Seattle Sounders FC

[GreenHerc]

Get them Liam Miller and Adam Virgo and they can be Celtic Flop Sounders FC.

[EPJr]

CenturyLink Field Announcement

With the official announcement today, Qwest Field has officially become CenturyLink Field. There was also another big announcement that will keep CenturyLink a part of the Sounders tradition for years to come.

http://www.soundersfc.com/media-libr...ue#videoplayer

[Max Power]

With this credibility, perhaps they won't get bumped for the College World Series of Baseball.

Typing that sentence was as exciting as watching baseball.

[EPJr]

Originally Posted by Max Power

With this credibility, perhaps they won't get bumped for the College World Series of Baseball.

Typing that sentence was as exciting as watching baseball.

you mean bumped to ESPN2

[Max Power]

Bumped to the Ocho. I'm writing an article about all the "late night" games on ESPN tomorrow morning.

Bitches beware.

[Bian]

What a game that was today, pretty bad defending, but it's nice to watch a game like that when you're a neutral.

[A(Bosancero)]

I was flipping out... good result though

[manutdgatorev]

Glad I taped this honestly...it was a good game for a neutral to watch (though I always root against the Sellouts, so I guess I wasn't technically a neutral).

In any case...46,000 fans at this game. That alone is impressive right there. I know we're so used to Seattle setting the bar for badass environments, but that one tonight has set the bar pretty high. Even when the Sellouts fought back into the game, the fans were still chanting.

Seattle's tactics were pretty good too: they harried and hustled and simply owned the MF tonight. NY could barely string passes together for most of the game...just relied on Richards' speed up top for occasional through balls or DeRo blasts from long range.

[A(Bosancero)]

Our fans truly are amazing. In all sports, proud to say I live in Seattle

[Bian]

Seattle's supporters always raise the bar, and that's what we all need in this league, for just one team to continually show how "supportive" they are of their team, eventually other teams will eventually match it.

[SoundersFC]

TUKWILA, Wash. — Pat Noonan is sticking around with the Seattle Sounders. The former New England Revolution attacker’s contract with the Sounders expired Thursday, but the club announced on Friday that it signed the veteran for the rest of the 2011 season.

The 30-year-old played 21 minutes against the Revolution last Sunday, his first action in an MLS contest since July 2010.

Released by the Colorado Rapids in early 2010, Noonan played in 12 matches (eight starts) in all competitions for Seattle that year after the Sounders scooped him up.

In 2011, the veteran has been less involved as injuries have kept him on the shelf for long stretches. Healthy now, Noonan has been honing his skills in reserve matches and now feels ready to contribute.

“I’ve been feeling good," Noonan said at training on Friday. "The last month has been good. I’ve been getting good minutes in the reserve games and that’s been building into the US Open Cup and getting into the [gameday] 18 these past couple weeks. Each week I’m getting stronger and feeling better.”

A healthy Noonan can help the team in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League competitions. With the extra competitions and the friendlies in 2010, Noonan noted that it added about 10 to 15 more matches to the club’s schedule — meaning the club’s depth will be tested.

“If I’m not playing in MLS games, it’s great to have those minutes,” Noonan said.

Coach Sigi Schmid likes the veteran presence Noonan provides. He credited the player for calming the match down in Tuesday night’s US Open Cup match against the Kitsap Pumas, specifically finding space and receiving the ball in the wide areas, which opened up the field.

“He has that vision and that capability and the soccer brain that is great to have on the field,” Schmid said Wednesday. “As long as he can physically stay healthy and get his fitness fully, then he is a guy who can help any team, not just ours.”

[manutdgatorev]

Trailing the Rapids 2-1 at halftime...very undeservedly though, they've been dominating throughout.

Fernandez looking very dangerous throughout and has the goal. He's definitely been earning his DP salary this season, that's for sure. When Seattle gets Zakuani back from injury, they're going to be one deadly combo on the wings.

Don't like watching Colorado though, they're a dirty team, always trying to foul everyone and act like it's them against the world out there. Rooting for Seattle to come back and win.

[manutdgatorev]

Entertaining game...Seattle made their typical second half run and scored three straight before giving up a goal in the last few minutes and ended 4-3.

Casey went off with a knee injury and that probably threw Colorado off their gameplan a bit, but Seattle were the better team today by a good measure. Totally exposed the high line of defense Colorado was trying to play.

Seattle are definitely playing some of the best soccer in the league right now--and they're doing it by being an excellent second half team.

[Schweini_fan]

Only a point behind LA now. Hopefully they get totally embarrassed by Real Madrid and get a lose against Chicago on Wednesday.

[Bian]

Even though we're rivals, I hope Seattle wins the West and takes the MLS Cup. They deserve it. They play well, have tremendous support, and have been mostly consistent all year, it'd be nice to see someone else besides LA on top.

I watched the game against Colorado tonight, very entertaining. It seems whenever I watch Seattle play, the game is always fun to watch.

[EPJr]

Sounders sign former TFC midfielder Sanyang

Gambian teenager to provide depth in middle for Schmid's side

The Seattle Sounders have signed 19-year-old midfielder Amadous Sanyang, the club announced on Saturday.

The young Gambian, who spent two seasons with Toronto FC, will provide depth in the midfield for a club that has struggled with injuries throughout the 2011 season and is currently competing on three fronts, the MLS regular season, CONCACAF Champions League, and the US Open Cup.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...ielder-sanyang

[Celticrugby]

PK Drama highlights scoreless draw between Sounders, Chivas



Penalty kick drama (or lack thereof) highlighted an uncharacteristically exciting scoreless draw as the Sounders slugged it out with Chivas USA to split the points in Seattle.

Often the hero for the hosts, Alvaro Fernandez looked to be right on track as the DP drew a first-half penalty after Michael Umana handled the ball in the area. However, the Uruguayan sent the ball off Dan Kennedy's left-hand post, back off the keeper's back and into touch for a corner kick in the 19th minute.

“I don’t think the problem had to do with the strength. It was more about the direction," said Fernandez. "I shot right into the post, it bounced back on the keeper and out. That’s how penalties go It was not kicked that badly, but it cost us two points.”

The penalty drama wasn't over, and as the match began to come to a close, Lamar Neagle wriggled his way into the opposing area and appeared to be up-ended by substitute David Junior Lopes. Replays seem to show contact between the two players, referee Kevin Stott waved away the protests and play resumed. Sounders midfielder Erik Freiberg was booked for his protests in the aftermath of the drama.

“That kind of stuff happens, it is frustrating you know, but we had our penalty chance that we should have buried it, and multiple other chances," said goalkeeper Kasey Keller "And multiple other half-chances that our final pass to the box was off today. It’s got to be better. It’s got to be better if we want to make a run in the playoffs."

Chivas' Kennedy continued to grow throughout the match and produced two fine second-half saves on Pat Noonan and Fernandez to keep the visitors in the game and earn a big point on the road. Although Chivas USA tallied just four shots on goal, head coach Robin Fraser was pleased with the result.

"At the end of the day given the fact that both teams played well at times," said Fraser. "They created more dangerous chances than we did. Given all those facts I can live with one point."

The Sounders will now look ahead to their CONCACAF Champions League match on Tuesday against Comunicationes while Chivas USA travel to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

[EPJr]

Sounders pick up ex-US youth forward Sammy Ochoa

Seattle trade up allocation rankings to reunite striker with Schmid

The Seattle Sounders traded up the allocation rankings and on Friday claimed former US youth international Sammy Ochoa, who signed an MLS contract earlier this week after spending the last five years in Mexico's Priméra División with Estudiantes Tecos.

Seattle traded their 2012 third-round SuperDraft pick to the Chicago Fire in a swap of allocation ranking spots. The Sounders, who were previously positioned at No. 6, used the Fire's No. 4 slot to land Ochoa.

The soon-to-be 25-year-old will be reunited in Seattle with his former US Under-20 manager, Sigi Schmid, after working out with the Sounders back in June and featuring in Reserve League action for the club. He will become the second Ochoa to play for Schmid, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Jesús, who played for Schmid at the LA Galaxy.

"We're happy to have Sammy join our team because it gives us a little more depth at forward," Schmid said in a club statement. "He did well when he was here on his trial. Now it's just a matter of getting him fit and getting his game legs and he could help us."

Ochoa is a Mexican-American who attended Riverside Poly High School near Los Angeles and debuted for Tecos back in February 2006. He scored just three goals over the course of several seasons of spot duty in Mexico.

"He's a good back-to-goal player and a good finisher around the box," Schmid added. "Those are qualities that he's had. In all his time in Mexico he was in and out of the lineup because they had so many head coaches. So it was tough to establish a rhythm."

The striker played for Schmid's US Under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and featured for Peter Nowak's US Under-23 side in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Five clubs passed on the opportunity to claim Ochoa in the allocation rankings, including LA-based Chivas USA, who held the No. 1 allocation pick. By picking up the player, Seattle drop to the bottom of the allocation rankings, which is determined by reverse order of finish in the previous MLS campaign. It's reset after every season and looks like this as of Friday:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...rd-sammy-ochoa

[Bian]

Is he related to Guillermo? They both look alike.

[manutdgatorev]

Sounders smack that ass just now: 6-2 win over the Crew.

Pretty impressive stuff and surprisingly (given the scoreline) a great game. The Crew kept themselves in it and were attacking throughout. Cunningham became the all-time leading goalscorer in MLS history with a PK goal in the second half.

[Bian]

I saw that score and almost swallowed my tongue. Even though we're rivals, I kind of hope Seattle win the MLS Cup, they deserve it the way they've played this season.

[manutdgatorev]

Originally Posted by Bian

I saw that score and almost swallowed my tongue. Even though we're rivals, I kind of hope Seattle win the MLS Cup, they deserve it the way they've played this season.

I like them because they play the game in the "right" way.

LA, for all their talent, play similar to a Mourinho-coached Chelsea team: get up a goal and grind out a result. Very little attacking flair, very little desire to go for more.

Seattle at least aim to attack (and score) throughout the game. They aren't the only team in MLS to do this (I'd say the majority of MLS teams have a similar mentality), but it's far easier to root for them over the Galaxy.

Plus, you have to want to "root" for a team that has such incredible fan support. Seattle already have some of the best fans in MLS...give them a championship? The sky's the limit.

And if Seattle raises the bar...you know Portland and Vancouver aren't going to be too far behind. Bringing in the Cascadian teams has been one of the best things the league has done in many, many years.

[Bian]

Portland will be good next year, they had a poor start this year and that's what killed them. They're tied with New York in the overall table, they could get into the playoffs. Seattle vs Portland is going to be incredible next season, especially if the away allocation is raised from 500 to something over 1000.

As for Vancouver, while we sucked this year, with Rennie coming in, and (from what he says) with him revamping the squad, we could compete for playoffs next season. Southsiders membership has increased from 100 to over 700 and the FIRST MLS season isn't even over yet. Next year we could break 1000. Unfortunately, a lot of our members don't live in the Vancouver area. Nonetheless, our attendance should stay where it is.

Cascadian teams will surely increase MLS popularity, we're raising the bar as a whole. Hopefully other teams can follow us.

[Max Power]

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Over the last two seasons in Major League Soccer, the Sounders FC established themselves as one of the top teams in the league.

Saturday night in Vancouver, they showed that they were the top team in Cascadia as well, topping the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-1 to take the Cascadia Cup in the first season that the cup was awarded in MLS play after the Whitecaps and Portland Timbers joined the league as expansion clubs this season.

The win clinched the Cascadia Cup for the Sounders and also moved them into sole possession of second place in MLS at 15-6-9 (54 points).

http://www.soundersfc.com/News/Artic...Vancouver.aspx

[A(Bosancero)]

Sounders are the only good sports team in Seattle... Depressing... but I don't like watching MLS very much.