Kicking off the 2016 campaign on a national broadcast for the eighth-straight season, Seattle Sounders FC will be looking to pick up its first three points of the year against defending U.S. Open Cup champs Sporting Kansas City on Sunday (4 p.m. PT/FS1/KIRO 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Ahead of the home tilt, SoundersFC.com checked in with John Strong, who will be calling the match alongside Alexi Lalas live from CenturyLink Field at 4 p.m. PT on FS1.
Time to Bounce Back
It’ll be interesting to see what the Sounders look like. You have that tough match on Wednesday night and the emotional hangover of the loss. You’ve got the physical hangover of the travel and exhaustion. Brad Evans and Clint Dempsey and a few other guys got banged up a bit and I wonder if we’ll see a Sounders team that’s suffering a little bit or will they roar back. They’re back in front of their home fans and they’ll be eager to come out and get a good win to get the bad taste out of their mouths.
Get Ready for Late Match Heroics
Sunday’s game will be tight. The matches between these two teams always seem to be. Of the 21 goals scored between these teams all-time, 12 of them have come in the final fifteen minutes and eight from Seattle. There’s always late drama in these matches.
It comes down to who has the best sense of what they are right now. Rosters will continue to evolve and Seattle has a two game head start. KC might not have their full compliment of players which would seem to give the edge to the Sounders, but Seattle is still figuring out its 4-3-3.
All Eyes on Jordan Morris
We’ll be watching Jordan Morris. He’s an atypical rookie in every sense of the word. It’s his MLS debut and we’re wondering if he’ll continue to write the storybook of his last two years of his career.
He’s an obvious storyline. I’m sure the Sounders as an organization are trying to protect him, which makes sense, but nonetheless he’s a story. Most rookies don’t have nine appearances for their national team under their belt. With a Seattle front line that includes Nelson Valdez – who might be at Copa America this summer and face off against the USMNT when they play one another this year – is a cool thing.
“It’s about becoming a part of the fabric of the community.”
I think Seattle is, similarly to Kansas City, a club in the truest sense. It’s not just about what do they do in the playoffs. It’s about winning Supporters’ Shield, winning U.S. Open Cups, getting into CONCACAF Champions League. It’s about becoming a part of the fabric of the community in a big way. It’s having the USL team, having an academy that continues to produce Homegrown Players; that all being said, the one thing left to do is win MLS Cup.
Depth Matters
The thing that stood out to me about Seattle in the Champions League game was when they went to their bench – Aaron Kovar, Cristian Roldan, Darwin Jones—they’re young players. Being able to whip those young players into shape, give them more experience and build out their depth is essential.
We saw what happened last year when Obafemi [Martins] and Clint [Dempsey] were out in the summer. They had to test depth guys and some weren’t ready and some weren’t good enough. Whether they build that depth by giving young players experience or by bringing in more talent…that’s something I’ll watch this season. They have to be in a position to finally get to that last summit and win MLS Cup.
