After last weekend’s big win over Cascadia rival Portland Timbers, Sounders FC returns to CenturyLink Field for the team’s only regular-season home match of the month. Toronto FC is in town with a few familiar faces and the Sounders are eager to climb up the Western Conference standings.
To preview this weekend’s tilt, SoundersFC.com caught up with Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun. Larson covers MLS and the Canadian Men’s National Team for the paper and also run’s QMI Agency’s MLS blog.
Filling the Void
I think Sigi Schmid said it this week. He expects the obvious and sees a guy like Hercules Gomez or Luke Moore to come in and fill in up top. Both could start. We don’t’ really know much about Gomez and we haven’t seen much from him since he’s come in. Moore has been injured so he may have a chance to come in and earn that third spot behind Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore.
It’s a confusing weekend for TFC and I think that’s one of the problems Seattle will have coming in to this. It’ll be hard to know what they are going to do because they are missing so many players due to injuries and international call ups. It’s up to guys like Gomez and Moore to step up and fill those voids.
Gomez Makes His Return to the Emerald City
A lot of fans here were expecting TFC to add a defender in the transfer window, but instead Hercules Gomez popped up on their radar and they saw it as an opportunity to back up Jozy Altidore, who had some injury concerns earlier this season. He brings experience and he’s hungry to prove people wrong in this league.
He feels he’s never quite gotten the recognition he deserves around MLS circles. This is a guy who is accomplished, has played for a World Cup and has played in Mexico. He told me he hasn’t garnered the respect he deserves in the United States. If anything, that’s the player I’m watching this weekend because I know how eager he is to get off the bench and play in games.
He’s rested, fresh and familiar with the environment in Seattle and knows how tough it is. For TFC’s sake, I hope he provides the leadership they’ll be missing.
Change of PlansToronto has to change their plans. First of all, TFC is missing Benoît Cheyrou, who is injured, and Collen Warner has been suspended by the league. They’re missing midfielders so they have to switch up their formation. They will probably come out with more of a defensive 4-4-2 and when they do that, it forces Michael Bradley to come back and defend more. When they have Cheyrou and Warner, that gives Bradley the space to go forward and play like a number 10 the way he does with the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Because of those absences, they have no choice but to sit in and play a flat 4-4-2. With a few defensive players missing as well, there are question marks all over the park and when you start to take out pieces, you have to alter what you do. They have to sit in and try to play for a point against a heavily favored Sounders team.
