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The Montreal Impact are looking to rebound after the most recent defeat against FC Dallas. With the International break behind them, and the Sounders struggling to start the 2016 MLS season, the Impact will be looking to pick up at least one point in the Northwest. Mount Royal Soccer has turned turned towards our friends at Sounder at Heart to get some perspective on the Montreal - Seattle match tomorrow night. With no Obafemi Martins in the picture for the Impact who is going to pick up the scoring slack for the Sounders.
1. If you had to use three words to describe what has gone wrong for the Sounders so far this season what would they be?
Disappointment - Losing Martins just before the season started shattered expectations of a team that could compete in the CCL, for the Shield and the MLS Cup.
Misfortune - A crappy deserved red card, injuries, and an absurd penalty against ruined what should have been three enjoyable competitive games.
Melancholy - Or maybe acceptance. This is what the Sounders are right now. They aren't good, but they aren't awful. Only the standings are horrible, so maybe we are awful.
2. What did the loss of Obafemi Martins mean to the Sounders? Who is the player that the Impact will have to mark extra carefully this weekend in his absence?
Last year when Oba played Seattle was nearly certain of a goal in games he played. They don't have that now. While Clint Dempsey is a potential MVP candidate Martins was always an MVP candidate. Together the two were incredibly potent. Now, the offense just isn't ticking.
Most teams these days are taking the lack of options to mark Clint out of the game. If you take him out than Seattle depends on a mix of Valdez, Morris and Ivanschitz to get a goal. So far that's working.
3. Is Jordan Morris the real deal? Does he pose a legitimate threat to the Montreal defence this weekend?
He's going to have a fine season. Players don't just have the bona fides he earned in high school, the Academy and at Stanford then fail in MLS. But it may not happen at the pace of the hype train. He's a better center forward than a winger, but he's on the wing usually. He didn't get a preseason with the team due to National Team duties so he's still figuring out how to work with his teammates. In the end he'll be an 8-10 goal guy with 5+ assists. That's a great season and probably a rookie of the year, but it's no Larin.
Projected lineup: Frei; J.Jones, Marshall, Evans, Mears; Alonso, Roldan; Ivanschitz; Dempsey, Morris, Valdez