Tottenham Hotspur Set to Play the Seattle Sounders and the Chicago Fire
By Aaron Rench
The Seattle Sounders and Chicago Fire will each be facing an uncommon opponent this summer when they take on Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League. Right after the World Cup, on July 19th, the Sounders will face Tottenham at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, and the Fire will meet them at Toyota Park, on July 26th.
It’s just a friendly match, so it means absolutely nothing. However, that does not mean the game isn’t going to be interesting. Tottenham is one of the best EPL teams year after year, in one of the toughest leagues in the world.
To me, this game holds more intrigue than the All-Star Game, which will pit the German club Bayern Munich against the best players from the first half of the 2014 MLS season and be held in Portland. The All-Star game features two clubs, a real club with world-beating talent verses a “pretend”, made-team of MLS players. It’s a fun idea, but the MLS team doesn’t stand a chance.
The MLS players never get to play a game together — barring a few members being elected from the same team. They don’t know each others tendencies or habits which are vital to the development of a great team. Sure, they get a little practice time together, but that’s never enough.
On the other side of the pitch stands a club that has been together for most of the previous year. Even though the players are in preseason form, they’ve played together for an extended amount of time giving them the ability to understand each other’s movements.
The matches that will be played against Tottenham will be different though. Both of the MLS clubs will have played together for three and a half months, with a month-sized break allowing for the World Cup. The talent displayed in this game will be more representative of the talent in American soccer.
Even then, Tottenham is a very good team. Do the Sounders and the Fire stand a chance? I believe they do. They’ll be facing a team that is just starting preseason play, and also possess a connection among the players that is not found in the All-Star Game.