Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green.
The FCF Blog Sounders Pre-Match Report is dead. Long live West Sound of Mind. Different name, different URL, but guaranfuckinteed the same no-stone-unturned, unapologetic, anti-corporate coverage from the same dedicated correspondent. No subscription model. No bullshit.
It’s time to set sail on the Sounders 2024 MLS campaign. We’ve got a new crest, a new kit, and the brand spanking new club headquarters and training centre at Longacres. So what’s different for 2024? Fasten that seatbelt folks. Here’s the straight dope on what to expect in the months ahead. Because I love you like that, Fam.
The Good News
All the key players in the squad from last season have returned save for Lodeiro, who recently signed a one-year contract with Orlando City SC. That team finished 7th in the league and Argentinian starlet Pedro de la Vega has been added with Sounders paying a €6.5M transfer fee to Argentinian club Lanus to acquire his services.
The defence is generally excellent, tying Nashville for the least goals allowed in the league last season. Sounders added the Brazillian, Nathan from San Jose Earthquakes who seems to be an above-average defender. Should Frei remain healthy in goal, ably backed by Yeimar Gomez Andrade, Alex Roldan, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou, Xavier Arreaga, newboy Nathan, and possibly Cody Baker, it’s not an unrealistic prediction for the Sounders defence to finish amongst the top five in the league at preventing goals.
We have an insane amount of depth at holding midfield. Sure, Joao Paulo is 32, but is one of the top players in MLS in passing efficiency. Josh Atencio, Obed Vargas, and Danny Leyva are also standouts at this position, with Atencio also capable of playing centre-half and in the #10 role.
The coaching staff is unchanged with Schmetzer as Manager, Preki, Freddy Juarez, and Andy Rose as Coaches, and Tom Dutra as Goalkeeper Coach (His official title is Director of Goalkeeping, which seems a bit much). Continuity is, generally, a good thing, and this lot guided the club to a 7th place finish in the league, keeping pace in the upper tier of the now 29 team MLS.
The Bad News
Sounders finished 19th in the league in goals scored. This is a problem. Morris scored 11 goals in 26 league matches, Chu scored 5 goals in 32 matches, Ruidiaz scored 5 goals in 18 matches, and Rusnak scored 5 goals in 32 matches. The 33 year-old Ruidiaz made just under €2.3M per season, but in his six full seasons has made appearances in 56% of the Sounders’ league matches (115 of 204 matches). This is partially due to national team commitments for Peru, but mostly he seems to miss matches due to injuries. So if Morris is the starting #9, what happens if he gets hurt, and Ruidaiz is hurt or unavailable? The next in line would likely be Danny Musovski (5 goals in 23 league matches for Salt Lake last season). So goals are coming from Morris, sure. Goals may come from Ruidiaz, if healthy, but from where else? With Cristian cemented in as the right-forward, you’d have to imagine de la Vega will play on the left displacing Chu.
The impact of losing Lodeiro has not yet been fully determined. Rusnak is a fine footballer playing in the #10 role, but who will be his understudy? Lodeiro led the Sounders in assists with 10. Leo Chu had 8 (playing at left-forward). Rusnak had 5.
Frei is 37, which is not necessarily concerning. Peter Shilton played quite well through his early forties. However, with our experienced backup goalkeeper, Stefan Cleveland, gone to Austin FC, the options in the event of injury are Andrew Thomas and Jacob Castro who haven’t played one league match between them for the Sounders.
The coaching staff’s player deployment and team selection doesn’t utilise our reserve players enough in league matches to ensure well-rested players, and likely increases the frequency of injuries to our older players. In other words, we have plenty of depth, we just don’t often use it. This despite complaints of fixture clutter.
10 MLS clubs qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup (re-named yet again. They just can’t seem to make up their minds) and the Sounders were not one of them. Cincinnati for winning the league, Orlando City for their 2nd place finish in the league, Columbus by winning MLS Cup, St. Louis City by finishing highest in the (grits teeth) Western Conference, Philadelphia for 3rd place finish in the Leagues Cup, New England for their 6th place finish in the league (which the Sounders missed out on by two points in the standings), Houston for winning the US Open Cup, Nashville for being the Leagues Cup runner-up, Vancouver for winning the Canadian Cup, and Miami for winning the Leagues Cup.
We crashed out of the 2023 US Open Cup in the Round of 32, the competition’s 4th Round, and our second match in the competition. Sounders FC have not made it to the Quarter-Final stage of the US Open Cup since 2016, when Sigi Schmid (RIP) was still the Manager. So that’s five years of futility there as we continue to utilise the oldest and most prestigious domestic football tournament as a youth development lab. Good enough to get past 2nd Division side San Diego Loyal after extra time. Not good enough to get past LA Galaxy’s first team. Both Lodeiro and Joao Paulo begged to play in the 4th Round (Round of 32) match at Los Angeles…the Gaffer told them no.
Sounders failed to make it out of the Group Stage of the Leagues Cup, being defeated in both matches of the West 2 group by an aggregate score of 7:2. This included a 2:4 defeat inflicted by Monterrey, where the Rayados scored four straight to overcome the Sounders’ early 2:0 lead on goals by Lodeiro and Morris. We also were defeated at Salt Lake by a score of 3:0. The selections for both matches were pretty much the same strength as for league matches.
The Sounders record in cup tournaments last season was 3-6. That’s just not good enough in big high-stakes cup ties.
Why does it seem like some of the best youth talent from our academy system seems to leave the club? Levya went on loan last season to Colorado, because he wasn’t getting enough playing time. Leyva has appeared in 54 matches for the Sounders since 2019, but of those appearances he was only in the team for 25. That’s pretty harsh for a player who has 17 youth caps and one goal for United States. Samuel Adeniran seemed to score goals (12 goals at San Antonio FC in 2022, 7 goals last season for St. Louis City) everywhere he played except Seattle? Why? Marlon Vargas scored 12 goals for the Sounders Reserves in 2022 and had 16 goals in 88 matches for them overall. He left to play at Colorado. Why? The Manager pisses and moans about fixture clutter as our youngers can’t seem to get in the team outside of the most dire circumstances, except for in the US Open Cup because the club doesn’t value it and our younger players and prospects are deemed expendable. I mean, what do you have to do to get in the team? Mow Schmetzer’s lawn? Wash his car?
Predictions
MLS League Championship:
(confusingly known as the MLS Supporter’s Shield) Sounders will finish somewhere between 3rd and 10th in the league.
US Open Cup:
Sounders will once again use the USOC as a youth development lab and will be eliminated after one, possibly two matches by the first fully professional team to play its first-choice lineup. Again.
Leagues Cup:
Sounders will not make it past the Group Stage.
MLS Cup:
We will be eliminated in either the first-round or the Quarter-Finals, provided that the league doesn’t fuck about with the format again, in which case, we will be out in our first or second cup tie.
Conclusion
The Sounders have a good amount of talent in the squad, a very good reserve team, and academy system supported by one of the better coaching staffs in the league. However, we don’t score enough goals despite having one of the best defence corps in the league and we don’t make use of our depth often enough, especially our young players. That recipe is just not going to be good enough to win anything.
Intangibles
MLS Referees strike. MLS has decided to use scab refs - a true salute to American labour [sarcasm].
General notes on personnel
Sounders FC transfers IN:
Frei - re-signed
Nathan (San Jose Earthquakes) free
Rodrigues - reserves
Bell (St. Louis City SC) re-entry draft
de la Vega (Lanus) €6.4M
Musovski (Real Salt Lake) free
Tsukanome (Dakota Fusion FC) free
Karalkovas (Volta Redonda U20s) undisclosed
Brunell - academy
Sounders FC transfers OUT:
Cleveland (Austin FC) free
Dobbelaere (DC United) free
Heber - released
Cissoko (Memphis 901 FC) free
Lodeiro (Orlando City SC) free
Montero - out of contract, presumed retired
Rowe - retired
Lapsley (Union Omaha) free
Herrera (Guadalajara U23s) loan
Ovalle - released
Sousa - released
Alvarez - released
Uderitz - released
Bjorgolfsson - released
This Is Your Team
GOALKEEPERS
Stefan Frei, 37
Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Frei
Andrew Thomas, 25
Estimated Transfer Value: €75,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Thomas_(footballer,_born_1998)
Jacob Castro, 24
Estimated Transfer Value: €50,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Castro_(soccer)
DEFENCE
Nouhou, 26
Estimated Transfer Value: €4.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouhou_Tolo
Alex Roldan, 27
Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rold%C3%A1n
Xavier Arreaga, 29
Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Arreaga
Yeimar Gomez Andrade, 31
Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeimar_G%C3%B3mez
Jonathan Bell, 26
Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bell
Nathan, 28
Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_(footballer,_born_1995)
Jackson Ragen, 25
Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ragen
Cody Baker, 20
Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Baker
Stuart Hawkins, 17
Estimated Transfer Value: €75,000
https://us.soccerway.com/players/stuart-hawkins/731947/
Pedro Karalkovas, 19
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/pedro-karalkovas-rodrigues/914392/
Elias Katsaros, 22
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/elias-katsaros/510089/
Blake Bowen, 23
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/blake-bowen/897459/
MIDFIELD
Cristian Roldan, 28
Estimated Transfer Value: €6M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristian_Roldan
Albert Rusnak, 29
Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Rusn%C3%A1k_(footballer,_born_1994)
Danny Leyva, 20
Estimated Transfer Value: €2M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Leyva
Joao Paulo, 32
Estimated Transfer Value: €2M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Paulo_(footballer,_born_1991)
Josh Atencio, 22
Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Atencio
Reed Baker-Whiting, 18
Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Baker-Whiting
Obed Vargas, 18
Estimated Transfer Value: €3M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obed_Vargas
Sota Kitahara, 21
Estimated Transfer Value: €125,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sota_Kitahara
Frank Daroma, 22
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Daroma
Snyder Brunell, 16
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/snyder-brunell/799947/
Georgi Minoungou, 21
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/georgi-minoungou/825736/
Chris Aquino, 17
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/christopher-aquino/731952/
FORWARD
Jordan Morris, 29
Estimated Transfer Value: €5.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Morris
Raul Ruidiaz, 33
Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Ruid%C3%ADaz
Pedro de la Vega, 23
Estimated Transfer Value: €6.5M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_de_la_Vega
Leo Chu, 23
Estimated Transfer Value: €4M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9o_Ch%C3%BA
Dylan Teves, 23
Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Teves
Braudilio Rodrigues, 24
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://us.soccerway.com/players/braudilio-pina-rodrigues/638495/
Danny Musovski, 28
Estimated Transfer Value: €1M
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Musovski
Paul Rothrock, 25
Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rothrock
Yu Tsukanome, 23
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
https://www.soundersfc.com/tacoma-defiance/2023-roster/yu-tsukanome
Gio Miglietti, 24
Estimated Transfer Value: not yet listed
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