Seattle Sounders' Strong Start: Early Highlights and Rising Potential

Last night, the Seattle Sounders capped the seventh match in a three-week span featuring four Concacaf Champions Cup matches and three MLS regular season matches. With this surplus of competition to begin the season, Coach Brian Schmetzer had to alter lineups and formations to keep players healthy and rested. Many different players have taken their opportunity to shine over the course of these matches, while some combinations have displayed a lack of chemistry and communication. Join me on a dive into the highs and lows of the Sounders performance to begin the season. (not to mention all the bad Seahawks news recently)

The Sounders entered this season with one of the most competitive lineups in the MLS on paper, with Albert Rusnák and Jordan Morris coming off career seasons, the same defense that was best in the league last season, a healthy Pedro de la Vega on his sophomore year, and former Dallas FC teammates Jesus Ferreira and Paul Arriola joining the squad. These new signings show much promise as both are successful players that are familiar with veterans Christian Roldan and Jordan Morris from shared time on the U.S. Men's National team.

Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira celebrating after pairing up for a goal against Antigua GFC

Game Analysis

In the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup (won by the Seattle Sounders in 2022), the squad faced off against Antigua GFC. The Sounders were victorious 3-1 in each match of the two-leg aggregate competition. Arriola and de la Vega took charge in this series, each scoring in both matches and de la Vega twice in the second match, with former team chemistry shining when Ferreira assisted both of Arriola's goals. Under their standard 4-2-3-1 formation, the Sounders possessed the ball well and presented a solid defense against a formidable, high shooting offense, and dominated the two-leg competition 6-2.

Facing Cruz Azul after advancing to the second round, a club with a dominant six wins in eight finals appearance history in this tournament, Coach Schmetzer maintained his successful defensive formation. Strong competition on either side led to few chances during the match, the Sounders' best coming late in the first half with two dangerous crosses, and in the second half from de la Vega scoring on a play called offsides in the 51st minute and Morris hitting the right post in the 70th minute. The squad left their home pitch 0-0 after a positive performance with a disappointing result. The same cannot be said about the second leg of this aggregate competition that occurred yesterday evening. Our standard eleven were in the starting lineup but adjusted to a more aggressive 3-4-3. Seattle was heavily outplayed in an unfriendly environment where the match did not provide much contest. I was unable to watch, but there is very little for the Sounders on the highlight reel from the run of play, and based on the match data the squad was famously outplayed in all aspects of the game. The only highlight of the match comes from substitute Danny Musovski scoring off a set piece in the 74th minute. Losing in the round of 16 of a tournament we know we can win with these experienced and competitive lineups is disappointing, but once again it was against a team with historic tournament and league success and a formidable force again this year.

On the MLS side of things, early efforts were much more disappointing. The Sounders season opener was at home in rainy Seattle against Charlotte FC, and the squad created a lot of chances and a goal from Jordan Morris in the 18th. While they controlled play in the first half, they went to the locker room tied 1-1 after an opposition set piece goal. Morris scored his second goal of the match in the 48th minute and subsequently tied the Sounders’ all-time scoring record. The remainder of the half contained many more chances from Seattle’s offense and was shaping up to be a dominant performance. I left my seat extremely defeated after a defensive breakdown led to a stoppage time own goal. Despite the two unfortunate, daresay fluke, goals from the opposition, the attacking presence from the squad in this game was something I was not used to seeing from this team, especially while using their possessive and defensive 4-2-3-1 formation, and I had hopeful feelings for upcoming competitions.

Game two of the season was played against Real Salt Lake in Utah, where the Seattle Sounders do not adjust well to playing at elevation and have not scored since September of 2020. This happened once again in an uninspiring team performance, and all else I want to say is the match ended 2-0. Returning home last Saturday, the Sounders and the fans were desperately looking for a win at home after subsequent poor performances, but their sights remained fixed on success in Concacaf play. In an aggressive 3-4-3 formation, six irregular starters took the field against an LAFC side facing a similar dilemma, and the younger Sounders lineup delivered a strong performance against a difficult rival. This squad led 2-1 in the first hour of the match before veteran players were substituted in and dictated the next 30 plus minutes for an exhilarating 5-2 home win, featuring a record breaking Jordan Morris goal!

Sounders homegrown legend, Jordan Morris, after scoring his record 87th Seattle Sounders career goal

Player Analysis

While the Sounders record over all competition is 3-2-2 (just 1-1-1 in regular season play), the squad has shown positive play throughout. Jordan Morris scored his 87th career goal for the Seattle Sounders at home, setting an all-time team scoring record, and he has three goals in as many matches continuing in his good form from last season. Albert Rusnák has stayed in great form as well, with one goal and three assists in these matches. Team captain and veteran midfielder Christian Roldan has also been active in the Sounders’ attack with two assists and a goal for himself. I also want to highlight the young, Tacoma Defiance developed, speedy Georgi Minoungou who has three assists in six appearances (two starts). He drew attention late last season as a much needed spark to Seattle’s offense, and is continuing to make the most of his time on the pitch this season.

With the team competing in both the Concacaf Champions Cup and regular season matches in these first three weeks of the season, Coach Schmetzer opted to utilize the talents of Pedro de la Vega, Paul Arriola, and Jesus Ferreira in the Concacaf matches. As highlighted earlier, there were five goals and two assists in two games between these three players, and I was really excited to see these players combine more often in the lineup with Rusnák, Morris, and C. Roldan. However, injuries befell the Sounders in their last two competitions. Pedro de la Vega left the field in the first half of the LAFC match with an injury, and Morris and Arriola suffering injuries in last night’s Concacaf match all remain unclear.

The overall offensive performance looks positive for the remainder of the season. Waiting on injury assessment, Seattle’s key players have showed more spark than I have seen from this team in years, and I am hopeful for when they are all healthy. Additionally, the team’s depth looked formidable in the LAFC match and when they needed to step up in situations where starters needed to rest. This analysis ended up being more offensive biased than I had intended, and I want to highlight the always stellar goalkeeping of Stefan Frei. Stay tuned for a review of the Sounders’ defensive performance over these matches, as there is much to talk about following two own goals and twelve total goals scored against the team in the seven competitions, a third of the goals allowed in 34 matches last season.