P/I/P Sounders @ Houston Dynamo 5/13/23 @ 5:30pm
May 12, 2023 23:03:45 GMT
Zafiro, Holden, and 3 more like this
Post by fuzzy on May 12, 2023 23:03:45 GMT
Had some downtown which means a PIP a whole day in advance, woo!
1st place in the West Seattle goes down to play 6th place Houston, although that statement is already quite misleading - It would be 3rd vs 5th on ppg, plus Houston has 2 games in hand. If they won those they'd be tied with us. That long lead up is all to say, this team isn't a joke anymore.
Making the challenge even more difficult - Houston hasn't conceded a goal at home this season and are 4-0-1. Apparently their starting CBs will be out for this match, which will definitely help, although the true strength of their team is in the midfield.
Former Columbus man Artur is their #6 and he's still a hard tackler and tidy with the ball. He's flanked my one of Mexico's all time greats in Hector Herrera who can still play at a very high level. Herrera is very much a "secondary assist" kind of player - he doesn't get on the statsheet often but he keeps the play moving and links defense and attack. Adalberto Carrasquilla is the third man in the midfield; he's 24 years old and already has 38 caps for Panama. While not a household name, he might currently be the best of the group. Of them, he's the one who gets highest on the pitch and while Artur and HH play safer passes, Carrasquilla is the one who will be trying to make things happen.
Of course this is MLS so any team receiving praise also has a weakness and that's up front where Houston can't score goals. Houston is tied for the least goals scored of teams above the playoff line with 10. Amine Bassi leads the team with 5 goals, although four have been from the spot. The only other player with multiple goals is HH with two and as mentioned, that's not his game. Probably our biggest enemy will be the heat - tired defenders lose their focus and that's where Houston will strike. If we stay disciplined, Houston should not break us down.
On the Sounders side, I think if we're honest this is a top 4 team but not really better than that. Per usual our thin roster is getting exposed and while Waibel did his best to shore up our biggest hole in the offseason (CF) he couldn't fix our woeful depth at FB. Cody Baker looked pretty good against LAG and is in line to get his first MLS start. God help us.
Projected lineups from S@H
Sounders (4-2-3-1): Frei; Baker, Ragen, Yeimar, Roldan; João Paulo, Atencio; Morris, Nico, Rusnák; Héber
Dynamo (4-3-3): Clark; Escobar, Micael, Bartlow, Steres; Artur, Herrera, Carrasquilla; Bassi, Baird, Franco
Prediction
This game looks like a dull 0-0 on paper. Houston doesn't have much attack and while they'll likely look to attack Baker, I would expect Schmetzer to plan for this and have JP hanging out towards that side a little more than usual. That move will be a double edged sword in that it will keep Houston from scoring, but will then mean we're overrun in the midfield. Expect Houston to have 60% of the possession, most of it meaningly passing around in a horseshoe. The one bit of solice I can offer is that I'm usually hilariously wrong on these predictions so let's hope for that again.
1st place in the West Seattle goes down to play 6th place Houston, although that statement is already quite misleading - It would be 3rd vs 5th on ppg, plus Houston has 2 games in hand. If they won those they'd be tied with us. That long lead up is all to say, this team isn't a joke anymore.
Making the challenge even more difficult - Houston hasn't conceded a goal at home this season and are 4-0-1. Apparently their starting CBs will be out for this match, which will definitely help, although the true strength of their team is in the midfield.
Former Columbus man Artur is their #6 and he's still a hard tackler and tidy with the ball. He's flanked my one of Mexico's all time greats in Hector Herrera who can still play at a very high level. Herrera is very much a "secondary assist" kind of player - he doesn't get on the statsheet often but he keeps the play moving and links defense and attack. Adalberto Carrasquilla is the third man in the midfield; he's 24 years old and already has 38 caps for Panama. While not a household name, he might currently be the best of the group. Of them, he's the one who gets highest on the pitch and while Artur and HH play safer passes, Carrasquilla is the one who will be trying to make things happen.
Of course this is MLS so any team receiving praise also has a weakness and that's up front where Houston can't score goals. Houston is tied for the least goals scored of teams above the playoff line with 10. Amine Bassi leads the team with 5 goals, although four have been from the spot. The only other player with multiple goals is HH with two and as mentioned, that's not his game. Probably our biggest enemy will be the heat - tired defenders lose their focus and that's where Houston will strike. If we stay disciplined, Houston should not break us down.
On the Sounders side, I think if we're honest this is a top 4 team but not really better than that. Per usual our thin roster is getting exposed and while Waibel did his best to shore up our biggest hole in the offseason (CF) he couldn't fix our woeful depth at FB. Cody Baker looked pretty good against LAG and is in line to get his first MLS start. God help us.
Projected lineups from S@H
Sounders (4-2-3-1): Frei; Baker, Ragen, Yeimar, Roldan; João Paulo, Atencio; Morris, Nico, Rusnák; Héber
Dynamo (4-3-3): Clark; Escobar, Micael, Bartlow, Steres; Artur, Herrera, Carrasquilla; Bassi, Baird, Franco
Prediction
This game looks like a dull 0-0 on paper. Houston doesn't have much attack and while they'll likely look to attack Baker, I would expect Schmetzer to plan for this and have JP hanging out towards that side a little more than usual. That move will be a double edged sword in that it will keep Houston from scoring, but will then mean we're overrun in the midfield. Expect Houston to have 60% of the possession, most of it meaningly passing around in a horseshoe. The one bit of solice I can offer is that I'm usually hilariously wrong on these predictions so let's hope for that again.
