Absence Not Bad at All for Sounders. Hopefully We Survived Too

It would be fair to say that although there was no obvious weekend output for Sounders FC, that does not mean that Sigi Schmid, Kasey Keller and co had a stress free weekend.

They had to endure that totally acceptable and normal facet of league football, watching other results wander in helplessly as your fate is decided, often by reliance on opponents who care little about your own fate.

Our weekend at Prost Amerika was not dissimilar as we battled with a potential new web host on whom we relied to provide us with a better fate than our current one. Our three day absence should tell you all you need to know about how well that went.

Sadly for us, but luckily for the Sounders Nation, our (now former) future partners to be proved less efficient and competent than Sebastien Le Toux and Julius James, and while we are more or less back where we started, Sounders FC took a large step towards the play offs with comfy shoes not football boots on their feet. However we trust you were left informed and entertained in the capable hands of SounderatHeart.com.

Is it just that Chicago Fire and Toronto used up one of their games in hand? Not at all. They used up one of their games in hand that they had, perhaps subconsciously, been counting on for all three points.

For Toronto, the fact that their loss came at the once impregnable BMO Field, and to DC United, could well prove fatal. They won’t have long to dwell on it as they have a Wednesday visit to Salt Lake to endure. It would not have been too far a stretch to say that a defeat there will end their chances of catching Sounders in eighth, but for the fact that the two sides are yet to play and it is a CONCACAF Cup game. You can be assured that every Reds fan who is doing the maths is counting on three points there to give his side any chance of making the post season.

One other reason not to write off anyone came in the form of the MLS match report on the other ‘hopetastic’ result of the weekend. Two former heroes of the Brougham End clashed in Chester, PA and it was Seb Le Toux’s Philadelphia Union who triumphed over Freddie Ljungberg’s Chicago Fire.

Indeed it must have been a massive blow to Carlos de los Cobos side’s aspirations. They are still seven points, not the expected four, behind Sounders with two games in hand to compensate for those seven. With two times three only equaling six, it doesn’t take an abacus to realise that Sounders cannot be caught by Chicago until the Seattle side themselves lose again.

However, take a look at MLSSoccer.con’s match report and the title of the article should serve as a warning to all – First ever shutout keeps Philly’s playoff hopes alive.

Seb’s eleventh goal of the season propelled him into the picture as overall league MVP when that vote goes to the esteemed members of the North American Soccer Writers.

Philadelphia have a nine point gap before they can hit that eighth place, and a bunch of horses to navigate past before they are the horse on Sounders’ shoulders (backside actually if we continue the horse metaphor). Furthermore, their final three games are LA Galaxy, New York and Columbus. We just don’t see it. But it’s nice to dream.

The loss leaves Chicago still in the hunt but needing desperately for September 25th and a crack at the Sounders to arrive quickly. It is now a must win for the Fire, although Seattle can look at a draw as a less than fatal outcome after this weekend’s boost.

With the Earthquakes and the Wizards also still to come, Chicago have at least three key games in which they can put a strong hand on their own destiny.

It is now Kansas City who have emerged as the main threat to Seattle’s post season aspirations. They trail Seattle by six and have two games in hand. A scheduling conflict with another sport militated the postponement of their home match with Houston until September 22.

That match comes in the middle of a stretch of three games in six days, with Chivas USA away and FC Dallas at home on either side. That run of three games will test their resources to the full, but they can be assured that they still have Seattle at home on October 9th in what is looming as a play-off Cup Final eliminator of sorts.

For the Sounders the weekend has brought them something marvelous. It has removed the need to win four successive games between September 25th and October 9th. That stretch included vital MLS matches against key opponents Chicago, Toronto and Kansas, all wrapped around the US Open Cup Final on October 5th.

Now they can look at a draw in at least one of the away games, as they have home victories over Kansas and Chicago to guarantee them a head-to-head advantage, both incidentally courtesy of stoppage time goals.

Both games, but probably more that in Illinois, have transformed from must-wins to must-not-loses.

Chicago, Toronto and Kansas all face tricky away games before that even happens with further opportunities to allow Sounders breathing space.

It’s just as well. Sounders next opponent, and last before that vital stretch, is away to Columbus. They will start outsiders as they did before winning 1-0 there last year. But even if Sounders are unable to do themselves a favour with an upset win, it seems there are no shortage of other sides willing to do them favours elsewhere.

Maybe Seb Le Toux leaving has worked out well for the Sounders after all!

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