Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. It’s US Open Cup time, established in 1914 as the historic prestigious American equivalent to England’s FA Cup tournament. The USOC pre-dates MLS by 82 years. The tournament so important that no MLS clubs wanted to play in it. So much for honour amongst thieves.
Louisville City, with a lineup that one-third was developed by the Sounders, fly across nearly the entire breadth of ‘Murica to face-off against Sounders FC in a 4500-seater stadium in a match that had nearly zero promotion, zero press support, that will then see MLS executives complain that no one came. I wonder why. How typical.
What: US Open Cup Fourth Round (round of 32), Seattle Sounders FC v. Louisville City FC.
Where: Starfire, Fort Dent Way, Tukwila, Washington.
When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 8 May
At Stake: I think a great deal. Certainly more than any league match. Sounders FC and MLS, management through ownership, beg to disagree…because they are the Idiot-Kings of football.
With winning the league likely out of reach, and MLS qualification fairly easy to come by as 62% of our clubs able to qualify, it would be utter stupidity to not mount the best effort possible to compete for the US Open Cup. The oldest and most prestigious prize in domestic football. Unfortunately it looks like we’re going to go with stupid. Bravo.
Where to Watch: Streaming is meant to be available through either the MLS website or the US Soccer (the United States FA) website. I wonder how much care was actually put into this. What could possibly go wrong?
Where to Listen: 950 KJR AM.
I’ve written a lot of salt in this article, and it’s because I’m in no fucking mood right now. I’m tired of hearing the lies about how we ‘will compete for every trophy’. But that’s me. I’ll take the focus off me now, and put the focus where it rightfully belongs. And that focus should be on our lads. Our youngers. The players that are meant to be the present and the future of this club. That often start out at the Academy in their early teens. Working their fucking socks off every day for the privilege of representing us and our communities on the pitch.
I love our boys. They work hard, and the Sounders FC Academy and Reserve team are preparing them well. They deserve to play more minutes in league matches, and are often left to collect dust on the substitutes bench or in the squad. They’ve run their fucking socks off, and deserve a just reward for it. If ye can get to Starfire with your mates. Do that. Then try to yell your lungs out as hard as I see our lads work towards excellence. And I’ll tell ye, not for nothin’ that our lads run so hard it’s like they’re angry at the fucking ground (credit to Nate from Ted Lasso on that one). They deserve better than to play a match of this magnitude in a 4500-seater, and they deserve our respect for representing The Evergreen with every beat of their pumping hearts.
And for them’s of ye in management and ownership that put our youngers in this position: Shame on ye. For shame. These types of matches are meant to be played by footballers at the best convergence of peak physical ability and match experience. Shame on you Sounders FC management and ownership.
We love our lads. Let’s hear it from the terraces. May the trees themselves give every possible erg of energy to our lads. We’ll never turn our backs on our Boys in Green. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!
Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”
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Me: Bruv, that looks fucking heavy.
Sisyphus: No worries, mate. It’s more likely I’ll succeed at this than seeing the Sounders FC
ever win the league or US Open Cup under Brian Schmetzer’s management.
The Good News
We prevailed over San Diego Loyal last season with a lineup of players from the Reserves and a few squad players. It could be enough. Let’s hope so for the sake of our Boys in Green.
Utilising our younger players when the first choice players are exhausted is a fine strategy. I wonder why we don’t employ it in the league fixtures which, incidentally, are not single-elimination. Unfortunately, for us and the lads, cup-ties are single-elimination.
In an alternate universe, we have a shot at winning this trophy and joining Bethlehem Steel FC and Maccabee AC Los Angeles as five-time winners.
If the Sounders FC Reserves are so good that they’re considered ready for a challenge such as the US Open Cup, playing against seasoned professionals in arguably the oldest and most prestigious domestic competition in America, then perhaps the Sounders FC Reserves are the side I should be more closely following.
The Bad News
Louisville City are crushing it in the USL Championship. They are 6-0-1 with a +16 goal difference, dispatching their US Open Cup third round with relative ease. In the USL Championship they have a 2-0-1 record in away matches. Louisville City are averaging over three goals scored a match (3.25), and conceding an average of only one goal per match. I know it’s a different level, but at the end of the day, the pitch is roughly the same dimensions, the lines are all chalked the same on the pitch, and last time I looked the goals are still 24’ x 8’. We’ll find out soon if we have the quality and poise to match management’s arrogance and dismissal of the USL levels and dismissal of the US Open Cup itself as a tournament.
The Gaffer has done a bang-up job of absolutely exhausting our first choice players so that there’s basically no hope of seeing them in the lineup midweek. Cracking good job, Brian [sarcasm]. See for yourself below as I’ve taken the liberty of charting Brian’s Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Wal-Mart Manager brand of man-management.
MINUTES PLAYED AT DC, PHILADELPHIA, AND v. LOS ANGELES
PLAYER DC MINUTES PHI MINUTES LAG MINUTES TOTAL AVG G
Frei 28 0 90 118 39 1.3
Thomas 59 90 0 149 50 1.7
Alex S 90 S 90 30 1
Gomez Andrade 90 90 86 266 89 3
Bell 90 0 0 90 30 1
Baker 79 6 16 101 34 1.1
Nouhou 0 90 90 180 60 2
Ragen S 90 90 180 60 2
Rusnak 90 31 74 195 65 2.2
Joao Paulo 90 0 74 164 55 1.8
Atencio 90 90 57 237 79 2.6
Vargas 69 90 90 249 83 2.8
Cristian 90 90 90 270 90 3
Ruidiaz 45 84 90 219 73 2.4
Morris 45 89 86 220 73 2.4
Leo Chu 31 59 16 106 35 1.2
Musovski 21 0 33 54 18 0.6
Rothrock 11 1 0 12 4 0.04
Minoungou 0 0 4 4 1 0.01
Baker-Whiting IL IL 4 4 1 0.01
Elapsed time from the day of the DC match through the LAG match was 9 days.
S- Suspended
IL- Injury List
G- Minutes divided by 90
Players with zero minutes over this time
Castro
Nathan - IL
Hawkins
Kitahara
Leyva
Teves
de la Vega - IL
Rodrigues - IL
For the Sounders and many other MLS clubs, the US Open Cup has become the office Christmas party of American domestic football. “Oh, I’m sorry, we just can’t make it this year”, then they go to a nicer party with their wealthy friends.
I’ve had it with this nonsense regarding the cup. If it’s the Manager deciding to keep our first choice players out of the US Open Cup, then it’s time for new leadership. I think Preki, and Wade Webber would be excellent candidates for Manager. If it’s one or more of the club’s suits, they need to go.
You look through the Louisville City FC lineup, and you see three players that used to be in the Sounders organisation. Ray Serrano, Jake Morris, and Wilson Harris. They seem to be doing quite well for themselves at the USL Championship level. Maybe they were good enough to play at the MLS level, and we let them slip away, or they got discouraged and wanted to transfer because there was no path to the Sounders first team. Which begs the question: How long have we been letting talent walk away from the club?
MLS is a dick-slap of a league with no respect for the history of football in this country. How sad for us all. MLS: Founded in 1996 with a motto of profit and monopoly above all else. US Open Cup: Founded in 1914 for the promotion of football in the United States by Sir Thomas Dewar.
There is no rest for the weary in MLS. The Sounders will travel to the Morrison Street ground to play our arch-rivals, the Portland Treecutters on Sunday next.
The Side I Would Select
The Gaffer, in his infinite wisdom, has ruled out any chance of playing a first-choice selection in the Cup by running the legs off of his first choice players. I don’t know what he’s playing at as we’re 14 points adrift of Miami and unlikely to win the league, it will be easy enough to earn points for MLS Cup qualification later on, as 62% of the teams in the league will qualify for it. Leagues Cup is unnecessary, redundant, and a lot of us never wanted it, and if MLS truly cared about fixture clutter there would be no Leagues Cup. So we ran the legs off our veterans for…wait for it… four points of a possible nine in the last three matches and moving from 25th to 23rd place in the league. Bravo. Bang-up job of man-management, Brian. I’ve done the maths on minutes played and here’s the best I could responsibly select given the what the Gaffer has left me, with the assumption that Nathan, Rodrigues, and de la Vega are still out. I would play all three if they were fit.
Rationale:
Goalkeepers can keep going and Frei played 39 minutes over the last three, a bit less than Thomas.
Baker-Whiting gives us pace and a bit of attacking bite at left-back and he’s fresh as a daisy.
Bell has done well for us in the minutes he’s played, and as he’s only played 30 minutes over the last three.
Hawkins is more than ready for his debut, he’s a United States youth international for a Yanks U17 side that were runners-up in the 2023 CONCACAF Championship, and a Yanks side at U17 World Cup where he played every match. More than good enough for the Sounders first team, Hawkins has 20 caps for Yanks U17s. Stuart also has 35 appearances and two goals for Sounders FC Reserves.
Baker at right-back as he’s got bags of quality and only just played a bit over one full match of football over the last three matches, and only a total of 22 minutes over the last two matches.
Leyva to help hold He’s played zero minutes over the last three matches so fresh as a daisy, and also has 22 caps and two goals for the Yanks at youth levels.
Joao Paulo to also hold, he’s played slightly under two matches over the last three, and we need him as he has become the backbone of both our defence and transition to attack with his elite passing. Add to that JPs leadership and plenty of time to rest before our trip to Portland, so it should be a lock. Too bad Brian’s not going to play him.
Leo Chu is a quality forward with pace and technique and should be in the team at left-forward he’s only played slightly over one match over the last three and only 33 minutes v. LA Galaxy.
Rusnak (195 minutes), Atencio (237 minutes), and Cristian (270 minutes) have all been overused over the last three matches. We still need a central attacking midfield player. Why not Alex? It’s a natural position for him anyway, putting Baker at right-back frees him up, and he was suspended last match so has had plenty of rest. We could do far worse.
At at total of 220 minutes and 86 of the last 90, Morris is not well-rested enough to play this match, so it makes sense to deploy Teves here, maybe Rothrock or Minoungou, all are good choices and well-rested.
Ruidiaz has played 219 minutes over the last three matches, and the full 90’ against LA Galaxy, and is thus overused. Musovski is a good choice to replace, or maybe Rothrock. Musovski is well-rested, having played only four minutes over the last three matches, and has decent quality in front of goal.
Could we do better. With proper man-management, maybe. This selection should be strong enough to get us through…this round.
GK Frei
LB Baker-Whiting
LCH Bell
RCH Hawkins
RB Baker
LDM Leyva
RDM Joao Paulo
LF Chu
CAM Alex
RF Teves
CF Musovski
The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select
Brian, the front office, ownership or some combination of the three, don’t care about US Open Cup. The Gaffer will only play players he feels are expendable, cup ambitions be damned. I’m so sick of it. This is my best guess. I hope Schmetzer proves me wrong.
GK Thomas
LB Baker-Whiting
LCH Bell
RCH Hawkins
RB Baker
LDM Kitahara
RDM Leyva
LF Teves
CAM Kosa-Rienzi
RF Minoungou
CF De Rosario
Intangibles
The usual. Will the Sounders FC run out the best team possible, or will they trot out only those they deem expendable?
Who’s the ref? I’ve no idea as of 9:58 p.m Tuesday night.
General notes on personnel
Sounders FC transfers IN:
Kosa-Rienzi - reserves - short-term loan
Minoungou- reserves - short-term loan
De Rosario- reserves - short-term loan
Louisville transfers IN:
Adrian Perez (San Deigo Loyal SC) free
Ordonez (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC) free
Davila (Rio Grande Valley FC Toros) free
Showunmi (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC) free
Jake Morris (Columbus Crew SC) free
Troutman - free agent
Wilson - free agent
Gleadle (Monterrey Bay FC) undisclosed fee
McFadden (Atlanta United FC) loan
Las (Austin FC) loan
Stamps - academy
Davila - free agent
Cano - academy
Louisville transfers OUT:
Wynder (SL Benfica) €1.12M
Semmle (Philadelphia Union) €92,000
Manny Perez (AC Horsens) €50,000
Thellufsen (Vendsyssel FF) free
Lancaster (Lexington SC) free
Mushagalusa (Hartford Athletic) free
Scarlett (Hartford Athletic) free
Gibson (Indy Eleven) free
Jimenez (Memphis 901 FC) free
Qawasmy (Vereinigung Erzgebirge) free
Sanchez (FC Tulsa) loan
Cano (Lexington SC) loan
Pouwels - released
Morton - released
Del Piccolo - retired
Gaunce - released
Comparison against common opponents
Both teams played Sacramento Republic FC in pre-season. And guess what? It’s complicated.
SEA 0:1 SAC
SEA 4:0 SAC/SEA RESERVES Sounders FC Reserves replaced SAC for 2nd half
SAC 2:3 LOU
(against SAC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, LOU 1-0-0 +1) edge LOU*
*These stats discount the second match that Sounders FC played against Sacramento Republic FC, as in the second half of that match the Sounders FC Reserves replaced Sacramento Republic FC as the opponent.
Know Thine Enemy
Louisville City as they lined up on 27 April in their 6:0 victory over Hartford Athletic at Lynn Stadium. LCFC played in a 5-2-3 shape.
GOALKEEPER
Damien Las, 22
United States
Notable Clubs: North Carolina FC (2/0), Louisville City FC (6/0)
Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000
Notes: Developed by Chicago Magic SC, Chicago Fire, and Fulham. Youth club and individual honours for Austin FC Reserves. Played for United States at youth levels (23/0).
DEFENCE
Jake Morris, 25
United States
Notable Clubs: Louisville City FC (7/1)
Estimated Transfer Value: €75,000
Notes: Developed by Weston FC and Seattle Sounders FC. Played his university football at Tyler (NJCAA) (45/12) and Campbell (28/7).
Wesley Charpie, 31
United States
Notable Clubs: St. Louis FC (19/0), Memphis 901 FC (28/0), Louisville City FC (103/3)
Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000
Notes: Developed by Clearwater Chargers. Played his university football at South Florida (81/5).
Kyle Adams, 27
New Zealand (1/0)
Notable Clubs: San Diego Loyal SC (54/2), Louisville City FC (23/1)
Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000
Notes: Developed by Western Suburbs FC. Played his university football at San Diego State (56/2).
Sean Totsch, 32
United States
Notable Clubs: Rochester Rhinos (44/1), Louisville City FC (226/19)
Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000
Notes: Played his university football with Northern Illinois (64/6). Won a USL league title and USL Cup with Rochester Rhinos. Won two USL Cups with Louisville City FC. Named three times to USL Championship All League First Team. Named to USL Championship All League Second Team 2023.
Aiden McFadden, 25
United States
Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (11/0), Memphis 901 FC (12/1), Louisville City FC (4/1)
Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000
Notes: Developed by Penn Fusion. Played his university football at Notre Dame (55/8).
MIDFIELD
Elijah Wynder, 21
United States
Notable Clubs: Louisville City FC (51/7)
Estimated Transfer Value: €350,000
Notes: Not to be confused with his little brother Joshua, who is now with SL Benfica. Developed by Louisville City FC. Named USL Championship Comeback Player of the Year 2022.
Taylor Davila, 23
United States
Notable Clubs: Louisville City FC (7/2)
Estimated Transfer Value: Not listed
Notes: Developed by Los Angeles Galaxy. Played his university football for California (36/2). Named to USL Championship All League First Team 2023.
FORWARD
Ray Serrano, 21
United States
Notable Clubs: Louisville City FC (60/6)
Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000
Notes: Developed by Spokane Shadow and Seattle Sounders FC. Played for United States (13/0) at youth levels.
Wilson Harris, 24
United States
Notable Clubs: Sporting Kansas City (9/0), Louisville City FC (72/31)
Estimated Transfer Value: €450,000
Notes: Developed by Real So Cal, Seattle Sounders FC, and Sporting Kansas City. Named USL Young Player of the Year 2020.
Adrien Perez, 28
United States
Notable Clubs: Los Angeles FC (21/1), DC United (20/0), San Diego Loyal SC (31/10), Louisville City FC (7/1)
Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000
Notes: Played his university football with Loyola Marymount (63/21).
Familiar Faces
Louisville City midfielder, Ray Serrano joined the Sounders FC Academy in 2016 and played with the Sounders FC Reserves (53/7) from 2018-2021.
Louisville City defender, Jake Morris (no relation to Jordan), played for the Sounders FC Reserves (5/0) from 2016-2018.
Louisville City FC forward, Wilson Harris was at the Sounders FC Academy in 2016.
Squads
I wasn’t able to find official media resources regarding the current injury status of players from either club. There was also no official information as to short-term loans for either club. I’m not going to play a guessing game, so I’ll list the full squads for both teams. Players presumed injured will be marked with an *.
Sounders FC from:
Frei, Thomas, Castro, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade*, Hawkins, Nathan*, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Atencio, Baker-Whiting, de la Vega*, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Kosa-Rienziº, Leyva, Minoungouº, Rodrigues*, Rusnak, Vargas, Chu, Jordan Morris, Cristian, De Rosarioº, Musovski, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.
Louisville from:
Las, Faundez, Troutman, Stamps, Totsch, Ordonez, Adams, Charpie, Gleadle, Dia, Jake Morris, McFadden, Damm, Wilson, Evan Davila, Wynder, Moguel, Taylor Davila, McCabe, Gonzalez, Mares, Perez, Serrano, Ownby*, Harris, Showunmi.
*Indicates player is presumed injured. Sourcing is limited to information from transfermarkt.com and stuff I’ve heard on socials. As long as there’s no gatekeeping in sport journalism, that’s the important thing [sarcasm].
ºIndicates player on short-term loan.
Injury List
I have no idea, so we’re going to have to guess. See the squad listings above for last known injury information. I doubt either club would like it if I phoned them up, and I debate whether their communications departments have any idea of what’s going on anyway. MLS, in their infinite stupidity considers their own governing body, and a historically important tournament that pre-dates MLS by 82 years, a business competitor. No place else, only in the real ‘Murica.
Discipline
Sounders FC: First match in the tournament.
Louisville: Harris and Dia are out next match if booked.
Fun Fact
On 6 May Sounders FC re-signed goalkeeper Andrew Thomas to a three-years contract. He’s a fine goalkeeper so a “well done” to the front office and ownership on solidifying our defence for the near-future.
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