Saturday, April 3, 2010

SOUNDERS FC: Team outmatched, fall 1-0 to New York



Ljungberg gets in the face of New York's Mike Petke
after a foul.
Jane Gershovich / NSS


At about this time last year the Sounders FC were mopping up a 3-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls in Seattle’s inaugural match. Oh, how the times have changed.

Seattle looked disjointed and unorganized early on and could not recover as the Red Bulls outplayed the Rave Green in a 1-0 loss Saturday night.

The lone goal came in the 21st minute off a corner kick that landed at the feet of Red Bull forward Macoumba Kandji who turned and fired a shot that bounced hard into the ground and past goal keeper Kasey Keller.

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The goal was a culmination of precise passing and extensive ball control by the visiting side, which largely controlled the first half. Conversely, Seattle came out looking sluggish, struggling to string passes together on the attacking end.

A perfect illustration of the poor communication and passing came in the 66th minute when Steve Zakuani, after having burned his man on a counter attack, fed a pass well behind Fredy Montero, who eventually gained possession only to feed it well behind Freddie Ljungberg.

Despite the often sloppy ball control the Sounders still managed to out-shoot the Red Bulls, who settled down after the goal, 17 to 10. Seattle locked five on goal to New York’s four.

But, as was often the case last season and this preseason, the Sounders struggled getting promising shots off during the shutout despite largely controlling the second half.

Although Seattle fired seven more on goal than New York, they had numerous additional chances to attack and press the Red Bulls. However, New York often thwarted a Seattle counter attack with what head coach Sigi Schmid deemed “tactical fouls.”

New York accumulated a staggering 22 fouls to Seattle’s nine, but that was nothing new to a team that was often out-fouled last season.

Keller did his part ensuring the Red Bulls wouldn’t find the net for the remainder of the game by making a few diving saves in the 12th and 53rd minute.

James Riley made his return after a red card suspension that carried over from last season. His defense appeared sharp at times, illustrated by a diving header in the box that sent him sliding on his chest with the ball bouncing out of bounds and out of danger.


Pat Noonan entered the game in the 56th
minute to provide a much needed boost over
Roger Levesque's uncharacteristically sloppy
play.
Jane Gershovich / NSS


However, he did have a few critical giveaways, including bad ball handling in the 53rd minute that led to Keller having to make one of his two diving saves.

Roger Levesque may see his starting spot slip away after inaccurate passes that killed Seattle attacks and led to counter attacks by New York, including two giveaways in the 31st minute alone.

He was subbed out early in the second half as free agent acquisition Pat Noonan entered the game, who immediately showed a marked improvement over Levesque’s play by feeding a textbook give and go to Ljungberg.

Ljungberg played forward in the absence of Nate Jacqua, who is on injured reserve. Seattle’s forward didn’t make much of an impact in the game as most of the attack came from midfielder Steve Zakuani, who showed ample speed on the outside.

Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com