Houston Dynamo v Sounders FC Match Preview

Prost Amerika/Radio Sounders/Sounders FC Meet up Group Viewing Party – Fado, 801 1st Ave.

For the first time in their lives, Sounders FC face elimination from MLS on the day

Rather than repost material from the first leg preview, we thought it more honest to refer you to the First Leg preview, most of which is still relevant, and supplement that with a fresh article here.

Check it out here: Sounders FC v Houston Dynamo Play-off Preview (Opens in New Window)

The Biggest Day – in their Short Lives – for Se-ATTLE

For the first time in their lives, Sounders FC face elimination from MLS on the day. The do or die mentality however has been well honed in a successful US Open Cup run, which ironically included an extra time win over the Houston Dynamo. That is one of the potential scenarios today. If the game is level after 90 minutes, the match will proceed into two 15 minute periods of extra time. This will be the case whether the draw is 0-0, 1-1 or 2-2. Unlike in Europe, there is no use of the number of away goals scored to break a tie after 180 minutes.

The short lived experiment of the ‘Golden Goal’ used to decide the Euro 96 Final has never been much in favour here, so a full 30 minutes will be played in the event of a 90 minute tie. Should there be no winner after a further 30 minutes, the game will go to penalties. Unlike before the US Open Cup Final where Sigi Schmid underplayed the importance of Sounders practicing penalties, he was fairly upbeat when asked yesterday.

“We trained on penalties a little bit so we’re ready. I don’t believe in doing them a lot because for me penalties are a mental thing. Some guys take great penalties at practice and then they get out to the field and their knees buckle and everything gets shaky. And there’s other guys who can’t score one in practice but when the game’s on the line they step up and bury it. If it comes to that point, we are going to be able to pick five guys who are going to step up and put five away.”

According to Steven Goff, the highly respected soccer correspondent of the Washington Post, this scenario favours Sounders.

In an interview we conducted with him just before the Cup Final, he told us, “If it went to PKs, I think because of Keller’s experience overseas that Seattle would have the advantage…. I’ll just say that if it goes to penalty kicks that Seattle will probably win because of Senor Keller.” Not that Pat Onstad is a pushover!

Those Draws are Past Now. And in the Past They Must Remain

There is a fascinating aspect to Sunday’s clash which centres round the fact that after four matches, Houston Dynamo have shown themselves incapable of beating Sounders. One point of view dictates that each game is different, and this has no bearing. Kasey Keller seemed to place himself firmly in this camp when he said, “It’s just another game. There’s no such thing as tendencies or whatever. We just need to show up and be better than them.”

The day before, Sigi Schmid tended towards this view too, when he said, “Each game is a mutually exclusive event. It’s like the odds of probability. The chance of winning in the next one is just as high as the last one. Once the game gets going, sometimes that enters your mind. But I think for the majority of the game people view it as an independent event.”

We think the key phrase is ‘Once the game gets going, sometimes that enters your mind.’ If Sounders can either score early, or perhaps even psychologically better, deny Houston a goal from a situation where they really ought to have scored, e.g., an open goal or penalty kick, there may be a chance that Houston may start to believe they just don’t get the breaks when they play the new boys. However, Houston Dynamo are the toughest team in MLS. They are coached by Dominic Kinnear, who by now will know every Sigi trick in the book. They are road tested and experienced. They came together as a franchise in total from San Jose and know adversity. It will take plenty to put Dynamo heads down, and more to keep them there.

The Legs are Long. Fans Bring a Bong.

DUM DUM DUM DUM

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Prost Amerika has what we think is the best cameraman in the business, Joe Armand. He paid a trip earlier in the season to Houston’s Robertson Stadium to see Dynamo take on Real Salt Lake in June.

You can read about his experience and see the inevitable photographs he took of cheerleaders in Before Houston Visited Seattle, Prost Amerika Visited Houston.

Former Dynamo Nate Jaqua told us yesterday that the atmosphere off pitch can be noisy too.

“It’s a little bit more like Seattle. They have more of the rabid fans too. It’s not of the degree where they pack the stadium but their fans are good. They have a lot of energy. They’re loud, they have drums, banging on things in the end zone. They have all sorts of banners. I expect a great atmosphere and think it’s going to be a fun game.”

So Sounders fans would be recommended to keep their ears, noses and eyes wide open for the duration. Not that we are condoning the use of substances or the practice of ogling at cheerleaders. We can’t speak for Joe though!

The Meaningful Statistical Guide to the Game

Kickoff is 12 p.m. PT at Robertson Stadium, in Houston’s South East on the Campus of the University of Houston. Unbeaten with three wins and a draw in its last four games, Sounders FC are seeking their third straight away win. They have emerged victorious in four of the last five away games in all competitions.

The Dynamo were MLS Cup champions in 2006 and 2007, and lost only once at home during the regular season.

The winner of Sunday’s match will face either the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Western Conference’s top seed, or Chivas USA on November 12 or 13 for a berth in MLS Cup 2009. Los Angeles would be at home in any Conference Final, but Chivas would be away in the one leg encounter.

What We Think

A good journalist always couches his scribblings before a match in the vaguest possible language so as to put himself in the position of being posthumously being able to claim some degree of insight. So, don’t expect a “We’ll Be Welcomed as Liberators” type stream of bombast from us.

But we have gone on the record as retaining a degree of optimism despite the home draw. Sounders are at their worst when tightly marked. In the first leg, the most competent defensive unit in MLS arguably marked Sounders closer and more efficiently than any other opponent in any other game. Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell were missing for the MLS game in Seattle, as was a string of other first name choices. Other sides, notably New England have done a very good job at closing down Seattle only it was partly disguised because they put the icing on their defensive cake with a smash-and-grab winner in a match that deserved nothing better than a 0-0 finish. Chicago and Toronto too, while not being the most competent sides in MLS, achieved same. It has to be said, Sounders are not the greatest in the world at shrugging off passable marking.

But there’s a corollary. Given even a little piece of space, they can transform from being a fairly unimaginative offence to one of the best in the country. If Steve Zakuani has one of his more mobile days, real estate just seems to open up in front of Freddie Ljungberg, a world class player who needs no second invitation. Brad Evans with his form recovered is good enough to be in the right place at the right time on key occasions, and this match is just made for Nate Jaqua to stamp his name all over Sounders 2009 season indelibly. Houston need to go on the offensive. Not crazy gung-ho offensive. They are way too smart for that. But the prospect of taking on Kasey Keller in a penalty shoot out may be frightening enough to lead them to the conclusion they have to score at least once.

Against sides with even a modicum of attacking intent, Sounders are probably among the most dangerous in MLS. We think Sounders will have less possession than in the first leg, but may be able to create good opportunities with that smaller ball retention. Their ability to convert them remains the key to this match, this tie and perhaps even this season.

You May Also be Interested in:

Sounders v Houston – First Leg Photo Gallery

Jaqua: “It’s going to be a fun game”

Closer Each Day – Home and Away

Heads up Seattle. This is Far from Over

Sounder at Heart Preview

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