Sounders FC will play its second road match of the season on Sunday against one of its biggest rivals - the LA Galaxy. The two teams met four times in the Sounders final six matches of the 2014 season, including the match that won the Supporters' Shield for the Rave Green and the Western Conference Championship.
Here to discuss the contest ahead is former club captain, current broadcast analyst and recent inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Kasey Keller.
On the Galaxy's slow start to 2015:
“I think the Sounders have been a little inconsistent so far this season—that has been a little frustrating for them and a little frustrating for the fans because I think there’s a thought that with very few changes they would kick right off from last season. In LA it’s the same thing, they haven’t quite found their strides either.
Follow Kasey on Twitter
Sometimes you win a championship and it takes a while to refocus, and I don’t think LA has refocused, so in some ways it could be a really good time to go down to LA and get a result.”
On the changes to Los Angeles' roster:
“They’ve had to make some changes and some of it is that they had to clear some space to bring in Steven Gerrard in July, so I really feel this is the LA Galaxy team that is waiting to find their stride. If you catch them at the right time, you need to take advantage of that because there is an expectation that come October, they will be a team that is capable of winning the championship.”
On the solid performance of Seattle's defense in 2015:
“I think most coaches will tell you that a championship foundation is built on defense. When you can keep teams off the board you give yourself an opportunity to get a result every game. I think the Sounders last season got themselves in a lot of shootouts—they had to score late goals to get results—and I think they are trying to come at things a little more balanced.
It is obviously frustrating because they have played so many minutes at a man advantage and weren’t able to score the amount of goals we all expected, but at the same time you build a good, solid defensive foundation, and the rest should fall in place.”
