New York’s Setup: Coach Hans Backe was lacking in options up top with Thierry Henry suspended after earning a controversial red card in their tie at Portland last weekend, Luke Rodgers out injured battling Plantar Fascitis, and Juan Agudelo still with the US Men’s National Team as they prepare for their Gold Cup Final Match Saturday night. Backe elected to put Dane Richards up top fresh off his return from the Gold Cup. Richards’ first touch let him down throughout the night, and he struggled up top on his own, often having to fight off two Seattle defenders to acquire possession. He was rarely in the middle, as he patrolled either channel off the shoulder of either Seattle center back. Just behind Richards, De Rosario roamed in the playmaker role for the Red Bulls, where he drifted to either flank, deep and even up top at times. He was a key distributor for New York, and he got the ball wide to the two wings Ballouchy on the right and Da Luz on the left, who were able to send in some dangerous balls into the box. Ballouchy was often found drifting into a very narrow spot when New York had possession, but he defended on the right almost exclusively.
Lindpere and Tainio played in the central of midfield. Lindpere got forward quite a bit more than Tainio, who played just in front of the back four. Tainio was the main outlet for the Red Bull defense to begin to advance the ball upfield. At times he even dropped between the two center backs to allow the two outside backs for New York to get up the field, leaving New York with a modified back three. Solli at left back and was much more attacking minded than right back Miller. Other than that the back four did not make a major impact on the match.
Seattle’s Setup:
Sigi Schmid set up Seattle in a familiar 4-4-2 with Fucito up top and Montero just a little deeper. Fucito did his best to play with his back to goal but he lacks pace and is not a player that is able to go by people with the ball. Montero displayed his silky first touch throughout the match and was able to play a number of threatening balls, most especially to Rosales on the right. Montero has begun to show his form of last year more as of late (he had a strike of a goal on the road in Toronto last weekend to give Seattle a 1-0 win), where he was a candidate for the league MVP award. Rosales has been a wonderful pickup for Sigi and Seattle, and continued to display his willingness to make dangerous runs off the ball, especially in the first half. Fernandez seemed out of position wide on the right and was eventually subbed out for the rookie Carrasco.
Friberg and Alonso patrolled the middle for the Sounders. Both players were willing to push forward in attack, and Alonso continually displayed his unquenchable thirst for breaking up the Red Bulls attack by intercepting numerous passes and dispossessing Lindpere and De Rosario especially. The back four for Seattle stayed fairly defensive, as Scott and Riley on the left and right respectively, were unable to support the Seattle attack on numerous occasions. Scott at left center back particularly struggled in possession and had numerous giveaways, especially in the first half.
Side Note:
The first 10 minutes or so of the match was not shown on ESPN as they were showing the end of a baseball game.
10th Minute:
Rosales’ corner was headed out of the box to an un-marked Friberg. He then made a nifty turn to elude Richards who was closing hard, and then he let fly a nifty bender with his right foot into the right hand side of the goal. It was an exquisite finish for the Swede for his first goal of the season and it gave Seattle a 1-0 lead.
12th Minute:
Another Rosales’ corner was headed out, and yet again no one was at the top of the box to close out on Ossie Alonso, who lined up a one-timed low line drive perfectly that was deflected into the back of the net to give Seattle a 2-0 lead just twelve minutes into the match. Sutton, the Red Bull keeper was seen berating the referee after the goal as he felt he had been fouled on his initial attempt to punch the ball out of the air. This would be the first scene of frustration from Sutton, but certainly not the last. (In the 24th minute Sutton was seen jumping over the back of Fucito, and even though he drew a foul, Sutton seemed shaken up. Yet another sign of the poor night from the keeper, with the worst being yet to come)
31st Minute:
Fucito gave the ball away (on the Red Bull right wing) to Solli who pinged a pass to Lindpere in the middle of the field. Lindpere advanced the ball towards the top of the Seattle box and then laid off a pass to his right to Dane Richards. Richards created just enough space from the defending Scott, and let off a floating shot into the top left corner past Keller. It seemed as though Keller should have done better, as it appeared the shot caught him slightly off guard.
58th Minute:
Just over ten minutes into the second half, Lindpere played a pass to Ballouchy on the right, who laid off to De Rosario. He then drove a pass down the right flank to Solli who caught Seattle right back Gonzalez too far inside. Gonzalez recovered in just enough time to be exposed on a nutmeg by Solli, who then drove a ball into the box that was deflected past Keller by Scott, his fellow defender. Solli’s run was excellent , and he was rewarded by a pass from De Rosario that showed off the Canadian’s vision and gave the Red Bull a 2-2 tie.
The Impact of Roger “The Scuba Diver” Levesque:
Levesque came on for the ineffective Fucito in the 59th minute. It took only nine minutes for the Portland Native to flick a near post header past Sutton to give the Sounders a 3-2 lead. Tainio and De Rosario should have done better in defense on Levesque. They lacked aggression, which let Levesque beat them to the ball in the air.
Just ten minutes later Solli played a back pass to Sutton, who had a horrid first touch after Levesque shaded to the keepers left, preventing him from passing to his left back Miller, his preferred target. Levesque quickly stole the ball and gently passed the ball into the back of the net to give a Seattle a 4-2 lead that they would not relinquish.
Conclusion:
It was a shame that New York, who was already missing three key players to Gold Cup duty, was not able to have Thierry Henry reinstated for the match, as they sorely missed his playmaking ability. Despite owning more than 60% of the possession, New York was not able to create enough significant chances on goal. Sutton had a shaky night, which only added to the raucous Seattle crowds’ delight.
Seattle was willing to sit back and defend for the majority of the game. Three of their goals were on corners and the fourth on a giveaway from Sutton. Seattle continues to struggle to score from open play, and one has to wonder how much longer Sigi will continue to start Fucito up top, especially after the scintillating performance that Levesque displayed.
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