SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. PHOENIX RISING FC - US OPEN CUP 5TH ROUND - STARFIRE, FORT DENT WAY, TUKWILA, WASHINGTON

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC Reser– I mean, the Sounders FC face off against Phoenix Rising FC in the US Open Cup. For those of you dodgy on the heart, have your medication handy. For the rest of us, lager will have to do.

What: US Open Cup 5th Round fixture, Seattle Sounders FC v. Phoenix Rising FC

Where: Starfire, Fort Dent Way, Tukwila, Washington.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 22 May 2024 CE.

At Stake: Well, it’s bloody single-elimination isn’t it? So I’d say everything is at stake. Regardless of MLS’ and ESPN’s (via Disney) attempts to normalise the MLS Cup as the standard for football excellence in the country, the US Open Cup is the premier domestic football tournament in America. Other than the CONCACAF Cup, and winning the league in MLS, the US Open Cup is not only the oldest and most important trophy we play for, but the only domestic football tournament that is inclusive of many clubs at different levels.

Where to Watch: The Sounders FC website has links to both the United States FA  website and MLS’ website for the match. They might even work. My recommendation: Tune into KJR 15 minutes before the start of the match, and that may give you time to get the stream up and running and jump through any pre-requisite hoops you might have to to access the stream. Good night, and good luck.

Where to Listen: 950 KJR AM. I don’t know if the El Rey is covering the match, but if they are, their frequency is 1360 AM.

Get out your prayer beads, incense, rosaries, rune stones, pentacles, thaumaturgic circles, crystals, tarot cards, and a big ol’ cup of Man-o-Manischewitz wine. Let’s fucking do this!

That’s right sportsfans, it’s the US Open Cup, played in the cavernous venue of Starfire to a crowd of thousands! As we watch our intrepid corporate structure deploy juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough resources at this to try and do the job. Like rationing doses of insulin because it’s become too fucking expensive to properly treat your ailments. We will take this insult and convert our rightful outrage into positive psychic energy that we will use to chuff up the lads. To energise them and let them know we’re behind them, 100%. No matter how angry I get at corporate stupidity, it does not affect my support for the lads. Ever.

It’s US Open Cup football under the lights in Tukwila. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS! GET IN! SOUNDERS FOR THE CUP! FOR CASCADIA! FOR THE EVERGREEN! FOR SEATTLE!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

Here we are again, Brian. Do we value US Open Cup ties greater than or equal to

MLS league matches, or not? Re-frame your way out of that question, yeh.

The Good News

All our players are good players. We don’t have any bad players in the Sounders FC system. In an ideal situation, we play a first choice team, and make substitutes at the half to grant our youngers experience after gaining a first-half lead. That would be a sensible strategy. Let’s hope this is what happens on Wednesday night.

Although Starfire is too small a ground for this occasion, it is familiar to our players, our supporters, and reminds us of glories past. This can be a great advantage to us and ours.

We have the best support in the league and perhaps the country, bar none. As ECS are so fond of pointing out, there is No Equal. We’ll need that support, the hard work of our players that we’ve come to expect, and a bit of luck and prayer wouldn’t hurt.

We managed to squeak past Louisville City with a draw and advance on penalty kicks. Phoenix hasn’t been having as good a season as Louisville, who are in 2nd place in the USL Championship table. Phoenix Rising is 10th in the USL-C, 12 points adrift of leaders Charleston Battery. Maybe this is a good omen for us.

The Bad News

What I am about to write is in no way meant to reflect negatively on what the team managed against Louisville City, as that match was a meatgrinder, which saw our lads do very well and work tirelessly to earn a draw against a far more experienced opponent. With that said, if we run-out a team that are Sounders FC Reserves and Sounders FC first-team squad players, it sends a clear message, regardless of whatever rhetoric is spouted in press conferences, that the front office, ownership, and management don’t care about this tournament. If the Gaffer selects a team that even has five first choice players in it, I’ll give him nothing but credit and praise. The five years in which the US Open Cup has actually been held, since Schmetzer has been Manager, have taught me that this tournament is in no way a priority, and that they have decided that it’s a lesser competition in comparison to MLS Cup and Leagues Cup. If this is the case, what a shame. Be ashamed of yourselves. This tournament has been in existence since 1914 and you can’t be bothered to be part of such a rich tradition.

I saw very troubling things within the Sounders team during the match on Saturday. The plodding buildup play with zero urgency. Passes for the purpose of creating static possession and failure to break lines. Almost zero running off the ball, just sort of staring at each other when we won the ball, no one making a run to get open. Sounders players trying to hold the football, but help doesn’t come, no players making runs to open space to create passing options. A refusal to switch the play rapidly from the strong side. I mean…what are we even working on in training?

Our lone goal against Vancouver was produced by a deflection of Joao Paulo’s initial shot that fell kindly for Vargas, who belted a shot on goal, that was parried by Takaoka, with that deflection also luckily falling to an onrushing Morris who converted. We had only one other shot on frame. This should concern everyone at the club.

The state of officiating in MLS is appalling. Seriously, PRO Referees and MLS, sort it out. It’s embarrassing. Vancouver defender clearly handles in his Penalty Area, no penalty kick after VAR check. Same thing happens to Nouhou, VAR determines Penalty Kick for Vancouver, and Nouhou sent-off. Fucking appalling.

US Soccer did a poor job arranging the live stream of Sounders FC v. Louisville City FC. By the time I was able to enter the launch codes to open up the stream, the match was already eight minutes underway. Unacceptable. Do better, US Soccer. I plan on listening on KJR before the match begins in case there is difficulty or inability to access the stream. The state of domestic football in America is a sad, sad, sad affair.

I’ve looked through the Phoenix lineup from their last league match. This is not a team full of teenagers. There are many experienced players who have been developed by some bigger clubs overseas. Expect the same level of resistance or greater than Louisville City, who nearly defeated us.

Phoenix haven’t lost since 20 April. I know that in MLS there is a certain arrogance. A belief that the quality of MLS football is so much higher that that of the USL Championship. So much so that the club thinks we should field a reserve side and that that should be enough to do the job. I hope they’re right. Louisville City gave us all we could handle, so I guess we’ll find out.

The two clubs have very close goal scoring (Phoenix is +0.05 goals/match better) and defensive numbers (Phoenix is -0.19 goals conceded/match better). Unfortunately, these numbers are calculated from the efforts of the first choice teams. You can make an argument that the standard of play isn’t as good in USL Championship, but that’s a difficult argument to make when MLS 3rd place club Salt Lake is bounced out of the US Open Cup by New Mexico United of the USL Championship. So, you know, maybe our league isn’t as superior as it thinks it is.

The Side I Would Select

We have a chance at advancing to the Quarter-Finals if we win this match. We can run out the youngers against St. Louis in the league on Sat. They’ll do just fine, they’ve proved that against Louisville City, and it will pay big dividends down the road.

Rationale: Frei because he’s fucking Stefan Frei, club legend of a goalkeeper…and also a damn fine painter as well, by the way. Nouhou because he’s out against St. Louis anyway, as he was sent off on Sat. This will keep the Cameroonian left-back match-fit. Bell over Ragen, because the Manager had Ragen play the last two full matches. Gomez Andrade because he didn’t play at Salt Lake and can go, and because Nathan is out so we need him. Hawkins would be fine as well, as he’s more than capable - but then he’d be just as capable at Citypark on Sat, isn’t it? Alex can go at right-back, it’s been four days since Vancouver. Joao Paulo played at Salt Lake and vs. Vancouver, but didn’t play the full 90 minutes in either match. He can go, and maybe if we get a two-goal lead, sub him in the second half. Cristian went the full 90 against Vancouver, but only 45 at the Salt Lake. It’s been four days. Cristian can play. Morris can also go, no problem. Rusnak can go, or we could test de la Vega in a full match and truly see where he’s at, or they could split the minutes? Speaking of de la Vega, he’s a right-forward, let’s play him. He needs the work to build up his match fitness. Ruidiaz leading the line. He’s a ruthless finisher, and in a cup-tie, that’s exactly what we need. Disclaimer: This is all assuming that there were no unreported injuries from the last match, and that the list of fit and injured players is the same as on Saturday.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

RCH    Bell

LCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Cristian

LF     Morris

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Ruidiaz

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I give the Gaffer credit for playing Leo Chu and Alex Roldan against Louisville City. I think he needs to go several steps further this time ‘round. What I, and a hopefully growing number of our fan base, think will be of no consequence, unfortunately. I honestly don’t know how experienced a team the Manager will run-out for this one. My guess is that with a two-day turnaround from Phoenix midweek to St. Louis away on Sat, he will rest most, if not all, the first-choice players. Who knows if we made more short-term loans from the Sounders FC Reserves? I’ll likely be the last to know. Will it still be a good squad? Of course it will, we don’t have any bad footballers. But a good team last time ‘round was only good enough for a draw, and only a fair amount of composure, skill, and luck saw us through eight rounds of penalty kicks, sparing the Sounders FC blushes. This lineup assumes no hardship loans from the Sounders FC Reserves.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Bell

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Baker

LDM    Kitahara

RDM    Baker-Whiting

LF     Teves

CAM   Leyva

RF     Rothrock

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

No idea who the ref is going to be, and I doubt that information will be made available to me.

General notes on personnel

Phoenix transfers IN:

Rito (Hartford Athletic) free

Traore (Los Angeles FC) free

Wyke (Nashville SC) free

Scearce (Union Omaha) free

Doratiotto (Juventus U23s) free

Mar Boye - draft

Formella (Oakland Roots SC) undisclosed fee

Azocar (Deportivo La Guaira) undisclosed fee

Flood (Finn Harps) undisclosed fee

Rios Novo (Lanus) loan

Cabral (Colorado Rapids) loan

Odle - academy

Smuck (Barca Residency Academy USA) loan

Veloria - academy

Grote - academy

Kobey - academy

Stenberg (Osters IF) end of loan

Phoenix transfers OUT:

Trejo (Korona Kielce) free

Anguiano (Greenville Triumph SC) free

Arteaga (Tampa Bay Rowdies) undisclosed fee

Lambert (Real Salt Lake) undisclosed fee

Munjoma (Tampa Bay Rowdies) undisclosed fee

Harvey (Minnesota United FC) undisclosed fee

Njie (Oakland Roots SC) undisclosed fee

Krutzen - retired

Uzochukwu - released

King - retired

Dunn - released

Kaakoush (FC Dallas Reserves) free

Comparison against common opponents

n/a

Know Thine Enemy

Phoenix as they lined up in their 2:0 victory over Miami FC on 18 May.

GOALKEEPER

Rocco Rios Novo, 21

United States

Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (16/0), Phoenix Rising FC (47/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by Lanus. Has played for Argentina at youth levels (24/0). Has won two youth South American Championships, one each at the U15 and U17 levels.

DEFENCE

Mohamad Traore, 21

Senegal

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles FC (1/0), Phoenix Rising FC (33/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000

Notes: Developed by Monteverde Academy. Won a USL Championship Cup with Phoenix Rising FC.

Laurence Wyke, 27 This player is suspended and out this match.

England

Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (7/0), Tampa Bay Rowdies (59/3), Phoenix Rising FC (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Manchester United. Played his university football for Trinity (46/11) and Furman (39/16).

John Stenberg, 31

Sweden

Notable Clubs: Osters IF (69/3), Phoenix Rising FC (23/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000

Notes: Developed by IFK Amal.

Jose Hernandez, 28

Mexico

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (7/1), OKC Energy FC (15/1), Oakland Roots SC (51/4), Phoenix Rising FC (43/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000

Notes: Developed by Real Salt Lake AZ. Played his university football for UCLA (41/16).

Renzo Zambrano, 29

Venezuela (5/0)

Notable Clubs: Monagas (61/0), Deportivo Lara (26/1), Valladolid (2/0), Portland Timbers (29/0), Pyunik (21/1), Phoenix Rising FC (46/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000

Notes: Developed by Monagas. Won an Armenian league title with Pyunik.

MIDFIELD

Panos Armenakas, 25

United States

Notable Clubs: Panathinaikos (3/0), Zulte Waregem (9/2), Vendsyssel (41/3), Phoenix Rising (37/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €275,000

Notes: Developed by Sydney Olympic, Brescia, Watford, and Udinese.

Fede Varela, 28

Argentina

Notable Clubs: FC Stade Nyonnais (19/3), Portimonense (12/0), Leganes (1/0), Las Palmas (17/1), CSKA Sofia (23/0), Phoenix Rising FC (36/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000

Notes: Developed by Viveiro and Celta. Won a Bulgarian Cup with CSKA Sofia.

FORWARD

Juan Carlos Azocar, 28

Venezuela

Notable Clubs: Aragua (45/4), Deportivo Tachira (64/5), Carabobo (13/0), Deportivo La Guaira (74/8), Urartu (11/2), Rio Grande Valley FC (27/7), Oakland Roots SC (33/10), San Antonio FC (16/0), Phoenix Rising FC (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €175,000

Notes: Origin club not listed. No known senior honours.

Edguardo Rito, 28

Venezuela

Notable Clubs: Atletico El Vigia (26/0), Deportivo Lara (2/0), Yaracuyanos FC (11/1), Mineros de Guayana (11/1), Patriotas Boyaca (22/0), Oakland Roots SC (41/7), Hartford Athletic (19/0), Phoenix Rising FC (10/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €250,000

Notes: Developed by Atletico El Vigia. USL Championship All-League First Team.

Remi Cabral, 24

France

Notable Clubs: Colorado Rapids (1/0), Phoenix Rising FC (10/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Paris Saint-Germain.

Familiar Faces

None that I know of.

Squads

Well, no word from anywhere on injury updates. So are these the squads? Maybe, maybe not. Nobody knows. Who can say? Thanks for the media support, United States FA.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Baker-Whiting, de la Vega, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Leyva, Rusnak, Vargas, Morris, Cristian, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.

Phoenix from:

Rios Novo, Rakovsky, Odle, Stenberg, Mar Boye, Traore, Flood, Torres, Fuenmayor, Grote, Rito, Azocar, Doratiotto, Hernandez, Varela, Cuello, Scearce, Armenakas, Zambrano, Veloria, Landis, Kobey, Gallardo, Formella, Smuck, Cabral.

Injury List

I’ve no idea. I’m mostly pasting injury results that were last reported from Friday last. There’s no new info to be read. As it turns out, it’s very difficult to report on anything when there’s no information available.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Nathan (quadriceps), Rodrigues (hamstring), Atencio (hamstring), Leo Chu (adductor).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Phoenix -

OUT: No idea.

MATCHDAY DECISION: No idea.

Discipline

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

Phoenix: Wyke is suspended and out this match. Azocar, Doratiotto, and Gallardo are out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

To the tune of London Bridge: “MLS IS FALLING DOWN / FALLING DOWN / FALLING DOWN / MLS IS FALLING DOWN / FUCK YOU GARBER”