TUKWILA, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders hope some replenished depth will help their cause for the second leg of their Western Conference Championship matchup against the LA Galaxy in the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, with midfielder Osvaldo Alonso and forward Lamar Neagle each seemingly in line to make returns for Sunday’s match.
Alonso has been rehabbing a hamstring injury sustained during Seattle’s 0-0 draw against FC Dallas in the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals and missed last Sunday’s first leg against LA. Neagle was away from the team tending to a personal matter and also unavailable for the first leg of the Conference Championship. Both players have trained throughout the week and were spotted at Seattle’s final training session at Starfire Soccer Complex on Saturday.
Alonso’s return to the lineup could be the catalyst for a Seattle attack that has struggled in the playoffs after scoring the second-most goals in MLS during the regular season. The Cuban-born player has scored Seattle’s only goal of the postseason so far, in the first leg against Dallas, and is perennially one of the most accurate passing midfielders in the league.
In a conference call with reporters on Friday, LA defender Omar Gonzalez said Alonso’s diverse skill-set gives the Sounders a whole new dimension for the Galaxy to worry about, assuming he is healthy enough to take the field Sunday.
“I think [Alonso] definitely changes their team,” Gonzalez said. “He’s very instrumental to how they play. He runs everywhere, he makes tackles, he breaks plays up and he also gets into the attack. We just have to figure out a way to get around him and I’m sure we will.”
Neagle, meanwhile, was one of Seattle’s most statistically productive offensive players this season with nine goals and nine assists in 32 games.
Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid has become increasingly tight-lipped about Alonso’s status, but did indicate last week that his star midfielder seemed to be improving on a daily basis. Schmid declined to update reporters on the status of either Alonso or Neagle on both Friday and Saturday.
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Although his team has to climb out of a 1-0 hole after falling to LA in Southern California last Sunday, Schmid said he is preaching cautious aggression as he prepares his team for the do-or-die matchup.
“Our message is to be smart,” Schmid said following Seattle’s Saturday practice. “We need to get some goals but we need to be smart and not put ourselves in a situation where we need to get more goals than [we would have needed].”
An away goal by the Galaxy could be especially problematic for the Sounders, who benefitted from one against Dallas but would need to win by two goals to advance, should LA find the back of the net on Sunday.
Whichever team does come out on top will earn the right to take on Eastern Conference champions New England Revolution, who advanced to MLS Cup with a 2-2 draw against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday that clinched a 4-3 aggregate victory.
