Sigi Schmid doesn't do that 'tailor your shape to the available personnel' thing. That would be silly. Instead, we get players stuck into the same shape game after game. Don't have any forwards fit and ready to play? No problem. That's what our friend Mauro Rosales is for. He'll be joined by another player most would hesitate to define as a striker in O'Brian White. Frankly, this is ugly.
But don't worry! Brad Evans is here to save the day for the Sounders! Between him and Osvaldo Alonso, the center of the midfield should have a pretty easy time controlling the game, which means that Seattle should dominate without ever scoring. That sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? This is going to be fun!
Sounders (4-1-3-2): Kasey Keller; Leo Gonzalez, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, James Riley; Osvaldo Alonso; Steve Zakuani, Brad Evans, Eric Friberg; Mauro Rosales, O'Brian White.
Substitutes: Terry Boss, Jhon K. Hurtado, Zach Scott, Alvaro Fernandez, Servando Carrasco, David Estrada, Nate Jaqua
Earthquakes (4-4-2): Jon Busch, Chris Leitch, Ramiro Corrales, Brandon McDonald, Jason Hernandez, Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins, Bobby Convey, Joey Gjertsen, Chris Wondolowski, Ryan Johnson.