MyBriefs

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Disappointment is a feeling Seattle sports fans have become all to accustom to. The Seahawks have not made the playoffs since 2007. The Mariners have had nine consecutive losing seasons. When the Sounders FC began the 2010 campaign with a 4-8-4 record, the rave green supporters began to wonder if the Sounders were a flash in the pan team. They began to look like an empty shell of the team who less than a year before won the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and made the playoffs in their inaugural MLS season. Sounders’ fans began wondering if the season was lost. The front office sensed the impending turmoil. After a 4-nil defeat at the hands of Landon Donovan and his LA Galaxy teammates, the Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer issued a statement promising results in the form of wins. Hanauer also refunded the full ticket price of any season ticket holder who attended the Galaxy game. Before the World Cup break, fans began calling for the head of Seattle’s only designated player, Freddie Ljungberg. He began to dive, and some games Ljungberg ended up on the turf more often than Kasey Keller. Ljungberg constantly belittled officials, causing many calls to go against Seattle and many harsh fouls by opponents to go unnoticed. Many times Ljungberg would disrupt the flow of play, fighting for the ball with his own teammates. Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid and the ownership took notice of Ljungberg’s on-field distractions. During the World Cup break, the relationship between Ljungberg, his fans and his team appeared to become increasingly strained. The answer to Seattle’s problems came in the form of 6’2" Swiss national, Blaise NKufo. Blaise joined the Sounders on July 13. During a training session on July 17, the eve of his Sounders debut, NKufo was joking with teammates and directing drills, already appearing to be a team leader despite having not played a single minute in a Sounders jersey. Blaise NKufo immediately became the presence and leader on the field the Sounders had been missing with Ljungberg. The season has been a tale of two teams. Since NKufo joined the team, the Sounders FC are 8-1-2 in MLS league play and have won their second straight Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. On July 29, the Sounders FC announced the addition of 2010 FIFA World Cup quarterfinalist Alvero Fernandez. The next afternoon the Sounders traded Ljungberg to the Chicago Fire. The new leadership on the pitch has created the hottest team in the MLS. Since cutting ties with Ljungberg and adding two new designated players, the Sounders have outscored opponents more than 2:1 in nine MLS matches. On Oct. 5, the Seattle Sounders became the first team to win the US Open Cup back to back since the MLS began playing in the tournament. The game was won by two goals from Sanna Nyassi, only the second and third of his Sounder career, the first coming three days earlier. With Ljungberg no longer disturbing the ball from a midfield position, forward players are able to make their own decisions and open the field of play; this has been one of the biggest reasons for recent success, along with the addition of two extremely skilled international leaders.

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