Game Thread: (OT) MLS Western Conference Finals - Seattle Sounders vs LA Galaxy (Leg 2 - Do or Die)

[WizardHawk]

Honestly, the team had their chances and didn't get it done. It's as simple as that. Deuce had at least 3 decent touches in the closing minutes and couldn't put any of them on goal. LA didn't have that problem.

Blame the playoff system all you want, but the Sounders once again couldn't score when they needed to and that is what cost them their playoff hopes.

 

[dumbrabbit]

Honestly, the team had their chances and didn't get it done. It's as simple as that. Deuce had at least 3 decent touches in the closing minutes and couldn't put any of them on goal. LA didn't have that problem.

Blame the playoff system all you want, but the Sounders once again couldn't score when they needed to and that is what cost them their playoff hopes.

Agreed, but I'm still gonna blame the playoff system. It SCREWED the Sounders 30 minutes' worth of chances to score again.

WHY THE HELL should a draw equal a win for the lower seed??!?!?!

 

[dumbrabbit]

Actually, Seattle got a taste of how Dallas felt when they lost that game.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Honestly, the team had their chances and didn't get it done. It's as simple as that. Deuce had at least 3 decent touches in the closing minutes and couldn't put any of them on goal. LA didn't have that problem.

Blame the playoff system all you want, but the Sounders once again couldn't score when they needed to and that is what cost them their playoff hopes.

System still sucks... It stinks .. Stop bringing past games into present games ... Away goals trump home goals... fucking stupid... Just line up and play a best outta 3 so we can all enjoy it ...

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Agreed, but I'm still gonna blame the playoff system. It SCREWED the Sounders 30 minutes' worth of chances to score again.

WHY THE HELL should a draw equal a win for the lower seed??!?!?!

It's simple man.... Because there away goal was more important that our home goal... Now if you add every goal the Sounders scored from week 1 until now, and divided that by how many goals the Galaxy scored and subtract shots that hit the goal post you'll see the formula is really simple ...

 

[SeattleCoug]

The Sounders had a plenty of chances in both matches to put more points on the board and couldnt finish.

However the system is a bit ridiculous. Can you imagine a Game 7 being tied at the end of regulation but instead of playing overtime or extra innings you end it by determining away runs or points. However since this is the system it seems like its a disadvantage to play on the road first. I think the higher seed should get the 1st game because it gives them an advantage of just playing defensive and not having to worry about scoring until match 2. Oh well I guess just my 2 cents.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Honestly, the team had their chances and didn't get it done. It's as simple as that. Deuce had at least 3 decent touches in the closing minutes and couldn't put any of them on goal. LA didn't have that problem.

Blame the playoff system all you want, but the Sounders once again couldn't score when they needed to and that is what cost them their playoff hopes.

That's the thing that bothers me so much about this team. We have by far the most talent in the MLS. We should be clobbering teams, yet we struggle to score and capitalize on opportunities.

Dempsey had a couple point blank opportunities in leg 1 to score as well. There's absolutely no excuse for this team not to win it all.

Also what is up with our passing? It seems like every team we play (not just the good ones) move the ball with such precision. And when it comes to us we're constantly lofting the ball into heavy traffic praying for a lucky bounce. There are times when Frei catches the ball and there's 9 green shirts still inside our box and he launches it deep to Martins working against 3 other players just to give away possession

 

[Logicallylethal]

Actually, Seattle got a taste of how Dallas felt when they lost that game.

I actually didn't like the way we advanced against Dallas. I would have preferred it if we had settled it in OT

 

[Logicallylethal]

Agreed, but I'm still gonna blame the playoff system. It SCREWED the Sounders 30 minutes' worth of chances to score again.

WHY THE HELL should a draw equal a win for the lower seed??!?!?!

The Supporter's Shield is the single most worthless trophy ever. It gave us no edge no advantage in the playoffs. Also not a fan of the meaningless US Open Cup that goes on during the season that causes us to play like 3 games in 10 days causing fatigue and injury to players in the season.

 

[dumbrabbit]

Agreed. I wish there was international competitions instead of the continental cups, but then again, with travel expenses US teams would not play, and England and Germany/Spain would dominate.

 

[dude82]

This was the first year of the "away goals" tiebreaker. I can't remember why they decided to switch to it from the old way of doing things, but I can't imagine it'll be in place for too long. I can't see them expanding each playoff round to a best-of-3, but there's gotta be a better way to break a tie than this. What's the point of having the best record and getting a supposed home-field advantage if the winner can be decided by who scores the most "away goals"?

That being said, the Sounders knew what needed to be done to advance and had their chances to avoid tiebreakers altogether, but they missed on several scoring opportunities in the second half of this match and, as was also pointed out, appeared to get lazy with their passes once they went up 2-0.

 

[Cloud]

Sounders choked... big time. Props to LA for coming out aggressively to start the second half. All they needed was one freaking goal and they got it. Very disappointed. This is why away goals are so damn important.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Sounders choked... big time. Props to LA for coming out aggressively to start the second half. All they needed was one freaking goal and they got it. Very disappointed. This is why away goals are so damn important.

Still a ridiculous system regardless... No team should advance losing a game... Soccer is the only sport where that happens and it's the least popular major sport in the USA because of rules like this.... If the MLS wants more fans they better re-evaluate there system because there pushing fans away...

 

[Cloud]

Still a ridiculous system regardless... No team should advance losing a game... Soccer is the only sport where that happens and it's the least popular major sport in the USA because of rules like this.... If the MLS wants more fans they better re-evaluate there system because there pushing fans away...

Well, true but this doesn't make any sense since the Sounders lost the first leg 1-0. So it was technically a draw, but the aggregate system was put in place to have the away team have an advantage based on away goals. If anything, based on last night's result, there should've been Extra Time (similar to the World Cup) since the results from Leg 1 and Leg 2 is a 2-2 Draw. I still hate the away goals, considering the team playing at HOME is actually an AWAY team.

And no, I don't agree that the reason soccer is the least popular sport in the USA because of the playoff system, it's the least popular sport because it doesn't generate enough excitement and the games are usually quite boring. It has nothing to do with the playoffs system. It works in Europe.

 

[Cloud]

I say get rid of AWAY goals. Still keep Leg 1 and Leg 2, but after 90 minutes of Leg 2 and the results are a draw from Leg 1 and Leg 2, then go ET. Still tied? go PK. Simple.

Overall, Sounders had so many chances in Leg 1 and Leg 2, they just couldn't get it done! The Galaxy are just a pain the ass for this team.

 

[STBR 27]

What is really stupid is that since LA won the first game 1-0 at home, they should have just ended the game after LA scored against the Sounders here, because what's the point, they could have lost 100-1, but that one sent them to the finals. Such a stupid sport, I have no idea why anyone even cares??

 

[dude82]

What is really stupid is that since LA won the first game 1-0 at home, they should have just ended the game after LA scored against the Sounders here, because what's the point, they could have lost 100-1, but that one sent them to the finals. Such a stupid sport, I have no idea why anyone even cares??

The goal scored by L.A. in last night's game only allowed them to advance because it evened up the aggregate scoring. If the game last night had ended even 3-1 in favor of Seattle, the Sounders would have advanced because they would have had the aggregate score advantage. The way the tie was broken is ridiculous, but the Sounders had plenty of time to make sure that that goal scored by L.A. didn't matter and they couldn't score, despite multiple opportunities. They also seemed to forget how to pass without turning the ball over.