2026 SOUNDERS FC SEASON PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. MLS cancelled matches in the recent past because of the 9/11 attacks and the COVID-19 global pandemic. The United States attacking its own citizens with militarised “law enforcement” operations is apparently not enough to stop the sprockets of domestic professional football from grinding on. Sooooo, it looks like we’re just going to crack on as if everything were normal. Buckle up. Here we go.

Sounders’ 2026 season. What’s going to happen? No way to know for sure,

but I’m going to make some educated guesses. Hopefully that’s worth a read.

The Good News

The bulk of last season’s squad will return for 2026. This includes the entire first-choice defence of goalkeeper Stefan Frei and defenders Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, and Nouhou. In midfield and attack, first-choice options Cristian Roldan, Jordan Morris, Danny Musovski, Albert Rusnak, Paul Rothrock, and Jesus Ferreira are all still with the club.

There is real competition at centre-forward between Danny Musovski (14 goals, 4 assists in the league, 18 goals in all competitions last season), and Jordan Morris (5 goals, 2 assists in the league, 7 goals in all competitions in an injury shortened season).

Joao Paulo has retired from playing but will be a coach with the Sounders FC Reserves. You would imagine that Joao Paulo and newly-minted Sounders FC Reserves Manager Paulo Nagamura will likely improve the side from last year’s 23rd place finish in MLS Next Pro.

New adds Hassani Dotson, Max Anchor, Ryan Sailor, Nikola Petkovic, Sebastian Gomez, and Yu Tsukanome look to improve our squad depth, which is desperately needed. Tsukanome scored 18 goals and added 5 assists for the Sounders FC Reserves last season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions. Seattle native Dotson will provide cover at left-forward now that he’s finally come hame. Sailor gives us an experienced centre-half to add to Ragen, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, and Kim. I don’t know much about Petkovic except that he’s 22 years-old, has one cap for Serbia, can play in both attacking and holding roles, and is on loan with the Sounders from Charlotte FC. The club thinks so highly of Gomez (5 goals, 6 assists with the Sounders FC Reserves last season) that they signed him to a 5-years guaranteed contract.

Former MetroStars and United States midfielder Ricardo Clark has been added to the Sounders coaching staff. If he’s half as good a coach as he was a player, we’ve done well to sign him. Clark will replace former Sounders FC player and coach Andy Rose, who recently joined the coaching staff at Los Angeles FC. Welcome to The Evergreen, Ricardo.

The Bad News

How much have the Sounders FC spent on transfer fees this offseason? They haven’t spent fucking tuppence. €0. That’s right. No transfer fees paid. The only additions have been by free transfers and signing our own reserve players. Does that improve the side? We’ll soon find out.

The Sounders’ core is getting older, with man-management style unlikely to change under Schmetzer. Stefan Frei (39), Kim Kee-hee (36), Yeimar Gomez Andrade (33), Jordan Morris (31), Albert Rusnak (31), Paul Arriola (31), Danny Musovski (30), and Cristian Roldan (30) are all 30 years or older on a team where the Manager likes to run out the same players 2 ½ times a week. Frei, Morris, Arriola, and Cristian have all been injured several times over the years. Morris done both his knees at different times. Frei and Cristian have a history of concussions. Arriola suffered an ACL tear that finished his debut season with the Sounders. This is a massive vulnerability.

Pedro de la Vega did not appear in, nor was he on the substitute’s bench for, any of the Sounders’ first four pre-season friendlies. Paul Arriola made a 30-minute appearance as a substitute against FC Metalist on 5 February, the first he’s played in a match of any kind since his season-ending ACL injury last season. This seems kind of ominous and it is unclear what the readiness level is for both players. We need them both fit and ready to go. Rather badly.

Obed Vargas, Danny Leyva, and Jon Bell are gone. Ryan Kent was deemed not good enough for the Sounders to pick up his option. This continues a trend where players of great value move on (Dempsey, Martins, Lodeiro, Vargas, Ruidiaz, etc.), but whose quality is never truly replaced. Carlyle Group seems like they’re making us into a club that doesn’t contend for trophies, but instead a club more focused on merchandising and branding. This is what happens when you let private equity get its hooks into your football club.

With Vargas sold to Atleti, who will partner to hold with Cristian in the midfield? Brunell, at 18 years-old, doesn’t really fit the profile for Brian Schmetzer’s “Circle of Trust”. Dotson is more of a winger. Petkovic is 22 and has one cap for Serbia. Gomez isn’t really a holding midfielder.

We’re not playing in US Open Cup. Not even the reserves. See below for more details.

Predictions

CONCACAF Champions Cup

Eliminated in Round of 16

Sounders earned a first-round bye through their Leagues Cup title last season. So our journey begins with a match against the winner of the Cartagines/Vancouver Whitecaps first-round tie. In a stroke of massive stupidity, this home leg of this cup tie will be played in Spokane. Top job, Sounders FC ownership [sarcasm]. Could have played it at Starfire, Memorial Stadium, Husky Stadium, or the Mariners’ baseball ground, but no…no, that makes too much sense [sarcasm]. We could conceivably get past Cartagines or Vancouver, although we’ve not had much luck against Vancouver lately. Assuming we get as far as the Quarter-Finals, we would face the winner of the UANL Tigres/ O&M or FC Cincinatti. If we have to face Tigres, I think that’s the end for us. If we should manage to make it to the Semi-Finals, I don’t think we could defeat Inter Miami, Club America, or Philadelphia. Recent poor form against Vancouver suggests we won’t make it past the Round of 16.

MLS League Championship:

12th place

Generally, and by generally I mean every season we’ve been in MLS since 2009 with the singular exception of 2022, Sounders find a way to finish in the league’s top 10 teams. Minus Leyva, Vargas, and Bell, I don’t know that we’re good enough to manage it this year. It takes a median of about 67 points (22 victories, 1 draw out of 34 matches) to win an MLS league championship. The closest we’ve been to that in the Schmetzer-era is 60 points in 2021, and that was good for 3rd place. The 2021 squad included Raul Ruidiaz (19 goals), Nicolas Lodeiro, and Fredy Montero (8 goals).

US Open Cup:

No participation

This is an easy one, as no club from the Sounders organisation is going to participate. That’s right. MLS, in their near-infinite stupidity, decided that between fixture clutter (although no mention of fixture clutter is made when it comes Leagues Cup time) and the small prize money, that it wasn’t worth it for MLS Clubs to play in it. MLS made a rule that said that if you’d already qualified for, I don’t remember the exact wording —  three competitions or some other arbitrary number they cooked up — that you then wouldn’t be permitted to enter the US Open Cup. Compounding MLS’ stupidity with their own, the United States FA has decided that only the highest level clubs within an organisation can contest the US Open Cup. This means no representation of MLS Clubs by their MLS Next Pro affiliates. A sad chapter in an even sadder affair. Only in America could something so simple become so unnecessarily complicated and stupid, completely ratfucking a tradition that’s existed since 1913. Sir Thomas Dewar is rolling in his grave. With no Sounders FC options available, I will be rooting for El Farolito in the competition. Oddly, a Mexican restaurant chain from California has more reverence for American traditions than either MLS or the United States FA.

Leagues Cup:

Eliminated at the Quarter-Final stage

This one is hard to guess at, as the tournament draw isn’t going to happen until much closer to the tournament, which starts in early August. The club rankings for this season’s Leagues Cup show the Sounders at 15th position. With the uncertainties surrounding the squad this season, I can’t see us repeating as champions.

MLS Cup:

Eliminated at the Quarter-Final stage

Again, there’s no way to see into the future to know who we’ll play, or whether we’ll qualify without having to play-in. When you look around the league, a lot of teams spent a fair amount of cash to improve their squads. I just don’t see how we’re going to compete. That said, we were better than Minnesota United in last season’s tournament. We were better at football. The Loons were better at penalty-kicks. Until the MLS Cup format favours skill at football over penalties, we’re going to find it hard going in this tournament.

MLS Next Pro:

12th place

Paulo Nagamura has been appointed the new Manager for the Sounders FC Reserves. Joao Paulo will ably assist Nagamura as coach, having played his last season as a footballer for the Sounders FC last season. After a 23rd place finish last season and a failure to qualify for MLS Next Pro Cup, Brazillians Nagamura and Joao Paulo will find a way to turn the lads around. All that said, it’s difficult to predict, as at last glance, the Sounders FC Reserves only had 10 contracted players on its roster.

MLS Next Pro Cup:

Eliminated at the Quarter-Final stage

The lads will do better than last season and qualify for the tournament. There will be many new faces, though, and it’s going to take some time for the teamwork to knit up. In addition, there will also be the usual revolving door of young senior squad players playing in the Reserves to maintain sharpness, due to Brian Schmetzer’s allergic reaction to giving young footballers a meaningful amount of developmental minutes (Sousa 0 appearances, and Baker 3 appearances/115 minutes, both requested loans last season over a lack of playing time, and Hawkins, despite being a United States youth international, made only 4 appearances as a substitute for a total of 124 minutes, and Brunell had 6 appearances/293 minutes). It’s a matter of trust, you see. Sounders FC Reserves might be good enough to get through the first round, but after that I don’t see how we could get much further.

Conclusion

We are not as good of a squad as we were last season with Vargas, Leyva, and Bell gone. The top players in our squad are ageing. Our Manager insists on running out our players over and over again until they break down. We spent €0 on transfers in the offseason. We seem to be on a collision course with mediocrity, with no one in ownership and management even remotely aware of the scope of the problem. I hope I’m wrong about this, I really do, but I sincerely doubt it. All that’s left is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Intangibles

Political and social instability and unrest - will the fash lay siege to Seattle next?

Geopolitical instability generated by the laundry list of international incidents that America is provoking may make foreign players not want to play for American clubs in an American league.

Economic instability and volatility may make consumers spend less on things like football tickets and merchandise.

With each summer getting progressively hotter and hotter due to climate crisis, how long will it be before the idea of outdoor sport is untenable?

Will we get our injured players from last season back healthy and playing at a high level of form?

Will our older players succumb to injury through attrition this season?

General notes on personnel

Sounders FC transfers IN:

Sailor (Inter Miami) free

Anchor (Vancouver) free

Petkovic (Charlotte) loan

Tsukanome (Seattle Sounders FC Reserves)

Gomez (Seattle Sounders FC Reserves)

Dotson (Minnesota United) free

Sounders FC transfers OUT:
Kent (option declined)

Joao Paulo (retired)

Castro (option declined)

Burney (option declined)

Sousa (option declined)

Leyva (Necaxa) €1M

Bell (Austin FC) free

Vargas (Atletico Madrid) €3M

Sounders FC Reserves transfers IN:

Phoenix (Auckland FC) free

Gnaulati (Monterey Bay FC) undisclosed

Bronnik (Union Omaha) undisclosed

Lopez - resigned

Alvarez - retained via club option

Gaffney - retained via club option

Kingston - retained via club option

Robles - retained via club option

Sounders FC Reserves transfers OUT:

Baer (option declined)

Diaw (option declined)

Pedder (SC Jacksonville) free

Yamada (Vissel Kobe) end of loan

Khoury (Nejmeh SC) free

Katsaros (option declined)

Tsukanome (Seattle Sounders FC)

Gomez (Seattle Sounders FC)

This Is Your Team

GOALKEEPERS

Stefan Frei, 39

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Frei

Andrew Thomas, 27

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Thomas_(footballer,_born_1998)

Max Anchor, 21

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Anchor

DEFENCE
Nouhou, 28

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouhou_Tolo

Alex Roldan, 29

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rold%C3%A1n

Yeimar Gomez Andrade, 33

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeimar_G%C3%B3mez

Jackson Ragen, 27

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ragen

Stuart Hawkins, 19

Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000

https://us.soccerway.com/players/stuart-hawkins/731947/

Kim Kee-hee, 36

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Kee-hee

Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, 23

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalani_Kossa-Rienzi

Reed Baker-Whiting, 20

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Baker-Whiting

Cody Baker, 22

Estimated Transfer Value: €275,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Baker

Ryan Sailor, 27

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Sailor

MIDFIELD
Cristian Roldan, 30

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristian_Roldan

Albert Rusnak, 31

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Rusn%C3%A1k_(footballer,_born_1994)

Snyder Brunell, 18

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

https://us.soccerway.com/players/snyder-brunell/799947/

Sebastian Gomez, 19

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/sebastian-gomez/732783/

Nikola Petkovic, 22

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Petkovi%C4%87_(footballer,_born_2003)

Hassani Dotson, 28

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassani_Dotson

FORWARD

Jesus Ferreira, 25

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Ferreira

Paul Arriola, 31

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Arriola

Jordan Morris, 31

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Morris

Pedro de la Vega, 25

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_de_la_Vega

Georgi Minoungou, 23

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

https://us.soccerway.com/players/georgi-minoungou/825736/

Danny Musovski, 30

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Musovski

Paul Rothrock, 27

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.8M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rothrock

Osaze De Rosario, 24

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaze_De_Rosario

Yu Tsukanome, 25

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soundersfc.com/tacoma-defiance/2023-roster/yu-tsukanome

This Is Your Reserves Team

GOALKEEPERS

Mohammed Shour, 17

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/mohammed-shour/799942/

Noah Newman, 18

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/newman-noah/8Or8P2qS/

DEFENCE

Antino Lopez, 23

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/antino-lopez/512640/

Gallatin Sandnes, 17

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/sandnes-gallatin/879049/

Demian Alvarez, 23

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/alvarez-demian/ttgavo4j/

Codey Phoenix, 21

Estimated Transfer Value: €125,000

https://www.soccerway.com/player/phoenix-codey/EuW82eeJ/

MIDFIELD

Kelvin-Luis Brito, 17

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/kelvin-luis-brito/799941/

Shaun Andre Brun, 18

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/shaun-brun/799956/

Daniel Robles, 24

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Robles

Charles Dodzi, 19

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/dodzi-charles/pM7tvO9e/

Mitchell Emert, 17

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/emert-mitchell/jLDeBgw3/

Charlie Gaffney, 22

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/gaffney-charles/j7K9nHNK/

Peter Kingston, 24

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kingston_(soccer)

Xavi Gnaulati, 21

Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavi_Gnaulati

Edson Carli, 18

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://www.soccerway.com/player/carli-edson/2eRfPvyo/

FORWARD

Omar Hassan, 16

Estimated Transfer Value: unknown

https://us.soccerway.com/players/omar-hassan/866296/

Etienne Veillard, 18

Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed

https://us.soccerway.com/players/etienne-veillard/732774/

Mark Bronnik, 19

Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000

https://www.soccerway.com/player/bronnik-mark/tS16XGLC/

WEST SOUND OF MIND SOUNDERS FC 2025 SEASON REVIEW

The 2025 season has been a long, long road with many a winding turn for our Sounders and our Green Fam. At any rate, here we are at the fulness of it. Let’s have a closer look at what happened and why this season.

“…You gotta ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive / E-lim-i-nate the negative / 

And latch on to the affirmative / Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between…” – Johnny Mercer

Sounders FC Results in all competitions 

All competitions 23-14-13 +22

10th MLS 15-10-9 +10 55 points

FIFA CWC Group Stage

CONCACAF CC Round of 16

MLS Cup Round of 16

Leagues Cup Champions

Cascadia Cup 2nd Place

Results of my February Predictions

FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP

Prediction: Elimination in Group Stage

Result: Eliminated in Group Stage

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP

Prediction: No prediction made (an oversight)

Result: Eliminated in Round of 16 (second round)

US OPEN CUP

Prediction: Elimination in Fourth Round (Round of 32)

Result: Eliminated in Fourth Round (Round of 32)

MLS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Prediction: Top-10 finish

Result: 10th place

MLS CUP

Prediction: Elimination in Quarter-Finals

Result: Eliminated in Round of 16 (First Round)

LEAGUES CUP

Prediction: Eliminated in Quarter-Finals

Result: Champions

OVERVIEW

I was spot-on in my predictions for Club World Cup, MLS League Championship, and the Sounders FC Reserves first attempt at the US Open Cup. I underestimated our Leagues Cup campaign, and I am grateful that we won it - whilst still understanding that it’s a competition that none of us asked for, generates fixture clutter, and dilutes and dishonours the US Open Cup. I over-estimated our result in MLS Cup, in which we lasted only one round. I forgot to predict our CONCACAF Champions Cup results. I will not repeat that oversight when I produce the 2026 Season Preview & Predictions. I’d say three out of five is not bad, though my miss on Leagues Cup was pretty far off the victorious result.

Sounders FC Home and Away

Home MLS      10-6-1

Away MLS       5-4-8

All competitions home    16-8-4

All competitions away      7-6-9

Goal Scoring

(all competitions)

SEA t-8th  MLS 90 goals/50 matches 1.80 goals/match

Defending

(all competitions)

SEA t-10th MLS 68 goals conceded/50 matches 1.36 goals conceded/match

Offseason transactions

(accurate through 15 November 2025)

none

Players out of contract

GOALKEEPER

Frei

DEFENCE

Bell

FORWARD

Rothrock

Club Option for 2026

GOALKEEPER

Castro

DEFENCE

Gomez Andrade

Nouhou

Kim

Sousa

Kossa-Rienzi

Burney

MIDFIELD
Arriola

Joao Paulo

Vargas

FORWARD
Kent

Musovski

De Rosario

Players under contract for 2026

GOALKEEPER

Thomas

DEFENCE

Ragen

Hawkins

Baker

Alex

Baker-Whiting

MIDFIELD
Rusnak

Cristian

Leyva

Brunell

FORWARD

Morris

Ferreira

de la Vega

Minoungou

Players released/option declined

None yet reported as of 13 November 2025

Sounders Reserves players out of contract

GOALKEEPER

Shour

DEFENCE

Alvarez

Yamada

Lopez

Katsaros

Diaw

Gaffney

MIDFIELD

Dodzi

Kingston

Pedder

Robles

Gomez

Baer

FORWARD

Khoury

Hassan

Tsukanome

Contract status per transfermarkt.co.uk. This list does not include seven Sounders Academy scholars (Newman, Emert, Veillard, Flores Gonzalez, Sandnes, Hassan, and Carli)  who made appearances for the Reserves but were presumably not signed to an MLS Next Pro contract.

Sounders Reserves players under contract for 2026

No players yet under contract for the 2026 MLS Next Pro season per transfermarkt.co.uk.

Sounders Reserves players released (and/or option declined)

GOALKEEPER

Helleren (hired by the Sounders as a goalkeeping instructor for the Sounders FC Academy)

FORWARD

Kang

Competition Summary - FIFA World Club Cup

RESULT - ELIMINATED IN GROUP STAGE - 0-0-3 RECORD

Positives:

Held UEFA Champion Paris Saint-Germain to two goals. Held 3rd place La Liga club Atletico Madrid to three goals. Nearly got a draw against 2024 Copa Libertadores champion Botafogo conceding only two goals. Thus held our own against clubs with wage budgets much higher than ours, playing in leagues more demanding than ours. In addition we scored two goals, one against Botafogo, and one against Atletico Madrid. Is it as good as victory? No. Is it impressive? Yes, 100% it is.

Negatives:

Although Sounders did well to not get completely blown out of the water, the question has to be asked: Did we have any business being there? MLS worries about fixture clutter seem to be hypocritically at odds with their participation in this tournament.

Sounders FC, and all the rest of the clubs in the tournament, were allowed a small window to sign players to better compete in it. Sounders FC did not purchase any new players in an attempt to level the playing field.

A quick look at the tournament’s participating sponsors looks like rogue’s gallery of some of the worst corporations in America and the world.

Conclusion:

It was a wild ride, watching us make some of the best clubs in the world sweat it out as we worked our arses off to compete.  Although I had predicted we would be blown out by five to eight goals to nil in all matches, I was glad to be incorrect in my predictions. The results showed that the gap in quality between MLS and top leagues in South America or Europe is still quite a wide one.

Competition Summary - CONCACAF Champions Cup

RESULT - ELIMINATED IN ROUND OF 16 - 2-1-1 RECORD

Positives:

After defeating Antigua FC of Guatemala by an aggregate score of 6:2, and a 0:0 draw against then 6x winners Cruz Azul at Royal Brougham Park, it seemed we were well on our way to the Quarter-Finals. De la Vega scored three goals, newboy Arriola scored two, with Rusnak and Musovski also adding goals.

Negatives:

The second leg in the Round of 16 tie in Mexico City saw us run out by Cruz Azul 4:1. Cruz Azul would go on to win their 7th CONCACAF Champions Cup (or league, or whatever they call it next) title. Arriola done his knee in this match. The injury was so severe the 30 year-old midfielder had to have his knee surgically repaired and his season ended in March.

Conclusion:

Sounders made a game effort to win this competition, but were undone by shite league scheduling by MLS and the season-ending injury to Arriola. Our elimination from this tournament arguably lent further credence to the idea that Sounders FC can only put all our eggs in one basket to win one competition per season. This idea is, of course, unacceptable and likely remedied by better workload management.

Competition Summary - US Open Cup

RESULT - ELIMINATED IN THE ROUND OF 32 (FOURTH ROUND) - 3-0-1 RECORD

Positives:

The Sounders FC Reserves did well in their first US Open Cup campaign, defeating Washington Athletic Club (SRATS), Spokane Velocity (USL1), and Oakland Roots SC (USLC). It didna really feel like their first time though, as reserve players were the bulk of the lineup in years past, with first-choice players only participating if we reached the Quarter-Final stage.

The Reserves played their hearts out, worked their socks off, but eventually succumbed to arch-rival Portland Timbers, who fielded a team of first-choice (including Canadian international goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau) and senior team squad players, by a score of 2:3 at Starfire in Tukwila. Sounders FC Reserves fielded senior team back-up goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, senior team part-time right-back Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, and senior team squad players Stuart Hawkins, Reed Baker-Whiting, Georgi Minoungou, and Travian Sousa. Despite everything weighted against our Reserves in this match, we came very close to winning it.

Negatives:

This match never should have been contested by our Reserve squad. The United States FA is the dog being wagged by the tail of MLS - the league that it is supposed to regulate and govern. The US Open Cup, the second-oldest professional sporting trophy in North America, has been reduced to a tournament for amateur clubs, lower division professional clubs, professional clubs that lose their way into it, and academy scholars. It’s pathetic. This matched deserved more promotion and fanfare, and our Reserves deserved to play this match in a much larger venue, in front of a larger audience than the 1,792 faithful supporters in attendance.

Conclusion:

A noble effort by our Reserves who were ultimately overpowered by our arch-rivals who fielded a decent chunk of their first-choice team. The current MLS policy on participation in this tournament needs to be changed as soon as possible.

Competition Summary - MLS League Championship

RESULT - 10TH PLACE - 15-10-9 RECORD

Positives:

Difficult to complain about a top-10 finish. We scored 58 goals, good enough to tie for 8th best in the league. Normally we favour defence over scoring, so extra goals were a welcome surprise.

Danny Musovski was a revelation at centre-forward scoring 14 league goals, 18 in all competitions. Rusnak was reliable at the #10 position scoring 11 goals and assisting on 10. Ferreira and Rothrock had 4 goals, 7 assists each. De la Vega had four goals and 5 assists and managed to play in 26 league matches this season. Ultimately we finished with 55 points, just 11 points adrift of MLS League champions, Philadelphia Union.

Negatives:

Injuries really hurt us this season. Paul Arriola’s knee injury in the CONCACAF Champions Cup 2nd Leg at Cruz Azul on 11 March, and Pedro de la Vega’s knee injury, suffered in the last match of the league schedule on 18 October at NYCFC, deprived us of two impact players. Arriola only managed two matches in the league this season. De la Vega was injured just before the start of MLS Cup. Injuries limited Jordan Morris to 17 league matches and 5 league goals. Joao Paulo was also injured this season and only appeared in 11 league matches.

Although the workload for league fixtures was managed slightly better than last season, it could be argued that players like:

Minoungou (21 appearances, 6 times in the team, 713 minutes)

Leyva (16 appearances, 6 times in the team, 699 minutes)

Baker-Whiting (14 appearances, 6 times in the team, 541 minutes)

Kent (15 appearances, 5 times in the team, 540 minutes - limited by injury)

Joao Paulo (11 appearances, 6 times in the team, 478 minutes - limited by injury), Brunell (6 appearances, 3 times in the team, 293 minutes - though he was signed to a first-team contract toward the end of the season)

Hawkins (4 appearances, 0 times in the team, 124 minutes)

Baker (3 appearances, 1 time in the team, 115 minutes - was granted a loan move to Sacramento Republic FC)

Sousa (0 appearances, 0 times in the team, 0 minutes - why was he signed to a first-team contract, if we weren’t going to utilise him? Sousa was granted a loan to FC Tulsa)

These players could have been selected in the team a bit more often to reduce the impact of fixture clutter and wear and tear on first-choice players. The above players are plenty capable, but were far too underutilised. Why does the Gaffer not trust these players to shoulder more of the workload? If you added up the minutes for all our players in all competitions and divided it by total number of appearances, it would begin to come clear how our lads are worn thin by the time MLS Cup rolls around. Hint: It’s not because of US Open Cup.

Conclusion:

It’s very difficult to complain about a league campaign where we only were defeated 9 times out of 34. The start of the season was quite brutal though, with Sounders only managing a 1-3-3 record in the first 7 fixtures of the season. It’s true that CONCACAF Champions Cup impacted this part of the season, but why weren’t our squad players in the team more to pick up the slack and rest first-choice players for CCC? All of this said, the last 27 matches of the league, we were 14-7-6, which is elite form by any standard.

Four of our later-season draws could have been victories if not for late equalisers that we conceded to our opponents. We have to learn how to put a match away when we’re leading, and how to park the bus when it’s a sensible strategy.

Competition Summary - MLS Cup

RESULT - ELIMINATED IN ROUND OF 16 (FIRST ROUND) - 1-2-0 RECORD

Positives:

We achieved better results than Minnesota United, in that we were undefeated in the three-match cup tie, and outscored them 7:5 in the aggregate. Musovski, Vargas, and Morris were all good for two goals apiece, with Rusnak adding another. Vargas’ 86th minute dagger sealed the victory for us in match 1, the only match of the tie with a clear-cut winner at full-time. Morris’ 88th minute equaliser at the death in match 3 earned us a last-gasp opportunity to advance to the Quarter-Finals on penalties.

Negatives:

MLS values winning penalty-kick shootouts in scenarios that don’t determine who immediately advances from the MLS Cup Round of 16. The Loons won two penalty-kick shootouts, won zero matches, scored only three goals, and yet still were able to advance to the Quarter-Finals because MLS doesn’t understand how to run a cup tournament.

We were crap-shit on penalty-kick “tie-breakers” scoring only at a rate of 53.3% (8 of 15). That is an unsustainable conversion rate for a spot kick 12 yards away from goal, with the goalkeeper forbidden to move off the line until you strike the football. Of course none of this should have been a factor, until a winner of the tie had to be decided because MLS really, really loves inappropriately using penalty-kicks for shits and giggles.

In the third and deciding match of the tie, we were given so many opportunities to put the match away, and so many opportunities during penalties to advance. For whatever reasons, we were unable to capitalise at key strategic moments.

Conclusion:

Minnesota United advanced because of MLS’ crappy format, even though they won zero matches in the tie. But that’s MLS for ye, over-valuing being skilful/lucky at penalties over being competent at football and scoring goals. We clearly outplayed Minnesota United, but in the end, it didna matter one lick.

Competition Summary - Leagues Cup

RESULT - WON THE TOURNAMENT - 5-1-0 RECORD

Positives:

There’s almost nothing to criticise at all. We were unbeaten through the entire tournament. We only conceded two goals in the entire tournament! We exacted revenge on Cruz Azul for CONCACAF Champions Cup, by absolutely battering them by a score of 7:0. We shut out our opponents four times out of six.

The bulk of our goals came from unexpected sources with Guyana international Osaze De Rosario, who was signed to a first-team contract on 8 May, scoring four goals, and Argentine starlet Pedro de la Vega scoring three.

Negatives:

Although I love that we won this tournament, and would never turn my nose up at silverware, I would much rather see our senior team participate in the US Open Cup - literally the tournament of our own national FA and a tradition dating back to 1913. Instead we get this completely made-up head to head tournament with Liga MX clubs, dating back to 2019 for no reasons save for there’s more prize money. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

MLS likes to piss and moan about fixture clutter, right up until it’s Leagues Cup or MLS Cup. Then apparently, it’s perfectly fine.

Conclusion:

Sounders utterly dominated this tournament. Sounders and El Salvador right-back Alex Roldan was named Man of the Match in the Final. Sounders forward Pedro de la Vega was named Player of the Tournament. Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament. A massive effort by the club and the team was well-rewarded.

Competition Summary - Cascadia Cup

RESULT - 2ND PLACE - 1-2-1 RECORD

Positives:

We didna finish last. We only lost one match in the tournament. Bonus points for our one victory being against arch-rivals Portland.

Negatives:

We only won one match in the tournament, drawing twice.

Referee Ricardo Fierro’s sending off of Sounders and Jamaica defender Jonathan Bell and Sounders and Cameroon left-back Nouhou seemed a bit heavy-handed in our only defeat in which Vancouver absolutely battered us 3:0 at BC Place. Of course, it’s much easier to win by that margin if the Ref sends off two players from the opposition.

Conclusion:

Bell and Nouhou getting sent off in the away match against Vancouver, Sounders conceding a late equaliser to Laborda in the home match against Vancouver, and squandering a 1:0 lead in Portland ultimately sunk our chances.

We’ll try to liberate you from Canada next season, George!

Overview

The overall results this season were encouraging. Some of our youngers, specifically De Rosario, Tsukanome, Brunell, Baker-Whiting, Kossa-Rienzi, de la Vega, and Vargas are developing into fine footballers.

Musovski was a revelation (18 goals in all competitions) and our most reliable striker. Rusnak and Ferreira were dead reliable as options at the #10. Frei was Frei and Thomas had his big moments as well in goal. Cristian provided both a bit of bite in midfield at the #6 and was also a top playmaker collecting 9 assists. Our goalkeeping was excellent, our defence tied for 10th best in the league, and our attack the best it has been in years with 58 goals tied for 8th in the league.

If not for key injuries to Arriola, de la Vega, and Morris, we might have had a chance at a second trophy. We have enough depth, as currently constituted, to compete for every trophy. This is a good place to be in, and the addition of one or two more impact players, preferably closer to the beginning of their careers than the end, could make us a dominant force in every competition. You know you’re successful when you are dominating your league, and league matches become mostly preparation for international competitions.

Results classified by opponent

CHARLOTTE
SEA 2:2 CLT

(against CLT: 0-1-0 0)

SALT LAKE

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 RSL

(against RSL: 1-0-1 -1)

LOS ANGELES FC

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

(against LAFC: 1-0-1 -1)

ST. LOUIS

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

(against STL: 1-0-1 +2)

HOUSTON

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

(against HOU: 1-1-0 +2)

SAN JOSE

SJ 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:2 SJ

(against SJ: 1-1-0 +1)

SAN DIEGO

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

(against SD: 1-0-1 -2)

DALLAS

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

(against DAL: 2-0-0 +2)

NASHVILLE

SEA 3:0 NSH

(against NSH: 1-0-0 +3)

COLORADO

COL 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:3 COL

(against COL: 0-2-0 0)

PORTLAND

POR 1:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 POR

(against POR: 1-1-0 +1)

MINNESOTA

SEA 2:3 MIN

MIN 1:0 SEA

MIN 0:0 SEA MLSC

SEA 4:2 MIN MLSC

MIN 3:3 SEA MLSC

(against MIN: 1-2-2 0)

VANCOUVER
VAN 3:0 SEA

SEA 2:2 VAN

(against VAN: 0-1-1 -3)

AUSTIN

SEA 2:0 ATX

ATX 2:1 SEA

(against ATX: 1-0-1 +1)

COLUMBUS

SEA 1:1 CLB

(against CLB: 0-1-0 0)

KANSAS CITY
SKC 2:3 SEA

SEA 5:2 SKC

(against SKC: 2-0-0 +4)

ATLANTA

ATL 2:2 SEA

(against ATL: 0-1-0 0)

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

LAG 0:4 SEA

SEA 2:2 LAG

LAG 0:2 SEA LC

(against LAG: 2-1-0 +6)

MIAMI

MIA 3:1 SEA

SEA 3:0 MIA LC
(against MIA: 1-0-1 +1)

NEW YORK CITY

NYC 1:2 SEA

(against NYC: 1-0-0 +1)

ANTIGUA FC

ANT 1:3 SEA CCC

SEA 3:1 ANT CCC

(against ANT: 2-0-0 +4)

CRUZ AZUL

SEA 0:0 CAZ CCC

CAZ 4:1 SEA CCC

SEA 7:0 CAZ LC

(against CAZ: 1-1-1 +4)

BOTAFOGO

SEA 1:2 BOT CWC

(against BOT: 0-0-1 -1)

ATLETICO MADRID

SEA 1:3 ATM CWC

(against ATM: 0-0-1 -2)

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

SEA 0:2 PSG CWC

(against PSG: 0-0-1 -2)

SANTOS LAGUNA

SEA 2:1 CSL LC

(against CSL: 1-0-0 +1)

TIJUANA

SEA 2:1 TIJ LC

(against TIJ: 1-0-0 +1)

PUEBLA
SEA 0:0 PUE LC

(against PUE: 0-1-0 0)

Sounders FC Goal Scoring and Assists

        MLS CWC CCC USOC LC MLSC A* GOALS

Musovski         14         0         1         0         1      2         4 18

Rusnak         11         1         1         0         0 1         10 14

De la Vega          4         0         3         0         3 0         5 10

Morris          5         0         0         0         0 2         2 7

De Rosario 1         0         0         2         4 0         0 7**

Vargas         3         0         0         0         1 2         5 6

Rothrock 4         0         0         0         1 0         7 5

Ferreira         4         0         0         0         1 0         7 5

Kossa-Rienzi 3         0         0         0         0 0         3 3

Cristian         1         1         0         0         0 0         9 2

Minoungou 1         0         0         0         1 0         3 2

Nouhou         1         0         0         0         1 0         2 2

Ragen 2         0         0         0         0 0         1 2

Brunell         2         0         0         0         0 0         0 2**

Arriola         0         0         2         0         0 0         0 2

Alex 0         0         0         0         1 0         5 1

Gomez Andrade 0         0         0         0         1 0         1 1

Kent 0         0         0         0         0 0         4 0

Leyva 0         0         0         0         0 0         4 0

Baker-Whiting 0         0         0         0         0 0         1 0

*league assists only

**it should be noted that De Rosario scored 10 goals with the Sounders FC Reserves in MLS Next Pro, so technically he scored a total of 17 goals in all competitions. Also scoring goals for the Reserves this season were Brunell (2 goals), Hawkins (1), Minoungou (1), Sousa (1), and Burney (1).

Sounders FC Reserves Results in all competitions 

MLS Next Pro     23rd place 10-4-14 -5                 36 points

US Open Cup     Eliminated in Fourth Round (Round of 32) 3-0-1

MLS Next Pro Cup   Did not qualify

Home Record     5-3-6

Away Record     5-1-8

All Competitions     13-4-15

Season Overview

The Sounders FC Reserves struggled for consistency, even though Osaze De Rosario and Yu Tsukanome were scoring goals to beat the band. Manager Herve Diese, had gotten the lads off to a good start with a record of 8-0-2 in their first 10 matches, which included victories in the first three rounds of the US Open Cup. Following this run of elite form, shit turned pear-shaped. Over the next six matches the Reserves went a winless 0-1-5, beginning with getting knocked out of the US Open Cup by Portland’s first-team. Spotty form continued with the side going 1-2-1 over the next four matches, including a 6:4 loss at Colorado Rapids Reserves, squandering a 0:3 half-time lead on 20 July. On 23 July, Herve Diese was sacked, presumably on the basis of lack of results, no clear reason was ever publicly given by the club for the dismissal.

Michael Morris, one of Diese’s coaches for the reserves stepped in as caretaker Manager. Under Morris’ reign, the lads only managed a 4-1-7 the rest of the way, failing to qualify for MLS Next Pro Cup.

Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Snyder Brunell, and Osaze De Rosario were signed to first-team contracts during the season, which can be considered a developmental success for the club. The Reserves succeeded in debuted seven Academy scholars who made significant contributions, most notably from midfielder Edson Carli, who scored two goals in the league, a goal in the US Open Cup, and assisted on three league goals. 

Competitively, the Reserves did not qualify for MLS Next Pro Cup and that must be considered a failure, though that should be somewhat mitigated by the three victories in the US Open Cup over Washington Athletic Club, Spokane Velocity, and Oakland Roots SC. In the final summation, the 2025 season was a mixed bag for the Reserves.

Sounders FC Reserves Goal Scoring and Assists

MLSNXT USOC A* GOALS

Tsukanome 18 3         5 21

De Rosario** 10 2         0 12

Gomez         5 0         6 5

Khoury         5 0         2 5

Kingston 2 1         6 3

Carli^ 2 1         3 3

Yamada         3 0         3 3

Dodzi 3 0         1 3

Alvarez         3 0         0 3

Brunell** 2 0         2 2

Gaffney         2 0         2 2

Minoungou** 1 0         3 1

Sousa**         1 0         2 1

Burney** 1 0         2 1

Robles         1 0         2 1

Kang 0 1         0 1

Hawkins** 1 0         0 1

Hassan^ 1 0         0 1

Pedder         0 0         2 0

Sandnes^ 0 0         1 0

* league assists only

**Sounders FC player

^Sounders FC Academy Scholar