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Tomorrow night the Sounders return to their previous USL home pitch at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. For some former USL and current Sounders FC players like Sebastien Le Toux, Roger Levesque, Taylor Graham, Chris Eylander Zach Scott and others, this will be somewhat of a home coming.
In addition, it is a subtle reminder of where they came from as well as the distinction between playing in a smaller and more intimate venue compared to a larger and more "major league" atmosphere like the X-Box Pitch at Qwest Field.
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The club was working out in the stadium as opposed to their training facility. Obviously, this is an opportunity for Schmid to get the club used to playing on the actual pitch where tomorrow's match will take place.
The turf at Starfire is not the same quality that the club practices or plays on at Qwest. It is more match worn and lacks the thickness and lushness which means that fans can expect to see more bounces and the ball traveling faster on the pitch than usual, which will speed up the overall pace of the match.
Random Notes:
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller was enjoying kidding with Brad Evans about being in "Cosmo Girl." Apparently the ladies have been giving Brad quite a few of their votes. Keller wasn't buying any of it and accused Evans of "stuffing the ballot box."
The lineup is not yet locked in but players that have not been in the starting lineup and gotten a lot of minutes or any yet this season are Graham and Levesque. Graham said he will be playing. Other possibilities are Jarrod Smith, Patrick Ianni and Steven King.
Quotes From Coach Sigi Schmid
Who may be playing:
"Obviously we are looking at some guys that took some knocks (at last Saturday's match). We want to make sure some guys are ready to play tomorrow. It will be a mix of some guys that played on Saturday and some guys that who didn't start but I can't tell you (the specific line up)"
On asked what he wants to see from his players:
"You want to win the game. You have 24 players on your roster, 24 professionals and they all should be able to play.I am confident that they can step out and play. You want an individual player to say "I deserve to play because what I am doing" not "I deserve to play because the other guy is not playing well" or "I deserve to play because he had a bad game"
On how much importance he and the organization placed on being competitive in the US Open Cup:
The Open Cup is important. Obviously in the history of the Sounders, it has been important as well and when you look at the franchise when it was in the USL and so forth. It is such an old tournament that I played in it (he laughs). Anytime you are in a competition you want to win that competition. It (the USOC) does have it's own portion of the schedule so it fits in mid week games. If this was a mid week league game we would have to look at the shift in our line up to see who is healthy and who is not healthy."
On what his and the players' thoughts are playing in a more intimate venue:
"It's going to be a different environment and we still expect it to be sold out. We like the feeling that when you walk into stadium whether we are playing at Qwest or here, it is sold out and so as a result, it creates a good atmosphere. So it obviously makes sense to play the game here for a number of reasons and this is where we are playing.
It is going to be unique, it is going to be fun it is going to be unique for the fans they are a little closer to the action, I think that is good because when you are sitting at Qwest and you are sitting up a little higher and you really don't sometimes appreciate the intensity and the pace of the game when you are down and and a lot closer to the field you see the intensity and you see that it is a contact sport."
Additional Notes:
In terms of the mystery of the Seattle line up for tomorrow, it is a mystery as to what Real Salt Lake's line up will be as well. Schmid said some of the players that traveled last time to play Sounders FC back on March 28th will be different due to injuries and line up changes.
Another thing that could impact the line up is the fact that for the US Open Cup only five foreign players are allowed on the roster as opposed to six. In addition, four subs are allowed instead of three. Also, if the game ends in a draw, penalty kicks will decide the final outcome, so if the game remains tied late into the match, this could have an impact on whom Schmid would bring in late in the match.
Absent from today's training was midfielder Freddie Ljungberg. Jose Romero from Seattle Times reported that Ljungberg has left the team to return to his native Sweden for his grandmother's funeral. Ljungberg was very close to his grandmother, who passed away on April 16. He's expected to be back with Sounders FC by Thursday's practice.
Seattle Sounders FC take on Real Salt lake tomorrow at the Starfire sports complex. The match starts at 7:30 and less then a few hundred tickets remain for the match.
Reach Greg Roth-Sounders Fan Insider at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
