Seattle Sounders FC may be the two-time defending MLS Western Conference champion, but that doesn’t seem to have translated into overwhelming confidence about the 2018 season.
This week’s Seattle Sidelines poll was about the Sounders, who began their MLS season last Sunday. Readers were asked where they thought the Sounders would finish in the Western Conference standings, and here’s how you voted:
POLL: How will the Sounders fare in the MLS Western Conference this season? Full context here: https://t.co/uKDywYMORA
— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) March 5, 2018
Add the two together and it’s pretty even across the board. The same number of voters — 29 percent — said the Sounders would finish first in the conference as said Seattle would finish between third and sixth and thus have to play a first-round playoff game. Not far behind were those who predicted Seattle would not finish first, but still get a first-round bye by finishing second, as that option received 23 percent of the vote. Nineteen percent said the Sounders would miss the playoffs. This is about as even a vote tally between four options as I remember seeing in a Seattle Sidelines poll.
The Sounders didn’t get off to a roaring start to the MLS season, as they dropped their opener 1-0 to expansion LAFC last Sunday at CenturyLink Field. However, Seattle held several important players out of that game with an eye toward Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal tie with Mexico’s CD Chivas Guadalajara. One of the players rested Sunday, star forward Clint Dempsey, scored the game’s only goal as the Sounders defeated Chivas 1-0, thereby justifying the decision to go with half of a B team against LAFC. The return leg against Chivas is next Wednesday in Guadalajara.
And the Sounders won’t be afraid of a slow start in MLS play. Two years ago Seattle opened the season with three consecutive defeats, was 6-12-2 when coach Sigi Schmid was fired midseason, then rallied to finish fourth in the conference and march on to win its first MLS Cup. Last year the Sounders lost their opener, began the season 2-5-4, then recovered to finish second in the conference and reach the MLS Cup final, where they lost to Toronto FC in a rematch of the 2016 final.
Seattle’s team this year is largely the same as it was last year. Does that mean we’ll see the same results? Check back in October to find out.
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