Ship’s Log, June 7: I want this again
It’s hard to remember the extraordinary times when the Seattle Sounders seem merely ordinary so often.
Saturday’s match against Sporting KC offers a time to see the extraordinary. KC is very bad at wide play. Seattle’s two-some that smashed Sporting in March 2023 are both healthy.
That match was an absolute thrill.
Not only was it a blowout against a team that has at times been a rival. It wasn't the miracle wins that created the BBQ Tears meme.
It was also a kind of revenge for a team that thinks it is appropriate to pick an opposing player up by the neck and slam them to the ground.
Maybe the best part of that crush of KC was that there were powerful, vibrant emotions from the Seattle Sounders. This isn’t the era of the Sounders that does that often, even when they were good.
Jordan got sparked. He counted off his goals in response to pouting fans from Kansas and Missouri.
A team that has struggled to bring life to its fanbase, and is about to play four straight weekend home games, needs that type of energy. The doldrums are real. Seattle summers are an easy time for fans to make choices to not come to games – there’s ferries to island communities, busses to hiking through beautiful mountains.
Run it back Brian. Run them over Jordan.
SKC is a team on the ropes. Pound them into submission. Revel in that.
Wing play and throughballs should be the order of the day. Running downhill is when you are your best (see Montreal, Philly).
You’re gonna get it. Everything is available to reboot the season.
See it comin’ like a train in the distance
Watchin’ everything change in an instant
Magical, feelin’ indestructible
You don’t even care what they’re thinkin’
When you don’t slow down it won’t sink in
On your own, out there in the great unknown
Run fast. Run hard. Pressure for this to be a match that demands a high pace, forcing Vermes’ mentally frail squad to guard on their heels, watching wide angles. Use every advantage you have, because you have almost every advantage.
Make us look like this again.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here's what you need to know about how our teams performed.
Sounders
Previewing the next match: Saturday at Sporting KC at 5:30 PM PDT (MLS Season Pass).
- Three questions with No Other Pod about Sporting KC
- An insider’s guide to Sporting KC
- Players take a turn devising end-of-game tactics
- João Paulo knows he’s not been at his best, vows to improve
- Léo Chú returns, but Pedro de la Vega still ‘day-to-day’
Exclusive with Adrian Hanauer
- Adrian Hanauer discusses Sounders’ off-field struggles and his budgetary philosophy
- Sounders continue to explore building stadium at Longacres
- Sounders could host Club World Cup matches
Other
- Realio’s Ratings: Pain in various forms
- MLS Fantasy Week 16: International Break Special
- Why can’t the Sounders score at home?
- Washington, Seattle among top producers of MLS talent
Reign
Next match: Sunday at KC Current at 3 pm PDT (Paramount+, CBS Golazo, NWSL+ and KONG)
Defiance
Tacoma is off this weekend.
Velocity are off this weekend.
USL2 teams
Khai Brisco from Ballard (former Sounders Academy) and Gabe Fernandez from Tacoma Stars outdoor made the USL League Two team of the month for May.
Saturday: Ballard hosts Tacoma in a top of the table matchup. Midlakes United is on the road.
Sunday: West Seattle Junction are on the road.
Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
The Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC finished up renovations to Bank of America stadium in 2021. Now they want another $800 million for their eighth project on the stadium in its 28 years.
Who owns European Football? The Sale of the Beautiful Game. One of my former coworkers helped this project.
This is a Jess Fishlock interlude.
The MVP leader in the NWSL is Barbra Banda.
At 16 I worked for Dairy Queen and was on the high school paper while being a mediocre debater. Lily Yohannes was the player of the match for the full USWNT.
Reign FC’s Emeri Adames is a very good teenage soccer player. She’s also only the 8th best teen in the NWSL according to ESPN. The league has more teens than ever, but may not have the protections needed.
Bids for the NWSL’s 16th team were due today. Boston is already team 15. Denver, Cleveland, and Minnesota are expected to file formal bids.
Bruce Arena talked about why he resigned after doing something he admits was wrong. But he doesn’t want that to be his last time coaching.
Amnesty International is pressuring FIFA on the next two Men’s World Cup choices.
FC Dallas, which plays in Frisco, a suburb, wants to do significant construction on 2/3 of the stadium.
w/ @3rdDegreeNet claiming on his pod, that not only are the sun baked East side, and the non-functioning North stage being demo'd and replaced, comes the stunning news the WEST side (press box & club) are too. Now, how will FCD play during all this? https://t.co/fBNKxpN5De pic.twitter.com/FzsnHhkGqc
— peter (@peet2) June 6, 2024
Back when TFC and NYCFC got in a fight there were a lot of allegations of things being worse than the event which caused more than a half dozen players and coaches to be suspended for matches. The investigation shows that those punishments are all that are needed.