Sounders Sign Gambian Amadou Sanyang

Today the club announced the signing of Gambian midfielder Amadou Sanyang, formerly of Toronto FC. Quoted from Sigi Schmid:

"Positionally, Amadou is a good fit for us because he can play either central midfield or in the back, he’s a good passer, a good defender, and he can cover a lot of ground."

Sanyang will certainly bring further depth to the Sounders' midfield and back line, especially with the upcoming demands of the CONCACAF Champions League and the US Open Cup.

MLS Week 20 Predictions

Friday, July 29th
Philadelphia Union - Colorado Rapids: The best in the east hosts the defending MLS Cup champion. The Rapids have had moderate success thus far in the season, but definitely have not been too deserving of the title best of the MLS. This will no doubt be a closely contested match, however. I call a tie on this one.

Saturday, July 30th
Vancouver Whitecaps - LA Galaxy: This isn't too hard of a game to predict. The Galaxy is so far the league's best this season and the Whitecaps are the polar opposite, being the league's absolute worst. The Galaxy should, unless they're afflicted by their recent scoring woes, win this match handily.

Houston Dynamo - Sounders FC: While the Sounders still have their hot streak in the regular season, they are coming off two recent defeats at the hands of the mighty Manchester United and their foes in the CCL qualifications Panama's San Francisco FC. Both losses are simple anomalies that should only be ignored, the circumstances of both matches ultimately held the Sounders from success. That said, the Sounders are definitely looking to continue their unbeaten streak and winning form against a fairly disappointing and inconsistent Houston Dynamo side. The one challenge for the Sounders in this match will be the extremely hot weather in that region of the country of late. If they can make it past that obstacle they are the team most likely to win.

Sporting Kansas City - New England Revolution: SKC is one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer of late, and the Revolution so far have only found itself in yet another season full of struggle and disappointment. SKC should easily win this, especially with the mighty home advantage of Livestrong Sporting Park.

Portland Timbers - Toronto FC: Earlier in the season Toronto was able to earn a rare victory over the Timbers at BMO Field. Portland, however, is the team that now has the home advantage and while they haven't exactly had the most success lately Toronto is without a doubt one of the league's worst. With the advantage of Jeld-Wen the Timbers should have little trouble in downing TFC.

Bob Bradley Relieved of His Duties

Today US Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced that five year US mens national team head coach Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties. You can read the full press release below:

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” said Gulati. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

This announcement comes after a meeting at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., between Gulati, Bradley and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn.

Bradley was named the head coach of the U.S. MNT in January of 2007 and during his five-year tenure compiled a 43-25-12 record. He led the team to a number of accomplishments, including winning the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finishing second in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning their World Cup qualifying group and advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

U.S. Soccer will have a further announcement on Friday."

3DS Receives Much Needed Price Drop

It seems that Nintendo has officially given up on hoping for success at the $250 price point for the 3DS. This morning it was announced that on August 12th Nintendo would drop the price tag of the 3DS by $80, setting it at the starting price of the original DSi at $170. For those early adopters that tolerated the steep price, Nintendo will offer 20 free NES and GBA games as a means of compensation. If you've been following the 3DS, you'll know that it hasn't exactly proven to be as much of a success as Nintendo had initially hoped that it would. This steep of a price drop only six months after the release of the system shows a little desperation on Nintendo's part to increase sales. This will no doubt help, it certainly makes me a little more optimistic on finally picking up a 3DS for myself. What are your thoughts?

Source

MLS All Stars Fall Once Again to Manchester United

There were hopes for redemption in tonight's rematch between the MLS All Stars and Barclays Premier League giant Manchester United, after last seasons 5-2 drubbing featuring an embarrassing defensive error only twenty seconds into the match leading to United's first goal. Sadly redemption was nowhere to be found, as Manchester United steamrolled the All-Stars once again on two first half goals by Anderson and Ji Sung Park, and two second half goals by Berbatov and Welback. Thats not to say the All Stars didn't have they're own share of chances, unfortunately much the same as other MLS teams that Man U has faced in their tour of the US they simply were not able to put away those chances. The primary issue it seems was in the midfield, correlating with the 4-3-3 formation that head coach Hans Backe was so adamant on using. The midfield simply was too open, and while Beckham did what his does best, Brad Davis (who's earned the nickname the left-footed Beckham) seemed really underutilized and as a result his impact on the game was incredibly limited.

Portugal. The Man Acoustic Live Stream Performance

Streaming video by Ustream

Apple to Release Lion Tomorrow

After over half a month of speculation and rumors, Apple has finally revealed the a concrete release date for the latest iteration of OS X: tomorrow. It was announced this afternoon by Peter Oppenheimer during the Third Quarter Financial Results call.

I will have all my initial thoughts and impressions once I get a hold of my copy in a couple day's time.

The Nil-Nil Draw Problem

So far in this season in Major League Soccer, there have been far more scoreless draws than in the past several seasons. Back in 2005 there were only nine scoreless draws, so far in the 2011 season there have been about twenty three. This problem is clearly beginning to reach epidemic proportions. What is the the first word that comes to mind when you think about a scoreless draw? Boring. Sure there may be several shots on goal and the subsequent saves on those shots by the goalkeepers, but when the match ends with no tally it simply feels empty. One of the contributing factors of this is the tendency for teams to bunker down when they're on the road, not willing to take risks and happy to simply sit back and take the single point. The teams are essentially playing not to lose.

A perfect example of this could be seen in the Sounders' home match against FC Dallas. As soon as FC Dallas got their goal, they bunkered down and put almost every single player behind the ball and simply weathered pressure from the Sounders for the rest of the match resulting in final possession numbers of 65% to 35% clearly in the Sounders favor. Sure a win was involved in this case, but this habit of bunkering makes for incredibly lopsided and boring matches of soccer. When one team is just packing their box, and the other team is just hammering away at them with little hope of getting the goal they need it just isn't entertaining.

Another potential cause for this problem is ineffectiveness in scoring and just not being able to capitalize on goal scoring opportunities. That certainly seems to be one of the main themes of this season of Major League Soccer, it seems like just about every team has at some point hit some sort of goal scoring dry spell. The Sounders certainly did earlier in the season, but those issues are clearly behind them as proven by the fact that they've scored ten goals in their last three regular season contests. Including the US Open Cup, they've scored fifteen in their last five. This issue doesn't really have that simple of a solution. Teams simply have to find their form and get in some sort of a groove, just as the Sounders have as proven by their current nine game unbeaten streak and latest proficiency at goal scoring.

The inspiration for this post.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Saturday Afternoon Blowout

Three first half goals and four second half goals made this afternoon's match between the Sounders and the defending MLS Cup champions the Colorado Rapids nail-bitingly thrilling and entertaining. Colorado's Wells Thompson got the scoring started early on in only the second minute of the match,  Jeff Parke poorly clearing the ball and Thompson capitalizing and firing past Kasey Keller. The Sounders drew level just six minutes later, Alvaro Fernandez wading into the penalty area, shaking off the Kosuke Kimura's attempts to defend and firing straight past a hopeless Matt Pickens. Colorado regained the lead just before the half, Jeff Larentowitz receiving the ball at the top of the box and pinging the ball in off of the post.

Just three minutes into the second half the Sounders struck back once again, Mauro Rosales serving the ball up to Roger Levesque who sent the ball into the back of the net with the slightest of touches with the outside of his left boot. they then grabbed the lead in the eighty second minute, the Rapids getting caught too far forward and the Sounders making the most of the opportunity. Rosales got caught with the ball in the box, it deflected straight to Brad Evans who sent across the face of goal and Fredy Montero was there waiting with a diving header to redirect the ball into the goal. The game, however, was far from over. Just two minutes later the Rapids were once again caught pushing too deep, Montero passed the ball to Rosales who was sprinting into the box and hammered it home. The Rapids managed to keep the game close at the very end off a corner kick, Keller saving the initial attempt and Caleb Folan following up on the rebound. After three minutes of stoppage time the match ended, 4-3.

MLS Week 18 Predictions

Saturday, July 16th
Vancouver Whitecaps - Real Salt Lake: One of the league's current worst teams hosting one of the league's very best. Not much to say for this one, Real Salt Lake should easily have this one.

Seattle Sounders - Colorado Rapids: Back when the Sounders visited the Rapids in April was the fateful night when Brian Mullen broke Steve Zakuani's leg. The Sounders went on to win that game on a first half goal by Fredy Montero despite being outplayed by a team that was down a man. Because of that incident, emotions will more than likely be running high in Century Link field this afternoon. Not only is there that provided boost, but also the possibility of a return of O'Brien White after being sidelined for a couple months dealing with a blood clot in his leg. On Colorado's side they have finally managed to get Conor Casey and Omar Cummings on the field on the same time, and they have definitely proven to be a lethal duo. If the Sounders can keep their heads and not enter the game over confident or flat (especially after the mid week Open Cup match) and properly contain the threat of Cummings and Casey they should have no problem coming out with a win.

Chicago Fire - Portland Timber: The Timber hosted the Fire earlier in the season at Jeld Wen and came out with an exciting 3-2 victory. Since then both teams haven't exactly been wildly successful, the Timbers having not won in seven matches and Chicago having the highest number of ties of any team in the league. Chicago will definitely be looking for sweet payback, and they should have no trouble finding it if the Timbers' poor road form continues to hold up.

Chivas USA - New York Red Bulls: Chivas pulled off quite an upset against the Red Bulls earlier in the season, getting the win riding on a hat trick courtesy of Justin Braun. New York is without a doubt looking to make up for that embarrassment, they even have so much conviction as to field their new DP keeper Frank Rost who only just arrived in the States and has barely even acquainted himself with his team mates. I have my doubts with that strategy, it could either work fantastically for them or be their downfall. Keeper issues aside, New York definitely has what it takes to get the win.


Sunday, July 17th
New England Revolution - Philadelphia Union: New England hosted European giants Manchester United earlier this week and held their own with their first team, which is no doubt quite an accomplishment. If that resilience can continue through into this match with the Union they may have a fighting chance. Despite that, though, all the odds against them. The Union is at the top of the standing in the East while the Revolution currently occupies the lowest confines of the basement. I'm going with the Union.

Album Review - Leveler

[5/5]

August Burns Red never really fails in delivering metalcore masterpieces, they certainly raised the bar with Constellations and with their latest, Leveler, they've managed to set the bar even higher. As to be expected,  August Burns Red's technicality and musicianship take center stage. They even take that musicianship to a higher level with excellent spanish guitar interludes within the album's second track "Internal Cannon".. While one might think that a bit of acoustics like that would feel completely out of place on a particularly heavier and technical metalcore, they would be wrong in thinking that. They meld and fit into with the surrounding metalcore perfectly. In fact August Burns Red completely fleshes the usage of acoustics within the song out with a fully acoustic version as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album. As they demonstrate their softer more melodic side in Internal Cannon, the increased aggressiveness of the album really shines straight away within the third track of the album, Divisions. The track starts out mercilessly, but tastefully concludes with a melodic guitar solo. That aggressiveness is well evident throughout the majority of the album, featuring numerous bass drops and even death growls from Jake Luhrs. As mentioned previously, the deluxe edition of the album features an acoustic version of Internal Cannon. Not only that, it also features an indie band's interpretation of Pangea and a piano version of Boys To Fall. Those three tracks collectively represent quite a juxtaposition with metalcore stylings of the album itself. It's quite refreshing to be honest.

Top Picks: Divisions, Internal Cannon, 40 Nights, Leveler

Sounders Continue Rolling Towards 3rd US Open Cup

Tonight the Sounders continued on their quest to pick up a third consecutive US Open Cup flying into the semi-finals, dominating the LA Galaxy 3-1 on two early goals by Nate Jaqua and Fredy Montero, and an insurance goal late in the second half by Lamar Neagle. Nate Jaqua nearly got the scoring started in the third minute, heading a ball from Montero straight into the post and into Josh Saunders' arms. He made up for that squandered opportunity just a minute later, beating the defense and just slipping the ball past Saunders. The Sounders continued looking incredibly dangerous, making the most of their possession in the attacking third of the field. They struck once again in the twenty fifth minute, Jaqua collecting the ball at the top of the box and passing to Montero who fires it home. After awhile the momentum began to shift into the Galaxy's favor, and in the fortieth minute they capitalized on that shift Chris Birchall crossing the ball across the box to Adam Cristman who banged it past a hopeless Terry Boss. The Sounders continued their domination in the second half, clinching the their semi-final berth on some brilliant play by Alvaro Fernandez who made an excellent pass into the box that Neagle pounced on and fired home.

Notes

• The Sounders face FC Dallas at in the semi-final Starfire on August 30th
• The Sounders have extended their unbeaten run in US Open Cup play to ten games
• With his goal tonight Montero has scored in each of the Sounders campaigns for the Open Cup

Timbers Fall to the Sounders

After a first half where the Sounders dominated most the of play save for some late pressure from the Timbers, the match burst into life in the second half where the Timbers got two lucky deflections and Montero nearly scored the second hat trick in the history of his club. The Timbers opened up the scoring shortly after the referee whistled the start of the second half. Timbers' midfielder James Marcelin slid the ball to a sprinting Khalif Alhassan who wove his way past the Sounders' defense into the box and attempted a cross the was knocked into the goal off of the inside of Jeff Parke's leg and trough the legs of Kasey Keller. Eleven minutes later a foul committed near the edge of the penalty area gave Fredy Montero the perfect opportunity to level the score, and he did just that. He swung the ball over the wall and it snuck it's way into the near corner of the goal past a diving Troy Perkins. The Timbers found the lead once again in the sixty ninth minute. Diego Charra found Jorge Perlaza on a breakaway as he was sprinting down the right side of the field. Perlaza made it to the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a shot that took a deflection off of Tyson Wahl that sent it hopelessly past Keller and into the Sounders' goal. Fredy Montero came up huge for the Sounders and evened the score once again just five minutes later. James Riley crossed the ball to far post of the Timbers goal where Lamar Neagle gathered it up and crossed it back across goal where Mauro Rosales settled the ball down onto the turf for a waiting Montero who hammered it in. The Timber ultimately shot themselves in the foot seven minutes later, Neagle running onto an excellent ball over the top by Alonso and getting tangled up and taken down by Eric Brunner which drew a straight red without any hesitation from the referee. With Brad Evans not on the field and Montero having missed a PK attempt just barely a week earlier, Alonso stepped up to the spot and buried the ball past a reaching Perkins who guessed the correct direction but just could not muster enough to reach it. The Sounders are now 1-0-2 in their campaign to win the fan-based Cascadia Cup and have now advanced a single point beyond FC Dallas to once again claim second place in the standings.

Match Prediction: Portland Timbers - Seattle Sounders

Being aired on ESPN, past the first meeting of these two teams, this is the MLS match of the season that is an absolute must watch. The stakes and expected energy of the match itself and animosity of the Timbers' fans will certainly make for one crazy match, one that should be of much higher quality of play than their last meeting at Qwest Field where everything was slogged down by a downpour of rain. Leading into this match the Sounders are undefeated in seven while the Timber haven't been able to win in six, but in a derby match like this those runs mean next to nothing. The three points are all there for the taking for both teams. That said, past form does have a factor. The Timbers have a crippling reliance on set pieces to score goals and also a crippling weakness when it comes to defending set pieces earned by their opponents. If the Sounders can limit set piece opportunities on goal for the Timbers, their incredibly strong back line should be able to hold off any attempts by the Timbers through the run of play. The question then is, who will step up and find the back of the net for the Sounders? As of late, just about every player on the field has scored (13 different players have scored so far this season, in fact) so that shouldn't be too much of a concern, though past Roger Levesque's brace against the Red Bulls a couple of weeks ago, the Sounders' forwards have had trouble being a threat on goal. This is definitely the perfect opportunity for Fredy Montero, or even Levesque to spite the Timbers Army, to step up and change that. Regarding past form, the Sounders should have this in the bag. But, this is a derby after all and anything can happen.

MLS Week 17 Predictions

Wednesday, July 6th
New York Red Bulls - Toronto FC: Leading into this match New York has not recorded a win in eleven regular season matches, struggling due to a roster depleted by injuries and the Gold Cup and spotty and inconsistent goal keeping. Most would think this to be the match to break that winless streak, especially with the imminent return of Luke Rodgers, but Toronto is beginning to heat up after regular season and NCC cup final victories over fellow Canadian rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps. They have also proven that they can fight back against the league's best in an entertaining 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy that saw two goals in stoppage time from both teams. This is a difficult one to call, so I'll settle with a tie.

Sporting Kansas City - Colorado Rapids: After a dreadfully long road trip to start the season Kansas City has really started to gets results and begin climbing their way up the table, going undefeated in their last ten and recording four wins out of their last five matches. Colorado on the other hand hasn't exactly been performing up to expectations so far this season having gone six matches at home with finding a win. The return of the pairing of Omar Cummings and Conner Casey, however, should go a long ways towards bringing them back into winning ways. Regardless, Kansas City is arguably the hottest team in Major League Soccer at the moment and I really don't see Colorado getting in the way of that.

Vancouver Whitecaps - Columbus Crew: The Whitecaps are by the worst team so far this season, having only managed two wins in the first half of the season and having the lowest points total at fourteen points. At this point the Whitecaps' situation is looking pretty hopeless unless head coach Tommy Soehn can orchestrate a major turn around which is doubtful seeing how literally nothing changed when he became head coach in favor of Teitur Thordarson. Their opponent meanwhile is proving to be a strong contender for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Columbus should easily be able to top the Whitecaps.

The League's Best Cancel One Another Out

Leading into tonight's match, for the past five play-off and regular season games the Galaxy has dominated the Sounders, outscoring them 11-2. Back in the season opener the Sounders fought hard and pushed, but the Galaxy left Qwest Field the victors off of a somewhat lucky goal from distance courtesy midfielder Juninho. Tonight was a different story however, the Sounders proving that they can come toe to toe with the Galaxy in a scoreless draw. While a scoreless draw isn't exactly a result any fan wants to see, it really goes to prove that the Sounders are indeed one of Major League Soccer's elite. Each had their fair share of chances on the others goal, the most noteworthy being an early penalty call on a debatable handball by Omar Gonzalez. Montero stepped up to the spot, but rookie keeper Bryan Perk correctly guessed the right direction and smothered Montero's shot on goal. There were several great chances throughout the rest of the game, but none game quite near as close as the PK opportunity. Now the Sounders look forward to a trip to Jeld-Wen field for the second leg of their face off against their struggling Cascadia rivals the Portland Timbers.

Notes

• You may have noticed the Sounders wearing their electricity third kits in the highlights video, that is the first time they've donned the neon yellow kits in regular league play.
• Right before the Sounders-Galaxy match, Real Salt Lake welcomed the New England Revolution into Rio Tinto which proved to be an exciting and entertaining affair seeing two penalty kicks and ejections, and a final scoreline of 3-3.
• Saturday Portland continued on their nose dive, conceding two goals to Sporting Kansas City in the first twenty minutes. They managed to cut the deficit in half thanks to a brilliant goal by rookie midfielder Darlington Nagby but they just could not pull even.
• New York proved their desperate need to find a new goalkeeper to rely upon Saturday night, Bouna Coundoul fumbling a perfectly controllable ball and effectively handing San Jose a goal in what was ultimately a 2-2 draw.

MLS Week 16 Predictions

Saturday, July 2nd

Portland Timbers - Sporting Kansas City: Initially it seemed that the Timbers may defy the curse of the expansion team much like the Sounders did, but their reliance on set pieces to score is beginning to be their downfall. In the run of play their attack has almost been non-existent, strikers Kenny Cooper and Jorge Perlaza often do not seem to be on the same page as well a lack of any play-making ability in the midfield. Sporting Kansas City, on the other hand, has been quite successful lately recording three precious wins in their last five matches and having gone undefeated in seven. Their defense is really starting to step up and their attack is gaining ever increasing momentum. Kansas City should have no problem leaving Jeld-Wen with a win.

Sunday, July 3rd

Colorado Rapids - Houston Dynamo: After a decent start to the season, lately the Rapids haven't been performing like the winning team that they were last season. One can't help but wince while watching the highlights of Columbus' 4-1 drubbing of the rapids last week. Three of Columbus' four goals were as a result of soft giveaways in the back, and it's not only those giveaways that's making them suffer either. The Rapids have also managed to lose a striker in both matches due to reckless challenges and their subsequent red cards. If Colorado continues breaking down in the back and losing their attacking players there is no where to go but down for them. Houston haven't exactly had the best form lately either though, recording only one win in their last five matches. Seeing last week's performance by the Rapids Im gonna have to favor the Dynamo for this one.

Monday, July 4th

LA Galaxy - Seattle Sounders: This is a big game for the Sounders for two reasons: the Galaxy is a team that they just have not been able to win against lately, and with a victory here they could become serious contenders for the Supporters Shield by being just a lone point below the Galaxy in the standings. Notably, last weekend saw the Galaxy losing both of their primary keepers (Ricketts to a broken arm, and Saunders a red card) which definitely gives the Sounders the advantage and the most opportune time in which to shake off that monkey thats been on their shoulders when it comes to facing the Galaxy. However, despite having to field a rookie keeper the Galaxy is still a very strong team offensively as well as defensively which assures that a victory will not come easily. I really can't say what the result will be, though on the Sounders current form and the fact that they lost to the Galaxy in the season opener only on a 1-0 scoreline (the Galaxy getting a wonder goal to get the win as well) certainly says that they're more than capable of competing with the Galaxy. Maybe it's because I'm biased, but I'm gonna say that the Sounders leave LA with a victory.

Real Salt Lake - New England Revolution: RSL has proven that they are one of the top teams in the league, and while they have gone through somewhat of a offensive dry spell lately, the return of Alvaro Saborio from Gold Cup duty has already proven beneficial to their attack as proven in their 3-1 victory over Toronto FC in which he netted a brace. Meanwhile New England hasn't won a match since early May and despite their efforts they just cannot get things to turn in their favor, and this match with RSL certainly doesn't strike me as the one for fortune to finally shine upon them. RSL has got this one.