I made a rare back-to-back appearance at practice today. Today seemed to be a high intensity practice as the team did several mini-scrimmages and players were fighting all over the field for possession.
Russell spent the whole 90 minutes jogging. Yura did not participate. He has a bruise on the bone, and expected to be listed as doubtful for Saturday. Javi says his leg is much better. Beckerman given an extra day off after playing 4 matches in less than a two week span.
Here are some of Kreis' thoughts from practice:
On the importance of picking up points at home on Saturday:
"We stated from the very beginning that for home games it's 3 points or bust. It feels like there is a little more pressure, but for me it's been there all along."
On keeping an eye on the standings:
"From Garth's point of view it's important to do that. From my point of view it's important to keep the team focused on one game at a time."
On the challenges that Seattle presents:
"It's another team with some very some nice attacking options. You talk about a team with Freddie Ljungberg - he's a difference maker. You talk about a team that has Fredy Montero - he's a difference maker. And as we saw in our first game and a lot of times during this season, if Steve Zakuani's in the lineup he's a handful. So they've got quite a few guys that can break players down and score goals."
On whether or not Seattle's attacking nature can create opportunities:
"It could, it definitely could. Playing soccer is alot like sleeping with a blanket that's too small. If you pull it up to cover your head, your feet are probably going to be exposed, and that's what we'll hope for."
On Nelson Gonzalez:
"Yeah. He's a player that I saw initially on a trip that I took to Argentina early December and saw him in a training match, and I really liked what he's about. I could tell just by watching him play that he's a no-nonsense kid, he's a hard-worker, and had a real strong mentality. And so this year we were looking to add somebody like that during our window here. Somebody that we're not looking to throw into the lineup, but somebody that we think has a bright future. And we think that maybe that could be here. So I think it's a nice addition for us."
On Gonzalez' position:
"Actually I think he could play three positions for us in our current tactical scheme. He could play left wing, left back, and holding midfield. I saw him play at left wing, and in a holding midfield spot."
On the grind of the long season, and the teams approach to training:
"I think it has to be a consideration of ours. I don't know that we're always going to choose to lay off our guys, but we have started to talk about lighter weeks versus heavier weeks in order to cycle the guys and keep the energy level high for the matches."
