Who are ya? – Seattle Sounders

By: Bob Kellett | April 25th, 2008

The Details: Portland Timbers v Seattle Sounders, Saturday, April 26, 7pm, PGE Park. Web audio broadcast, Video webcast, Spanish radio on La X 1040AM

Last season: The 2007 Seattle Sounders edged out the Timbers in the regular season, finishing 3 points clear at the top of the table with 16 wins, 6 losses and 6 draws. The Sounders went on to defeat the Atlanta Silverbacks in the USL First Division championship played in front of 4,893 at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila. The Sounders defeated the Timbers twice in Seattle and the two teams played to a 2-2 draw in their one encounter at PGE Park. After a slow start, the Sounders lost only twice in their final 20 games.

2008 Outlook
The Sounders enter the 2008 season in the strange position of knowing that championship or not this season they will still end up in MLS in 2009. They also enter with an unprecedented agreement that allows them to sign players to their USL squad and carry their contracts over to the MLS team. It comes as no surprise that with an incentive like that all 11 starters from the 2007 team are back for another go around. Seattle opened its season last Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Charleston thanks to a stoppage time goal from Kenji Treschuk.

Familiar faces:
Former Timbers midfielder and fan favorite Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar is back for his second season with Seattle. He had 8 assists in 2007. With 44 assists in 132 games in Portland, Alcaraz-Cuellar is far and away the club’s all-time leader in assists. Former Timbers midfielder Greg Howes could also return after he completes his indoor season.

Keep an eye on:
Sebastien Le Toux – The Breton forward had a marvelous 2007 campaign in Seattle, scoring 10 goals in 24 games on his way to being named league MVP. He has reportedly signed a five-year deal and is slated to make $84,000 for the Sounders MLS side in 2009. Makes you wonder how much he will be earning this season and whether he would have gone to an MLS side if the “Seattle Rule” wasn’t in play.

Chris Eylander – The former University of Washington engineering major had the tough task of filling Preston Burpo’s big, stinky shoes and he was more than up to the job last year. In the season opener against Charleston he single handedly kept the Sounders in the game.

Josh Gardner – The left midfielder absolutely gave the Timbers defense fits last season. I think Luke Kreamalmayer still sees visions of the back of Gardner’s jersey every time he blinks. Sure beats having this up the shorts picture ingrained in your mind. I need to go wash the vomit out of my mouth.

Youssouf Kante – Announced on Thursday, he may or may not be eligible for Saturday night’s game, but Kante will be one to watch this season. The midfielder is a product of the Paris St. Germain academy and the word on the street is he has some jets. Interesting that Seattle has developed a French connection.

The series: The Timbers and Sounders have played 29 times in the modern era of the NW Derby with the Sounders winning 15 times, the Timbers winning 10 times, and the teams drawing 4 times. Both sides have won six times at PGE Park and they have played to a draw twice in Portland.

Final random thoughts: What more can be said about this rivalry? The fans don’t care for one another, the coaches aren’t going to invite each other over for coffee and the players usually reserve their elbows and cleats for each other. When the Timbers and Sounders meet it is rarely pretty, and often it is the man in the middle who has the most important and most difficult task on the pitch: keeping things under control. Le Toux will be the focus of the defensive attention, but the Timbers would be remiss to give Roger Levesque much space. He seemingly comes up big every time he plays in Portland. These are two of the better teams in the USL First Division. Seattle has the fresher legs. Portland has the home pitch. It is still early in the season but this should give us an idea of where each side stands.

Game Previews (I’ll post them when I see them)
Sounders to face Timbers in Portland (Seattle Sounders)
Portland Timbers Notes (Portland Tribune)
Here comes Seattle (Portland Tribune)
Timbers Battle Northwest Rival Seattle Saturday (Portland Timbers)
Current Sounders Travel to the Rose City (Seattle Footblog)
Seattle Sounders at Portland Timbers (10 on 11)