CONCACAF Champions League

Let me be the umpteenth domestic soccer observer and quip ‘what a difference a year makes’ when talking about the Seattle Sounders current MLS season. A year ago, their first in the league, was a rousing debut. With a 12-7-11 record, they finished with the fourth best mark in the league, a point out of first place in the final Western Conference standings. Even though they were bounced out of the quarterfinals of the MLS playoffs, they puncuated their first season in the top domestic league by winning the US Open Cup Championship. Year 2 in Seattle? Try sophomore slump. They’re just 6-8-4 and standing behind the pecking order for the playoffs. They’re just a single point out of the race, but all four teams ahead of them for the wild card spots have games in hand against the Sounders. It’s going to be a tough road to get into the postseason. Not only do the Sounders have to rip off a winning streak, considering the extra games the other challengers have yet to play, but they might need one or two of the teams above them to tank the second half of the summer.

But its not a totally lost summer for the Sounders. They’re alive and kicking in the pursuit of another US Open Cup title with a semifinal date next month against Chivas. They also have their debut in the CONCACAF Champions League tonight, with the first leg of a qualifying playoff against Matapin of El Salvador this evening south of the border. The second leg is next week, with the winner advancing into a spot in Group Play this fall. Earlier in the month, Sounder fans pondered flipping priorities and just cash in on the regular seasons to throw their energies into the tournaments instead. It’s hard to blame them for that sentiment. Take the US Open Cup. While they are an assortment of necessary results away from qualifying for the MLS playoffs this year, they are just two wins away from defending their Open Cup title. Is that important? Absolutely as it gives them an automatic spot in next year’s Champion’s League. As for the  current Champions League, their path is as tough as it gets.  After the LA Galaxy fell into a black hole last night, the MLS could use a little boost out of Seattle. If they can somehow topple Metapan, then Sounder fans will get treated to the excitement of group play as opposed to just playing out the string of a seemingly hopeless MLS season. To that end, tonight and next Wednesday against the El Salvadorians as well as the Open Cup date with Chivas on September 1 are arguably more important that whatever is on their MLS docket the rest of the summer.

However its worth noting that a lot has changed in the last month. While it might not be reflective in the standings, the Sounders are, uh, a more sound team to end July than they were at the beginning of the month. Injuries and a lack of consistent goal scoring have been a huge problem all season long for Seattle. Not only have the Sounders never once started the same first X1 unit that brought them glory a year ago, but they’ve shuffled 26 different people into the starting lineup this season.  Nate Jaqua, who tallied 7 goals and 9 assists a year ago has missed most of the year. Midfield Osvaldo Alonso has missed almost three months with an aggravated hamstring pull.  Michael Fucito and Brad Evans have missed serious time. As for those have played throughout, Freddie Ljungberg and Roger Leveseque, expected to pick up the offensive slack, hadn’t scored a goal between them through the start of July. Ljungberg has all but whined his way out of favor with Seattle and hasnt been playing recently as the team tries to transfer him.

Other than that situation, things have finally been coming together for the Sounders this month. They’re starting to get healthier. Alonso, perhaps the best ball winner on the team, is almost in top form and should play a lot tonight. Jaqua wasnt even cleared to play soccer this season until late June, and they’ve slowly worked him back into game shape. He was strong enough form to net a pair of goals against LA in an US Open Quarterfinal game earlier this month.  Levesque, though, finally tallied a goal when he headed in the game winning goal against DC United two weeks in the 89th minute. They’ve also added some additions in recent weeks. Midfielder Michael Seamon, a rookie from Villanova, has been playing all month as the Sounders have been getting better results. They’ve also perhaps the best foreign transfer during this open window not named Thierry Henry. The Red Bulls and Thierry have been rightfully getting a ton of run in the media with their American soccer marriage, but dont short sell the positive impact the Sounders might get from striker Blaise Nkufu. The Swiss National player has been tearing up the Dutch Eredivisie, scoring 114 goals in his seven seasons with FC Twente. The Dutch club transferred him to the Sounders after his World Cup run with the Swiss ended. He hasnt played much yet, but got his first start Sunday night against Colorado. While he didnt find the back of the net, it’s telling that a team that’s struggled to score most of the season, tallied twice in the game’s first 20 minutes with their new striker on the field.

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Here come the LA Galaxy cruising into tonight’s CONCACAF Champions League opener, seemingly running away with the current MLS regular season crown, a season after losing in the league’s championship game. They appear to have everything–star power, dominant keeper and league leading striker. Despite their starting point in this qualifying round, everything is in place for a deep run and Knockout Round appearance. But will the Galaxy team we’ve seen up to this point be the Galaxy team we’ll see in their first leg of this playoff with Puerto Rico tonight? 

 Obviously, there’s the Landon Donovan situation.  Over the dismay of some, the Manchester City siren call keeps whistling, last week to the tune of a reported $7 million salary for the American star. This possible transfer has been a talking point for weeks now, and if you plan on forecasting any deep run in this tournament you almost have to ponder how the Galaxy would cope in Group Play this fall without the star midfielder. I think there’s enough leftover where they could still manage enough results in their favor to squeeze out of group play, but it could go either way.  If they can swap in a talent like Ronaldinho in the wake of Donovan’s departure–something that even the owners of the other MLS teams are publically expecting to happen–then thats close enough to net zero loss, so all systems would be full steam ahead. The Donovan storyline will remain a constant until the transfer period ends later this summer. Since he can continue to play for LA, you wouldnt think it would impact the Galaxy tonight. It doesnt.

Who will Bruce play tonight, and for how long?

The allegedly exhibition MLS All Star game tomorrow night, however, is a different story. It could crater the Galaxy’s lineup tonight in the CCL. And how Bruce Arenas and surrounding brain trust juggles the lineup tonight against that backdrop would keep the line burning all day on sports radio in the leadup to the match. That is, if such a station that talked MLS soccer during their talk shows existed. Four Galaxy starters–Donovan, Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts–are starters for tomorrow night’s MLS All Star match against the travelling Manchester United squad. A nationally televised game on ESPN2, the suits at MLS would probably rather have those four players fresh for possible 90-minute efforts in an effort to get a result against a European club power.  Arenas is also the All Star coach tomorrow night. How is this going to go down? Will none of them play in the CCL? Will they try to squeeze some run out of them and how much? I doubt the Galaxy are getting anything to close to 90 minutes out of either of them. Maybe the keeper Ricketts. Whatever the line is on total combined minutes, I’m banking on the under. That said, Arenas has claimed his priorities are in order and that the CCL game tonight ranks higher on the importance scale. We’ll see because if you’ve been following the MLS in recent weeks, the game tomorrow with Man U has been getting all the hype, while barely a mention of the CCL is whispered, even on Fox Soccer Channel who will be broadcasting the Galaxy/Islanders game this evening. I guess this adds some intrigue as one of the best teams this year in the MLS takes on what’s developed into one of the lesser D2 teams this season after a stellar season a year ago qualified them for this tournament.

How will LA fare if they limit the four All Stars playing tomorrow? The Galaxy played well enough to win in the MLS without Buddle and Donovan going 4-1-1 in the matches when the pair were off on their World Cup sojourn. They were also inconsistent, especially as time wore on and the quality of competition stepped up. They twice failed to score in key MLS games in June against legit playoff contenders Real Salt Lake and Toronto. Both clubs are also two of the other three league teams playing in this event. The Galaxy were at least able to nudge out a draw against Toronto. Earlier this month, they were smoked by Seattle in the second half, the fourth MLS team in this event, during a 2-0 US Open Cup loss without Donovan, Buddle and Ricketts. They also played that game without three other starters who will be in the starting XI tonight. Seattle sat several key players as well, so its hard to put a ton of stock in that outcome when analyzing anything. It does show another example of the struggle to score in recent games without Donovan and Buddle in the lineup. The Galaxy missed a golden chance to score when Alan Jordan missed a sure goal, a finishing problem he’s flashed all season long. He’s going to be playing a ton of minutes tonight and might even get his fifth start of the season. If you can promise a goal out of him, I’d  give LA a better than average chance to at least notch a draw, and with full lineup next week for the final leg,  push ahead with a winning result then. However, he hasnt shown much scoring threat in his time on the pitch this year, tallying just a single goal and no assists. In the US Open Cup against Seattle, he whiffed on an easy chance in the first half. And, last week in an MLS game against San Jose he was a non factor in 81 minutes despite the long stretches of the game played with the Galaxy on the attack.

We already have questions about the team’s scoring acumen without their World Cup stars. We’re going to find how Read more »