Sounders, Matchday 4, 1-0 over Kansas City.

"Sigi, we have a problem!"

"Qwest: the Goal-less Desert"

"The Failure of the 4-man 'Switcheroo' Attack"

"Now I am just starting to get really pissed off"

These were all possible headlines for this post, then Brad Evans saw something on an otherwise innocuous throw-in, and Michael Fucito, on for all of 8 minutes, saved the Sounders from themselves.  Fucito!

Then Keller literally saved the team with his best play of the year, only necessary because the team seemed to still be celebrating with the 36,000 Faithful who's joyous relief was unlike anything I had experienced at Qwest before.

I wasn't sure how to approach this "match report."  I could drone on about things that others have already talked about, re-live the moment when Fucito salvaged the still-young season, or complain and/or analyze the Sounders' 4-man "Switcheroo" attack that seems to do everything but actually score goals.  

But, I don't have it in me.  I started out the season with the goal of writing up a brief "match-report" for each Sounders game, knowing that I would skip a few and some would be far better than others.  I consider this to be an evolving idea, and as I sit here on a Monday with nothing better to do, having had some time to digest what happened Saturday, and exhausted from a big hike at Mt. Rainier yesterday, this one isn't going to be a "report" as much as a "look ahead."

First, an ever so-brief review.  Four matches, 7 points; 6 points from 3 at home, 1 point from 1 on the road.  Five goals scored, 3 conceded.  You certainly can't win or lose the Supporters Shield yet, but you can make it harder or easier on yourself.  All things considered, things are okay (well, thanks to Fucito!)

Some clear trends seem to have continued from last season, some of them quite bothersome.  We have a big couple of weeks ahead of us, with two away matches this week, then home against the defending Supporters Shield winners, Columbus, then MLS Cup finalists and table-toppers LA Galaxy.  If the Sounders are able to shake off their lingering issues and make a serious run at League silverware, I think we will have a reasonable answer by May 9th.

But let's not look too far ahead.  This next week will be a tough one for the boys, and as always, I have some opinions on lineups.  Given the fact that the Sounders are coming off a short week to play 2 in 4 days in the road, it may be a chance for Sigi to use a little bit of that roster depth.

There are three things we pretty well know about the Sounders lineup:

1) They have no "target man" available at the moment, with Jacqua hurt and Kufo yet to arrive

2) They will not drift too far from the "Sigi's arrow," which is perhaps best described as a 4-2-3-1.  Like it or not, this is Sigi's system.

3) The attacking four interchange constantly (the aforementioned "Switcheroo"), the most "stable" position is Zakuani on the left.

Lacking the ability or impetus to do cool lineup graphics, here is my modest proposal for a Sounders starting XI for this Thursday night at FC Dallas (showing outfield players, Keller in goal, of course!):

_____________FUCITO_____________

ZAKUANI_____LJUNGBERG_____LEVESQUE

____________EVANS____________

____________ALONSO___________

GONZALEZ_________________RILEY

__________HURTADO__IANNI_______

first off the bench (barring injuries or ejections): Vagenas, Noonan, either Estrada or Nyassi

Yep, I'm giving Montero the night off.  I'm not going to want to play Ljungberg the full 90, so I pull him for Noonan; either Estrada or Nyassi will go in for either Fucito or Zakuani to provide spark and energy late, and Vagenas is included here, because while the Supporters may disagree, Sigi is going to want him out there in the late stages of a road match.

Fucito deserves the look up top, and the timing is right, and this match is BEGGING for it, what with the aforementioned 2 matches in 4 days, and 3 in 9 overall.  As for Ianni, well, Marshall is 35 and I want to given him the rest (needing him in Toronto with the "livelier" atmosphere calling for a veteran), and Ianni has showed an ability to create chances on set pieces which is quite useful.

As for Roger, well, I surprised even myself by inserting him in the lineup, and, frankly, I haven't been a fan of his efforts so far this year, but he knows the system, can play up top in the "Switcheroo" attack system, and could even move there nominally if Fucito is subbed out.  We need the Roger we had last September and October, and the way to get that back is to let him play his way into it...

So, looking ahead to Sunday:

___________MONTERO____________

ZAKUANI_____NOONAN_____LJUNGBERG

______________KING_______________

_____________ALONSO__________

GONZALEZ __________________RILEY

________MARSHALL__HURTADO_____

first off the bench (barring injuries or ejections): Levesque, Vagenas, One of the Kids...

Yeah, that's right, Stephen King!  You know, the guy who scored two Open Cup game-winners last year, barely sniffed the pitch in League play, and might just provide some spark in the "Evans" role that could help us to a big road win.  Let's give him a run-out over Vagenas, who is essentially a second holder alongside Alonso...

Except, lets face facts, the Supporters and the Coaches fundamentally disagree on Vagenas.  Talk to Steve Claire at Prost Amerika about it, please don't complain to me.  In an atmosphere like BMO (or whatever the hell the pitch in Toronto is called) Sigi is gonna want "Pass-Back Pete" in the starting XI (which is why I have him in as a sub, and Evans left out)... If you ask me, I will rage all day and all night that Stephen King needs a chance in central midfield, except I don't think it'll necessarily happen this match, it'll probably be Vagenas... lets just get on with it...

Marshall comes back from his night off, and on the whole I can see no reason to mess with the back 4.  I don't bother listing defenders as possible substitutes because generally the only way one will come off is due to injury or an ejection-induced lineup shuffle (thus my disclaimer)  As for Noonan, he is listed as one of the three subs last week and a starter this week mainly by default (this is a different topic for a different day).  "One of the Kids" (Fucito, Nyassi, Estrada) is highly unlikely to start, quite frankly, even Thursday, despite my insistence that Fucito does for that match.  

I want Levesque on in the second half up top, revisiting his "closer" striker role from late last year.  Despite 2 in 4 and 3 in 9, Alonso doesn't leave the pitch except for act of Congress (and even that i'd be tempted to ignore).  Montero comes back in after a chance to sit and do some thinking.  I will be prepared to Sub off Ljungberg for the 2nd straight match if need be -- its still April, he's 33 and the season runs through November!

So, there you go, just one guy's opinion.  I think we have learned some important lessons in the 4 matches so far, and it just strikes me as the time to try some new lineup changes.  I don't feel like I'm proposing anything revolutionary, or even necessarily solving any problems.  But it can't hurt to try, and maybe, just maybe, we'll get another "Fucito" moment or two and pull out a couple of huge road wins!