Sounders home opener today at 12!

[Logicallylethal]

Heading out to the Clink right now!

Gonna be a great season with a fully healthy Dempsey for the entire year, Neagle, Evans, Yedlin and new additions of Bowen

 

[Doublejive]

I forgot,drizzly day but soccer is played good in the rain.

 

[dude82]

A win today against the defending champs was big and a great way to open the new season. Hopefully the players are able to mesh well together and avoid the late-season downward spiral they went on last year. With all the in-season changes they made to the roster and the frequent roster shortages they endured thanks to World Cup qualifying, how things ended last year was probably inevitable, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

 

[Logicallylethal]

What a way to start the season with the game winning goal in the final minutes of stoppage time!

I was very encouraged to see better goalie play from Stefan Frei out there. Glad Gspurning is gone. Yedlin and Alonso were both stifling on the defensive end. Also very impressed with Yedlin's speed and big play potential.

Was very disappointed in Neagle's performance. He can be such a big time play maker for us at times but when he's not on his game his ball tend to sail and the timing on his passes are almost nonchalant.

Dempsey only played one half but he was pretty quiet out there. Matter fact he's been pretty quiet ever since he's put on a Sounders jersey. Not sure if it's chemistry, the system, or Dempsey not being as great as we initially had anticipated. I'll let the rest of the season play out first before I cast any judgement.


All in all great win to uplift the spirits of the faithful sounders fans (we deserved it being drenched in that rain for 3 hours) but the offense with so many play makers and so much talent...we should be scoring more or at least generating more consistent opportunities

 

[Logicallylethal]

Here's a link to the game winning goal

Goal: Chad Barrett Wins it Late - Seattle Sounders Football Club

I slightly take back my comment on Dempsey. Didn't realize he was the one that hit the initial header that barely went off the top post. There was so much going on and so many people jumping had no idea it was Dempsey until I saw the replay.

 

[RegentDenali]

It's got to be one of the primary missions of the sounders this year to find the right way to utilize Dempsey and get the right chemistry going.

Lots of new faces on this team this year. Hope they can get it all working together. Liked some of what I saw today. W is a great way to kickoff the season.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I managed to brave the rain and see the thrilling game. Lots of new pieces this year and it showed as they looked out of sync most of the afternoon. Honestly KC is a good team, won the MLS cup last year and I would have been ok with a draw the way things were going. Being a world cup year and losing Dempsey and Evans for some games it may be tough to get chemistry going until July. Hopefully we can hang in through the end of the world cup and then hit our stride. I think if we can tread water until then we will be in good shape.

 

[WizardHawk]

Dempsey only played one half but he was pretty quiet out there. Matter fact he's been pretty quiet ever since he's put on a Sounders jersey. Not sure if it's chemistry, the system, or Dempsey not being as great as we initially had anticipated. I'll let the rest of the season play out first before I cast any judgement.

I admit I'm not a soccer expert, but I believe Dempsey was on loan to an EPL team and only rejoined in recent days. Given he had little time to develop chemistry with his team last year and didn't play with them in the off season it's not hard to figure out where the disconnect is. Add that there are a lot of new guys on the team and there is little chance he comes in looking like he is in mid season form.

He has yet to have any quality training time with the team. It's going to take some time for him to get in a groove with the guys he is playing with.

 

[dude82]

I admit I'm not a soccer expert, but I believe Dempsey was on loan to an EPL team and only rejoined in recent days. Given he had little time to develop chemistry with his team last year and didn't play with them in the off season it's not hard to figure out where the disconnect is. Add that there are a lot of new guys on the team and there is little chance he comes in looking like he is in mid season form.

He has yet to have any quality training time with the team. It's going to take some time for him to get in a groove with the guys he is playing with.

That's really the downside to this league and the sport in general, in my opinion. With all the player movement going on, it's really hard for any team to gain and/or maintain any kind of momentum or chemistry. I'm sure that Schmid would have liked to play Dempsey for 90 minutes or at least close to that yesterday, but because Dempsey was just coming back from playing for his other team a few days ago, he couldn't. I've been watching the Sounders since they entered the MLS and I'm still not used to the amount of player movement that takes place in soccer overall and in the MLS specifically.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Im actually surprised Dempsey played at all. He played the full 90 minutes in the USA Friendly earlier in the week. But yeah the player movement with national teams makes it tough for chemistry sakes. Could you imagine Russell Wilson or Earl Thomas having to miss a game against the 49ers because they had to play for a national team. That would be nuts!

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

I hope one day Soccer changes it's playoff format… I hate this rolling over the score to the next game …. I think that format takes away the fan base from the league honestly… Why not just play straight up a best of 3 series and who-ever wins 2 moves on period…

 

[Banned 10x]

Im actually surprised Dempsey played at all. He played the full 90 minutes in the USA Friendly earlier in the week. But yeah the player movement with national teams makes it tough for chemistry sakes. Could you imagine Russell Wilson or Earl Thomas having to miss a game against the 49ers because they had to play for a national team. That would be nuts!

As mentioned above, Dempsey has been somewhat quiet since putting on a Sounders jersey and I can't help but think it's because he's playing other places. His legs can't be fresh playing in Seattle.

 

[WizardHawk]

As mentioned above, Dempsey has been somewhat quiet since putting on a Sounders jersey and I can't help but think it's because he's playing other places. His legs can't be fresh playing in Seattle.

I don't think it's as much about his legs, or his stamina at all. From what I've seen (again, no soccer expert) your front line scorers really need to have a lot of time together to get that feel for where people are going to be on specific types of plays. He just hasn't had time to develop that feel for the guys he is playing with.

 

[Logicallylethal]

It's unfortunate that there's been so many factors holding back Dempsey from truly unleashing his talent and producing for our team

But if you think about it some of the factors aren't really his fault

1) Bad luck and unfortunate bounces
- I'm not sure if there is a stat for this but Dempsey last year certainly led the league in shots that almost resulted in a goal. Last year he had so many unlucky bounces where his headers would go off the top cross, his kicks off the left or right cross, and near goals saved by the finger tips of the goalie.

Even the game winning goal to start this year. That was supposed to be Dempsey's signature game winning goal. But his header like usual hit off the top cross and ultimately became Barrett's easy tap in goal.

2) World Cup duties
- Imagine if Russell Wilson had to play for the National team and have to miss weeks 9, 10, and 13 of the regular season. Soccer like football is a game about timing and chemistry really affects your timing. Having to go back and forth like that especially with the type of pressure being on a national team brings

3) Injuries, new faces, and moving pieces
- There were certain points last year when it looked like Dempsey was on the cusp of developing that trust and chemistry with his group. Then all of a sudden an injury to Martins. When they get close again bam injury again. It's hard to develop and sustain that chemistry when there are so many moving pieces.


At this point I don't blame Dempsey yet. But if this continues again year 2 I'll start to worry.