Boca game is fools gold, as Sounders lose another league game

Yes, it was a meaningless friendly in the grand scheme of things, but the midweek win vs Boca Juniors offered the hope Sounders fans had wanted so desperately in recent weeks. The lack of goals and questions of how deep the team truly was were seemingly answered, with a 3-0 scoreline and 19 players seeing action. The match also saw solid debuts for CB Jeff Parke and CM Michael Seamon, the latter scoring a nice goal from distance to cap the scoring. The team looked sharp, and wore its new electricity jerseys for the first time. It was exactly what the followers of Sounder Nation needed.

Then came Saturday night at Colorado, and it was back to reality.

It was mostly the same song and dance, with the only difference being the Sounders didn't throw up a bunch of shots that didn't find their way in. The only save Rapids keeper Matt Pickens had to muster was on a long shot from Patrick Ianni. No offense to him, and I love his versatility, but when a team features as many offensive weapons as Seattle does, its bad news when Ianni has the only shot on target. Freddie Ljungberg did his usual routine of complaining about everything and missing every target in the box on set pieces, and Parke was beaten by Rapids forward Conor Casey who then chipped Kasey Keller for the game's only goal. It was the same old fruitless attack, although at least it wasn't 19 shots to 3 in a loss like the San Jose match.

So here we are again. Same old questions, same old non-answers. I've said it before, but Blaise Nkufo will have the weight of Seattle on his shoulders when he finally dons the rave green. At this point, is it enough? With consecutive home games against New England and DC United, teams that have struggled themselves this season, its not out of the question that six points is absolutely necessary before the World Cup break. Is it possible? Yes, but only if this team remembers what made last year so special, and rides the emotion of 40,000 fans at Qwest Field.

A couple of disturbing stats before I go:

Seattle is tied for the second fewest goals scored with 9. Only DC is worse with 7.

Seattle has taken the 4th most shots in the league, but is tied with Toronto for the fewest shots on goal.

At this rate, you'd have to expect some player movement that doesn't include Nkufo when the window re-opens.

Until next time....

Go Sounders!