With a spot in the Western Conference Championship on the line, it's win or go home this weekend. Sounders FC heads to Dallas leading the Western Conference Semifinals series 2-1, but as Head Coach Sigi Schmid has said, the club wants to play for the win to secure a spot against a Cascadia rival in the next round of the 2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
SoundersFC.com spoke with Alexi Lalas ahead of the showdown in Frisco. Lalas will be on the call this Sunday with John Strong on FS1 (4:30 p.m. PT/Radio - KIRO 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Get Ready for Round Two
In a league like MLS, you don't learn a tremendous amount about yourself, nor the other team, through a playoff match. People know each other at this point and teams know the strengths and weaknesses of each other. Now you have some simple calculations that tend to tweak how you approach games at this point in the series.
We're looking at a situation here where if the whistle blows in Dallas and nothing happens in 90 minutes, then Seattle is through. Teams recognize that defense is paramount now and Seattle knows they've done the work at home to get the win. They're happy, but they did give up an away goal. If Dallas finds a way to score one goal, they know they can go through.
A Different Seattle Sounders FC
This team dramatically changed throughout the course of the year. When you have guys like Andreas Ivanshitz and Nelson Valdez coming in and they're featuring immediately, there's an adjustment period. Despite that, this is a team that powered through the addition of players, the injury of vital players and still came out on the other side. That's not always easy.
There's still a reliance - and it's not bad, it's just the reality - on Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. Those two guide the team through in those moments. This is still a team that's continuing to evolve and get to know each other. It's not ideal that it's happening in the playoffs, but it's a glass-half-full situation; they have still been able to get to the playoffs.
This team looks vastly different in both the way it is playing and the personnel​ it has than when we started the year off. I did the opening game in Seattle and it's interesting to see what's changed since March.
Lessons Learned
You carry with you your history and experiences. There are players on both sides of this matchup that remember what happened last year. From the perspective of a coach and a teammate, you hope lessons have been learned.
I still maintain, even though Dallas fans may want to kill the messenger, that Seattle is the favorite heading into this match. It's up to them to close this out in Dallas. I base that on the talent they have amassed, the relevancy of the club and the huge support the team has. There's a responsibility and accountability that exists in Seattle and it reflects that.
20 Years of Champions
This is a league built on manufactured parity. It plays out in more ways than one consistently. It should come as no surprise to anyone that we're going to have a new MLS Champion this year. There are multiple ways and very diverse ways to be successful in this league. That's no surprise to anyone. Teams have found success using different philosophies on and off the team.
While on the surface Seattle and a team like Columbus may seem different in the way they do their business, but no one would say 'this is Columbus' to lose'. Given the pedigree of Seattle and what the team has been able to do over the last few years - and being able to get past LA this year - I think Seattle sees a path to the promised land.
I'm not telling the Sounders faithful anything they don't know. That promised land is MLS Cup. It is a missing part of this club right now.
