Three Questions with Sounder at Heart
We talked with Dave Clark of Sounder at Heart ahead of today’s matchup against Seattle.
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Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images
The (first) big match is here! The Portland Timbers play the Seattle Sounders for the first time in 2021 today, and it should be a fun one to say the least.
Ahead of the match, Stumptown Footy and Sounder at Heart got together to talk about what to expect in this one. Here are three questions with Dave Clark of Sounder at Heart.
For the companion piece up at Sounder at Heart, click
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Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath threw everything he could Saturday night at his club s staggering season start and still couldn t find enough to prevent a 1-0 loss to expansion Austin FC.
He tried substitutions early and often after halftime. He turned to youth looking for some kind of spark. He turned goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair into an attacker in the opponent s 18-yard box late in second-half stoppage time.
None of it stopped the Loons from their first 0-3 start in a franchise history that included some dark days early in their existence.
None of it stopped them from being shut out twice in three games and outscored 7-1 in those games.
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When Adrian Heath left England to spread soccer s gospel in America 13 years ago, he arrived in Austin, Texas, seeking to build the best minor league team in his new country.
He spent just two seasons managing the Austin Aztex before he and the club relocated to Orlando, but while there he dropped the seeds for a Major League Soccer expansion team that played its third game ever Saturday at Allianz Field.
Disillusioned and angry after he lost his Coventry City FC coaching job back home, he accepted an invitation from Phil Rawlins a former part-owner and director for his and Heath s hometown Stoke City team in England to come to Texas. That s where Rawlins lived at the time and developed a tech sales and marketing company.
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Calling it a difficult decision, Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath nonetheless kept Dayne St. Clair as his starting goalkeeper for Saturday s home opener, even after last week s 4-0 loss at Seattle in the season opener.
Veteran Tyler Miller is back to full health after his 2020 season ended because of August surgeries on both hips. St. Clair took over the starter s job in September and guided the Loons to the Western Conference final in December. I have to say Tyler has been outstanding in training, but I feel at this moment in time we owe it to Dayne, Heath said. He s come in the team and done terrific.
Minnesota United has not played before fans at Allianz Field since October 2019 and team CEO Chris Wright predicts Saturday's crowd "will make the noise of 20,000.''