Sounders Gift Toronto Three Points in Sloppy Second Match of the Season

1. I'd like to thank the elderly gentleman in the white Prius on Northbound I-5 on the way to the match for steadfastly enforcing the 60 mph speed limit in the "fast lane" (you know, the one in which it is actually illegal to block faster traffic in). Sir, your devotion to the speed limit is admirable. Hopefully, few lives were lost in any traffic accidents caused by the many cars that were forced to shift lanes to get around your one-car crusade.
2. On to the game. The Sounders started brightly in the first 15 minutes, controlling much of the possession and seemingly working their way towards something good in the Toronto end. And then, Marco Pappa went to work.
3. Toronto's best player by a long shot had two assists to Jermain Defoe, as the Lillipudlian striker from England cleanly slotted home the gifts provided by Marco Pappa Don't Backpass. The backline was culpable on both goals, as well, but giveaways in our own half are a bad place to start defending. 
4. Team Chemistry and headspace. For those that thought EJ was the sole cause and cure of Seattle's odious chemistry last season, I encourage you to watch the replay of this match. After the 2nd goal, the team was out of sorts, players were looking frostily at each other (Oba helpfully asked Pappa WTF he was doing) and the squad checked out of the game for the rest of the half. Yes, EJ had to go, but let's not kid ourselves that the club fixed the problem. This squad looks just as brittle as last season and just as liable to go on a nine-game winless streak at the wrong time.
5. Which brings me to what EJ took with him to DC: an aerial presence and the ability to score headed goals. We are sorely lacking any significant presence in that area. True to form, the team continues to whip balls in to the box to a significantly overmatched forward, regardless. Does anyone think Oba is going to be outjumping 6-foot-plus center backs and heading balls into the goal or into the path of teammates? Whether it's Fredy Montero, Estrada or other vertically challenged forward players, Sigi's Sounders have consistently relied on aerial service to a frontline that is not well-suited for that game. It's getting old.
6. At times, Oba looked like a mini-Nkufo. By that, I mean disinterested, thinking of retiring on a beach somewhere, while a game or something passing for a football game raged around him. This is a player I like a tremendous amount. He's quick, inventive and a goal-poacher. Last season, if when he wasn't scoring goals, he worked his ass off on both sides of the ball. In the first two games, he has looked a passenger to me, and that's worrisome. When the team put TFC under some pressure in the 2nd half, the old Oba returned, and his play on the Dempsey goal was a reminder of what he offers the game. The coach needs to get Oba in gear and soon.
7. Sloppiness. The Sounders profligacy with the ball was the defining characteristic of the match. I'm sure at some point during the 1st half, they had a higher pass completion rate to TFC players than to other Sounders. That speaks of a team ill-prepared for the game and not on the same page.
8. At halftime I concluded that there must've been a worse 45 minutes of Sounders football, but I couldn't think of what it would be. After some consideration, I'd say it was the debacle in LA last year. Of course, not having traveled to LA, I wasn't forced to watch that unfold in front of me like some waking nightmare. 
9. Too soon for the Sigi Out campaign? Yeah, probably. Two games in is too soon. But you could sense the accumulated frustration and brittleness of the fans today. And there were plenty of boos at halftime. The Sounders fanbase is losing faith in the Sounders coaching staff and front office. That fading margin of support is dangerous for a club that has underperformed for several seasons and hasn't won any silverware in recent seasons. We're not a big market club. Our strongest asset is the incredible fanbase. A few more games like this and the atmosphere is likely to get nasty and some fans will decide they have better things to do on a Saturday afternoon than watch the Sounders gift three points to a perennial MLS doormat.

North London Derby Only Disappoints Spurs Fans

Arsenal 2-Tottenham 0
3rd Round FA Cup

1. Arsene Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal just about 100 days fewer than all 19 other managers combined. Long coat, long tenure. Today was a day that stick-to-it-iveness seems like a good idea. Although, the 2-0 victory seemed farther apart than it did for large parts of the game, the gulf between the two teams was pretty large.
2. Arsenal put out a weakened side, though not as weak as they usually do in the lesser cups. No Giroud and Walcott up front in a false 9. No BFG, or Ozil, and Fabianski between the sticks. Of course, Spurs put Adebayor on the field, so there's that...Speaking of the big oaf, he was crap. He didn't even get to the point of attempting, let alone missing a sitter.
3. Midfield domination trumps two strikers. Gunners midfielders ran rampant through most of the match. Apart from the man advantage in the midfield on paper, several Spurs players didn't cover themselves in glory on the defensive side of the ball. Yes, I'm talking to you Christian Erikksen, Kyle Walker, Moussa Dembele. Arsenal's midfielders, OTOH, were pressing quickly and effectively.
4. Rosicky. Both the Czech and Santi Cazorla were very good today, but Rosicky deserves special mention. He has been bright and lively whenever he's come onto the field this season, and it was a thing of beauty for Gunners to see him pick Danny Rose at midfield and scamper half the field to chip deliciously over Lloris for the insurance goal. What might've been if not for those missing 18 months.
5. Was I the only one who's nerves were calmed when the BFG came on at halftime. I love Thomas Vermaelen's intensity, but I always feel he's one challenge or one bad decision away from disaster. The German, however, inspires calm in the backfield and in the viewer.
6. We Gneed to see more of Gnabry. The young German was excellent all game long, and his cut inside to draw Walker and the center back before poking the ball through to Cazorla for the opening goal was a brilliant piece of play. The funny thing is that as I was watching the play happen, I was confident he'd make the right decisions and the right pass.
7. I also thought Walcott was very good playing up front. He chased the ball, made smart runs (and was punished harshly on a few offsides calls), got some good shots on, and generally made Spurs defensive line look vulnerable. However, seeing him stretchered off was a reminder that we badly need a quality striker in the transfer window. All of the squad's good work to date could be for naught due to the thinness of this squad. Is there good value available?Wilshere, holding ball too long, losting it in middle of the field.
8. I'd rather players not taunt the away fans, but after being taunted and pelted with coins, a smiling Walcott reporting the score for the Spurs fans who might not have been able to see the scoreboard was a gentlemanly thing to do.
9. Mark Clattenberg is an outstanding ref. I often feel this way after watching games he officiates. He was very good again today, sensible in his approach. He kept the game in control by his authority rather than throwing cards around willy nilly the way lesser referees do. And, he didn't make any players have hurt feelings by cutting mean girl remarks. If he can cut this element out of his game, he will go far. My thoughts and prayers are still with Southampton player Adam LaLa Lallalana and his bruised ego. Speedy recovery, my friend.