Previewing Houston Dynamo vs Seattle Sounders with Sounder at Heart

The Houston Dynamo host the recently crowned CONCACAF Champions, the Seattle Sounders tonight at PNC Stadium. To help us get some information on Sounders we spoke to Dave Clark from Sounder at Heart.

Dynamo Theory (DT): After winning the CONCACAF Champions League, how is the overall feeling around the team in league play, now coming off a needed three points on Sunday?

Sounder at Heart (SaH): The win Sunday helped to reset towards the season. There were some questions from fans and analysts about the ability to turn the switch on. They can! They did!

But there’s a pretty large hill to climb.

DT: With Seattle recently putting all their efforts into winning CCL, they have been rotating lineups a lot and keeping guys fresh amidst so many fixtures. With a midweek game on the road in Houston, do you think we will see the Sounders playing a best eleven and looking for valuable league points or will this be a game where they look to give guys further rest?

SaH: There should be mild rotation, similar to a typical mid-season game. No one has lingering weariness from the CCL win. This is the last midweek match for quite some time. That could mean there’s a hard push for this week.

DT: Most fans are aware of the number of stars Seattle has, who are some other players Dynamo fans should be on the lookout for Wednesday night?

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

SaH: The least-sung starter is probably Alex Roldan. How many other teams would have an All-Star and captain of an Octagonal national team player as a lesser-known guy?

He’s part of the creative engine and a key defender as well. He may be the least replaceable player.

DT: With the Dynamo in a rebuilding phase and looking to get back into the upper tier of Major League Soccer, Seattle can be seen as a benchmark, a club that has been consistently winning trophies and playing at the highest level. What has made the club so successful over such a long period of time?

SaH: Other clubs rush to make major changes, rather than commit to a consistent iterative plan. Seattle didn’t chase immediate glory. They wanted immediate good, then they kept getting a tiny bit better.

Yes, there were a couple bumps along the way. They made a massive coaching change. Outside of that swap there were few significant mistakes. That’s probably not replicable.

We want to thank Dave and our friends at Sounder at Heart for giving us some information about the Sounders. Best of luck tonight!