It took a great goal from Davy Arnaud to mark what was otherwise a very forgettable game. However the season has started and an evening watching football, and enjoying good beer with friends will always time well spent.
RBP pregame
ECS tifo prior to kick off
Another Seattle icon, one that’s just turned 50 years old.
There in the center of Seattle over looking the waterfront is Pike Place Market, it’s in every tourist itinerary and people who live here shop there too. It’s a rather iconic part of downtown and a fitting symbol for a city I’d miss.
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A Scottish band with a small but rather loyal following here.Played a great show in a small Seattle club last summer. Just scratching the surface of a very rich, and world renown Seattle music scene.
Today is the first day of the A-Z challenge, the idea is to spend April working your way through the alphabet from A to Z. There are many hundreds of blogs signed up for this, everyone doing it slightly differently. I’ve spent may too many hours typing over the last couple of months and this will be told with pictures, some from my archive, some taken specifically for the challenge.
Today is about authenticity. Football fans rather look down on the game in the US and even today there are some badly run teams at the top level. However, Seattle is not one of them. The atmosphere on game day is as good as any where else I’ve been.
Last night was the Sounders first league game, another big night under the lights against a decent team. Midweek tonight’s opponents Toronto booked a place in the Champions League last four. They did this by doing something Seattle has yet to manage, beating LA at the Home Depot Center.
Coming off a 6-1 hammering in Mexico Wednesday night there were questions about what Seattle Sounders we would see. We need not have worried; this team was over the Champions League elimination and opened their league season in style.
Last week David Estrada scored against Santos, tonight he got his first league goal. And quickly followed that with two more tonight to complete the routing of Toronto 3-1. It was a very solid performance from Seattle.
The Alonso-Evans-Fernandez-Rosales midfield looked extremely confident and was in control all night. This team played a great game all over the field, at the back JKH was back to his usual steady self after a horrible game in Mexico.
It’s difficult to find any real issues, Montero was perhaps a little quiet and struggled to find space. With Zakuani and Eddie Johnson still to come back from injury, this team really could be special this year. I’m just not sure who moves aside to make way for them.
It was a very solid team performance, play like every week and there is no team they should be scared off. Next up is Houston Friday night.
Some games are bigger than others, and some losses mean a little more. Seattle getting hammered by a good Santos side feels like a big loss. It was the quarterfinal of a huge tournament, it was big game and Seattle were well beaten on the night.
There is no real way to put a positive spin on the result. JKH had a bad night, Leo Gonzales had no answer for those running at him on the left and they never had any control in the middle of the field.
Coming into the game 2-1 up after the home leg the Sounders lost two early goals, came back and going in at half time the game was level on aggregate. Then Seattle gave up 4 goals in the second half and we saw just how big the gulf between Mexican and MLS sides are.
On any given day MLS teams can compete and win, but when it comes to overall quality there is a huge gulf to overcome. When an MLS team goes to Mexico it’s not a foregone conclusion any more, but it’s still an upset when they win down there. We still expect the good Mexican teams to win, and for good reason, they typically do.
So what were the highlights? Fernandez getting on the end of a perfect cross by Montero shortly before the half is the only obvious one. Coming out at half time Seattle were still in this game, they still had a chance.
Herculez Gomez (somewhat inevitably) grabbed back the lead for Santos shortly after the restart and that was it. The Sounders were forced to look for an equalizer, and left space at the back. Santos was given too much space and they did not miss much.
They were a good side and put away the Sounders with ease.
Seattle now face Toronto at RBP. The visitors have momentum coming into this game, they beat LA over two legs and move into the last four in the Champions League.
Saturday will be a big night under the lights. The noise, a full house and a chance to start the domestic season off in the right way and put the Santos game behind them.
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A few weeks ago I spoke about a friend whose daughter is getting ready to study in London for a semester. I get quizzed daily about what’s different in England, what does she need to take and so on. It’s like she is preparing her eldest for a trip up Everest rather than to one of the most cosmopolitan and exciting cities on the planet.
Not only that there is indoor plumbing and sealed roads, at least as far north as Manchester. Beyond there lay dragons, but up to then it’s fine.
A large part of the problem is she totally buys into stereotypes, not just a little either, I mean totally. I’ve never even worn a bowler hat, let alone owned one and worn it to work every day like a city banker of 30 years ago. Yet somehow Amanda seemed slightly taken aback by this strange confession.
As I said before, this is a smart, educated woman whose view of the world seems to come from reality TV (dear god…) and the more pulpy romance novels (not the ones my friends in my writing group author, those are can’t-put-down page turners).
She was also a little disappointed that she was not going to run into the Queen picking up some groceries in Fortnum and Mason.
So today I got an instant message from Amanda, as I do most days, this time asking about queuing and why the British are so good about it. I’ve stopped asking where these things come from, the answer was invariably the BBC news. I made the mistake of saying she should watch it and maybe learn something about the country she was sending her daughter off too.
For the last few months there has been the twitter hashtag going around “#isitmarchyet”. It’s now march and that means it’s time for a couple of IPA in the Pyramid, a Diablo burger and a lot of laughing at friends wearing the fluorescent third kit (every bit as bad in real life as the photos). Then 15 minutes before kickoff, the walk to the stadium.
Opening day is special, and a quarter final of the awkwardly named CONCACAF Champions League made this one a little different.
I’ve taken part in plenty of opening days and I think what we have is real. This was a special night and what we share here in Seattle is authentic, every bit as authentic as Highfield Road, Rec Ground, San Siro or White Heart Lane. Really, the atmosphere here is as good as any other stadium in the world.
It can’t be faked.
I love the feeling of walking into the bowl of the stadium. Looking up at the lights, checking out my new seats and on my left the Emerald City Supporters are already pogoing away. Its match day at RBP, and the atmosphere is as good as any other stadium in the world.
Last night was a big game, and the Sounders played to match the occasion. I thought Seattle could come away with a win, but always felt Santos Laguna were favorites.
The result was a credit to the club and staff. Seattle clearly prepared well during the pre-season and from the kickoff too the game to the visitors. The 2-1 win at RBP sets up the second leg wonderfully, everything to play for and clearly Santos Laguna will have to look for the win. It should be a great night and I can hardly wait.
The links at the bottom of the page tell the story of the game better than I can.
I liked what I saw, they were a club able to play a good possession game, hold the ball and then attack quickly. If this is how they play all year, there is no one they should be scared of in MLS.
This could be a special year, and I know every fan talks like that on opening day, but it really could be.
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The 2012 MLS schedule was published this morning. A couple of nice surprises, a little disappointment, but over all I think it’s a good schedule for Seattle.
Prior to the MLS schedule we have the Champions League quarter final home and away legs. That has the potential to really open the season up in a big way. Win over the two games and it’s into the last four and that is a big deal. additionally, in August through October there is the group stages for the 2012-2013 Champions League that the Sounders have already qualified for, no play-in game this year. and somewhere in this there will be open cup. A fourth US Open cup in a row would be tough, but they are holders until someone knocks them out.
The league has given us a schedule that supports Seattle being successful in this competition, and that’s huge. They have a bye weekend between the two quarter final legs, and no east coast travel after the NYRB game in July.
What else do I see as good.
Disappointments are few.
A few games got circled on the calendar today and other than the Cascadia games, I think this is a great schedule for Seattle.
