Sounders and fans mull over the season schedule

Now that the 2009 Seattle Sounders FC Major League Soccer season schedule has been released we are hearing from the club and fans about the set of dates.

In the Seattle Times GM Adrian Hanauer says of the list "It's obviously a little front-loaded. Couple of tough road trips toward the end of the season, but it is what it is. We can't worry too much about the schedule, we just need to go take care of business."
Head Coach Sigi Schmid adds in the TNT “For me, it’s three points whether we beat Columbus or three points whether we beat Chivas,” Schmid said. “And the three points against Chivas are probably more important because it’s three points inside of conference and those become six-point games. For me, we always focus on the conference. It’s important that we do that, and it’s important to do well at home.”

Fans are already ranking the matches they are most looking forward to and continue to talk about the schedule at SeattleSoccerTalk.com.

GoSounders.com has created a downloadable schedule in Google. See instructions here.

I was surprised to see that five of the fifteen matches will be afternoon kickoffs. It's a pleasant surprise for many of us who live well outside the city.

The real buzz is that we have 8 out of our last 12 matches away. The murmurs of how the partnership with the Seahawks might have necessitated this are growing. What can you do? The stadium and the front office both will have multiple duties in September and October.

For Sounders FC it makes the 'pressure' to start well early even greater, that is if you subscribe to the theory that we are in this to contend for a playoff spot in year one of the franchise.

Also Read: Assistant Coach Ezra Hendrickson is featured in an article today. The Charleston Battery talk about losing Osvaldo Alonso to the Sounders. Jeff Parke is off to Belgium to try and catch on in Europe.