Immediate Reaction: A Reversal Of Fortunes In Seattle In A 2-0 Win

by Scott Kessler on Oct 9, 2011 12:32 AM EDT in Game Day

SEATTLE - OCTOBER 08: Freddy Adu #11 of the Philadelphia Union battles Jhon Kennedy Hurtado #34 of the Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field on October 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Some notes on the game that recently end:

What a win for the Philadelphia Union. Ignore the fact that the Seattle Sounders were missing three of their best players, including striker Freddy Montero. Seattle needed this win to stay in the Supporters Shield hunt, coming off of a third straight United States Open Cup (USOC) victory. The Union, however, never seemed to want to give up on their ques for three points, despite failing to have any urgency in the final third.
Last year the Union lost 2-0 in Seattle, to start the franchise's time in MLS. This time around the opposite happened.
Freddy Adu did much of nothing other than his well finished goal, which turned out to be the game winner for the Union. Adu has struggled with both his touch, especially his first touch, and his passing. The American international seems to have lost all of his vision and passing from the Gold Cup that put him back on MLS' radar. That being said, it was a great finish for the 22-year-old.
Speaking of the first goal, Gabriel Farfan showed off similar offensive skill to his brother Michael Farfan. The starting left back attempted to push the ball past his marker in the Sounders' box, but couldn't beat him to the ball. Instead of jousting for position, Farfan moved around his marker and kept the ball in play, much like his brother Michael did earlier during this unbeaten run for Philadelphia. The pass found Adu, who put it high, making Kasey Keller unable to get to the ball.
Veljko Paunovic looked somewhat winded for much of the game and Justin Mapp did much of nothing. Brian Carroll is also a beast.

More tomorrow on the Brotherly Game on this game. Your thoughts?

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Mapp to the bench

Solid analysis, I agree with the bit about the Serbian and Mapp not getting much done. I’d like to see us get a real left back so Gabe can provide more depth to an already deep midfield.

I think Jack Mac came on and played well to close out the game, as did Okugo. Good to see they have the motivation to perform despite a lack of minutes.

Also, what was the point of bringing Migz in with a minute left? Annoy the hell out of the supporters? If so, it worked. Good win for the Union. Need to keep it up.

by EdWelshSays on Oct 9, 2011 2:37 AM EDT via iPhone app reply actions

Wasn’t MIgz just brought on to waste some time?

by dekelly on Oct 9, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Differences

The main differences I noticed:

We fought for every ball in the air – usually not our strong point
When we lost the ball (which, unfortunately we still often did), we went after it hard.
That is one thing I will say about Carroll – I don’t love his short, quick, back-and-forth passing game, but when he does lose it, he is in fast pursuit to get it back, and it was nice to see the rest of the team stepping up in the same way.
While we were up 1-0, we kept attacking.
Not nearly as much as we did before the goal, but Le Toux stayed up top forcing their keeper and D to hurry the passes before they could get set. I’m so tired of seeing our boys crammed in playing defense trying to make it another 30 minutes on a 1 goal advantage.

by three20three on Oct 9, 2011 11:52 AM EDT reply actions

Michael Farfan has become the attacking mid/winger they needed from the beginning of the season. His brother isn’t quite the left back they need, but he’s improving.

Mapp played better than I’m used to, but that isn’t saying all that much. I think he goes unprotected in the expansion draft.

Flyers, Phillies, Union, Eagles, Phantoms, Wings.

by Pelti on Oct 9, 2011 1:00 PM EDT reply actions