Seattle conquers its road woes
In preparing for this week's blog, I had expected to be writing about how Seattle's excellent first season in MLS was in danger of being undermined by its road form. After all, heading into Saturday's game at Los Angeles, the Sounders were winless away from Qwest Field since early April, a stretch of eight games. Well, so much for that! Having been shutout for three straight games, the Sounders cooled the Western Conference's hottest side and quietly -- given the attention of the Galaxy's star men -- indicated that they have what it takes to get the important road results and sustain a deep postseason run. They certainly have the coach to take them into the postseason in Sigi Schmid, who appears to have the players' support. At this stage of the season, depth is eminently important, and it played a vital role in Seattle's latest win, considering it was without key men Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Freddie Ljungberg. With Houston set to be tested by a schedule that features Champions League play in addition to MLS games, the Dynamo's seven-point lead in the West is certainly not insurmountable. Furthermore, Seattle has two games in hand on Dominic Kinnear's side and served notice last weekend that, with MLS Cup to be staged in the Pacific Northwest this year, form on the road could lead to glory at home. Well played, young men
While Seattle is a young franchise, Toronto FC is just young. Against DC United, Toronto started five rookies, and seven of its first 11 were aged 24 or younger. A 2-0 win was an ample reward for the faith shown in the youngsters and further evidence of the fine job done by Chris Cummins at BMO Field. Having passed that test, TFC's youngsters now face even bigger challenges, with five of their next six games coming away from home. These are no run-of-the-mill road trips, either. The shortest journey is to Chicago, which is the last venue to be visited on a stretch of the schedule that also features voyages to Chivas, Seattle, Colorado and Los Angeles. The coming six weeks or so represent the litmus test for the progress Toronto has made since John Carver left the club. If it can get through with its playoff hopes still intact, Cummins' prospects for having the "interim" removed from his job title will be exponentially boosted. However, if the youth movement fails to build on Saturday's promise, the result could be a vacant coach's seat as well as another postseason-less campaign. A thing that made me go hmmm
So much for my "How will Freddy Adu fit in with Odense?" prognostications! A week after I optimistically wrote that a move to Denmark could benefit his career, the switch appears to have collapsed, leaving Adu back at a crossroads. In my opinion, given this latest setback, the next two weeks represent the most important of Adu's professional career. If he cannot arrange a move from Benfica before the European transfer window closes, the young forward will almost certainly face a further four months without competitive soccer. With Benfica's summer moves a clear indication that Adu has no immediate future at the Stadium of Light, the need for a change was obvious. Should it fail to transpire this month, the 19-year-old's stock will continue to drop, to the extent that he will no longer be seen on the radars of many European clubs. Seeing red
Finally this week, an update on one of the most remarkable stats in MLS this year: After a weekend in which six red cards were shown in as many games, the total number of players sent off in MLS this season now stands at 54, which equates to one every 2.87 matches. With more than two months remaining in the regular season, the current total trails that of the entire 2008 season (one every 3.56 matches) by just five. Fifty-four is level with 2007's final number (3.61) and has already exceeded the 44 red cards issued in 2006 (4.36). The folks in the league's disciplinary office must be the hardest-working in MLS.