Matias Perez Garcia collected possession about 35 yards from Stefan Frei and set his stocky legs in motion.
Under high sunny skies, Garcia cut toward and then inside Andy Rose, turning the holding midfielder into a human pretzel. Garcia burst into the box with only reigning MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall standing between him and the net.
Garcia feinted left, then right, then left again. Marshall, rooted to the spot, could only watch then as Garcia let the shot go. Frei leapt to his right, but he never had a chance. It was a perfect strike into the upper corner. CenturyLink Field was stunned.
There was more to that goal than met the eye. It was the San Jose Earthquakes’ second on the day, driving home the final nail of a 2-0 victory in Seattle on June 20 last season. That match began the Sounders’ summer of discontent, when they lost eight of nine league games in one stretch from June to August. This game was the start of that slide in MLS, and Garcia’s goal was the one that helped light the fire.
“San Jose is a team that’s done well against us in the past,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said this week. “So it’s time to change that around.”
It probably goes without saying that this time around, Garcia won’t be able to walk into Seattle’s box quite so easily.
The Sounders host San Jose at CenturyLink Field on Saturday for the first time since that sunny day in June. Chris Wondolowski tends to earn most of San Jose’s attention from an opposing defensive standpoint, which is hardly surprising. He is, after all, the fourth highest scorer in MLS history. But there is more to the Earthquakes than simply the enterprising poacher.
In fact, Wondolowski might not even be their most dangerous player anymore.
There is of course Garcia, who’s 16th in MLS in key passes per game and can orchestrate a match from the midfield. As far as the league’s fleet of Argentinian playmakers are concerned, he’s up with the best. But he’s struggled with fitness this year, and he hasn’t started since April 13. He made a 14-minute cameo against Philadelphia last week, and the Sounders won’t know exactly how fit he is until Saturday.
The real danger may only just be waking up to his power. How the Sounders’ defensive corps deals with explosive midfielder Simon Dawkins may determine the match.
Dawkins, who re-signed for the Earthquakes as a Designated Player in the offseason, scored one of the finest goals of his career last week when he stepped around a bevy of tacklers and slotted home to give the Earthquakes a draw against Philly. Interestingly enough, that was his first MLS goal since he bagged one against the Sounders in a 2-1 win in 2012.
Last weekend was Dawkins’ third consecutive start, and he’s clearly growing in comfort in coach Dom Kinnear’s system. It helps that San Jose plays a similar direct style under Kinnear that it did under Frank Yallop during Dawkins’ last stint in the Bay Area. And with Anibal Godoy providing a solid base in the defensive midfield, the Quakes are predictably hard to break down. So it has always been, seemingly.
Seattle has its work cut out against a team with a respectable 15 points from its first nine games. The Sounders, meanwhile, have set building on last weekend’s late 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew SC as the primary focus.
Perhaps the best news is that the team seems to be healing up. Erik Friberg, Nelson Valdez and Clint Dempsey are all nearer to a full bill of health than they were a week ago, and Andreas Ivanschitz is nearing game-day health after missing last weekend’s match. That’s particularly good news, since so much of the Sounders’ run-of-play creativity has flowed over Ivanschitz’s golden left foot this season. A stint off the bench seems most likely, but even that will be a welcome addition to the lineup.
The most encouraging return might be that of Brad Evans. The captain sat last weekend after earning a red card in the previous match, and he should be ready to go against San Jose’s tricky attack. The good news for Seattle is that Zach Scott put in an ironman performance in his stead against Columbus last weekend. The 35-year-old Scott rolled back the clock and was an integral part of the defense that shut out one of the most dangerous attacking fronts in the league.
That might not create a selection headache on gameday, but it’s good to know Schmid has options at the back, even with Román Torres still on the shelf.
As for the Sounders’ attack, don’t be surprised to see the 4-3-3 continue to be the course forward with an increasingly full strength lineup. Jordan Morris’s form of three goals in three matches is probably the most encouraging piece of a puzzle that’s still admittedly a bit fuzzy.
The season is still young, and the Sounders are still doing their best to find the identity that’ll follow them through the summer and fall and into a hopeful playoff run. Exacting a measure of revenge on the Earthquakes after last year’s loss would go a long way toward defining what that’ll look like going forward.
