In the first of his Captain's Notes, Sounders midfielder/defender/everything man Brad Evans discusses the road ahead as his side kicks off its seventh season in Major League Soccer.
This is the opening weekend. This is the time we’ve all been waiting for.
As I sit here preparing the night before and thinking of tomorrow’s game, it’s always a special time. It’s a feeling that only comes along once a year. Preparing for that opening game is a feeling unlike any other.
This will be my seventh game starting the first game for the Sounders and definitely a special time.
Last year, we were so close to achieving what we wanted to achieve… one goal shy. We actually watched some highlights today of what we did last year and that last game, the momentum was in our favor so much. So much so that as I was watching the tape, I thought, “This team I’m watching must have won that game, right?”
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It was a difficult one to watch, too. I definitely got chills watching it. If there was any motivation as to the outcome of tomorrow, it’s the feeling that we were left with at the end of last season.
In saying that, we had a great preseason, not a lot of turnover. Obviously missing DeAndre [Yedlin] is a big piece, but I also think we brought in a great addition in Tyrone [Mears] who’s got EPL experience, who is an extremely gifted and talented athlete, works extremely hard and is a big team player.
It’s a group of veteran guys and you know there’s no excuse to not do the same thing that we did last year and we hope to achieve even more. With not much change, the first game is always the chance to establish the tone of the season and tomorrow we have a chance to do that.
Last year we got the home opener at home and we won that game against Kansas City and we set ourselves up for a great year.
We have ups and downs in the season, but this game can dictate the how your season turns out. That’s the way we see it. That’s the way I see it.
That’s what we look to do tomorrow. Go Sounders!
