Dia De Los Muertos: Is there anything sadder than a downcast demon? Sounders fans were dead men (and women) walking Sunday at Qwest Field (AP Photo).
The victors of the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal took Tuesday off while the losers hit the training field in an added effort to put things right ahead of game 2 6 p.m. Sunday at Home Depot Center.
The injury to Seattle defender Jeff Parke Sunday has added an element of unneeded uncertainty into the team’s defensive preparations and possibly thrust former Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall into a pivotal role in the game.
Wonder if Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is already looking at that as a possible point of exploitation much as Seattle focused on veteran Eddie Lewis when Todd Dunivant succumbed on gameday to a lingering hamstring issue?
It’s already been a fascinating match-up between two of the best MLS coaches of all time and the coaching of game 2 began at the press conference of game one Sunday, that was pretty clear.
From Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid dismissing Edson Buddle’s exquisite strike as lucky to Arena playing up the role the artificial turf played in the game the coaches seem to be talking as much to their players as the fans and media when they talk publicly.
Question: Will Arena go with the tenacious and intimidating, but potentially costly (from a card point of view) Dema Kovalenko again Sunday. Seattle certainly didn’t like (attempting to cope with) Captain Disruption.
And curious to hear Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller being quoted as saying something along the lines of “great games change important games” in the wake of Sunday’s game, which isn’t too far from Schmid’s familiar “goals change games” line he occasionally uttered while at the Galaxy.
Here’s a few more Sigiisms from the Seattle Times’ blog on Jeff Parke and other stuff.
The biggest unanswered question: just how will Schmid try to find his speedy forwards space when going forward on the wide HDC pitch, which will indeed suit his team?
Attempting to exploit Eddie Lewis didn’t work did it?
