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MLS Game of the Week

Despite Many Absent Stars, Seattle-Dallas Has Promise

As long as Don Garber continues to view FIFA international windows as opportunities to corner the soccer market, MLS is going to have subpar weekends like the one at hand. Here's your best bet.
BY Brooke Tunstall Posted
March 28, 2015
3:27 PM
THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS are missing its top player but remain the reigning Supporters’ Shield and U.S. Open Cup champions, and as such present the biggest test of the young season for an FC Dallas side looking to show it has moved into the elite neighborhood of Major League Soccer.

That's why Saturday’s matchup between the Sounders and FCD at Toyota Field (8:30pm ET; MLSLive and DirectKick) is our choice for the Game of the Week.

THE BASICS

The Sounders showed that it still belongs among the elite of MLS in a season-opening thrashing of New England that featured some of the best passing in league history. But reality slapped the Pacific Northwesterners in the face in Week 2 in the form of a 3-2 loss to San Jose that served as a reminder that its defense has holes that no amount of slick passing can cure.

With no game last week, the Sounders have now had 14 days to stew over the loss to San Jose and, more importantly, to work on shoring up its defense, something that will be needed if it hopes to beat a Dallas side that has outscored its opponents 6-1 so far this season.

For its part, FC Dallas is looking to show it is legit. Beating San Jose, Kansas City, and Philadelphia is all well and good, especially collectively and without a loss. But beating a legit contender like Seattle would semnd a definite signal to the rest of MLS that FCD have taken the next step into trophy contention.

THE SUBPLOTS

Because of MLS’ stubborn insistence on playing through FIFA’s international windows, both teams are playing shorthanded this weekend.

Seattle is without ace (or is that Deuce?) Clint Dempsey, who was summoned for U.S. national team duty. (Adding injury to insult, Dempsey pulled a hamstring training with the U.S. and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks.) And midfielder Marco Pappa is with the Guatemalan national team, leaving Nigerian Obafemi Martins without his primary collaborators and making it far easier for Dallas’ defense to key on him.

Veteran Andy Rose or rookie Cristian Roldan could start for Pappa while Chad Barrett could fill in for Dempsey. Another option for Sigi Schmid is to move midfielder Lamar Neagle to forward and start second-year homegrown Aaron Kovar at wide midfield.

Dallas, will be without leading scorer Blas Perez, who has three goals thus far but will be with Panama’s national team and unavailable for selection. Starting defender Moises Hernandez, a former U.S. youth national team player, has been summoned by Guatemala’s senior national team, which he is eligible to play for through his parents.

Starting midfielder Atiba Harris, who plays for St. Kitt’s and Nevis, will also be missing as will several reserves, substantially testing Oscar Pareja’s depth.

Look for Walker Zimmerman, a promising U.S. youth national teamer, to get a chance to step in for Hernandez while Ryan Hollingshead, a goal-scorer last week against Philadelphia, will likely get a start in place of Harris.

Either way, the fans paying full price in Dallas won’t be getting either team’s best players. Unless MLS wants to start giving discounts for games when top players are helping national federations make money, the league needs to stop playing through the international windows.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Veteran U.S. international Brad Evans is making the switch to center back this season after spending most of his career as a midfielder or fullback—and against San Jose it did not go well. Evans has all the traits—size, aerial ability, and a good reading of the game—to make a good central defender but the switch takes time. He will benefit from not having to deal with Perez but it’s not like Tesho Akindele’s athleticism and size and Fabian Castillo’s skill and pace won’t test him.

If Evans’ inexperience at his new position is exposed again, it could make for a long night for Seattle.

Dallas will need to get some productivity out of Mauro Diaz. Now in his third MLS season, the Argentine midfielder has started all three games this season without registering a goal or an assist. That hasn’t mattered with Perez on a good run of form but with him gone, Akindele and Castillo could use some help.

THE X-FACTOR

When he’s healthy, Seattle’s Osvaldo Alonso is among the best two-way midfielders in MLS and a big reason the Sounders are consistently a contender. The Cuban defector-turned-U.S. citizen missed the first two games of the season recovering from early season groin surgery. Alonso returned to training March 12 and the Sounders have been coy about his availability for this weekend. If he plays he gives the team a former Best XI player capable of shutting down opposing attacks and adding to the offense, as well.

PREDICTION

Dallas’ defense is able to contain Martins and even without Perez it has enough offense to come away with a 2-1 win over Seattle.

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.

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