freddy (or Freddie) to the already growing Sounders squad. At this time it looks like the Spanish Club Sevilla holds the other 35% of his contract.

If it’s true that Sounders FC hold a majority of the head-banded wonder’s contract then we have two ways of benefiting from this.

1. We get a great striker/attacking midfielder to pound in the crisp crosses from Ljungberg.

2. We’ll receive a pretty penny from Sevilla to obtain the rest of his contract rights. Then we take this new cash into the transfer market at some point.

Personally… I’m hoping for the first. Let’s hope he can come to the MLS and make a name for himself. (the picture seems a bit reminiscent of a North American CR7…)

This is the first of many posts coming your way! We’ve had a change in writers for the Sounders FC Offside. I’d love to hear your feedback… let me know how we’re doing.

So, if you’re a Seattle fans and looking to share your opinions on the Sounders with a good-sized audience, then you might be exactly who we’re looking for to captain this here Seattle blog.

The bad news is that it doesn’t pay. The good news is that it’s a lot of fun, and you get to be part of The Offside community.

If that all sounds good then please read our guidelines here and then send an email to daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com explaining why you’d be excellent.