SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. MINNESOTA UNITED FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. The Loons descend from their perch at the corner of 6th best in the league and St. Anthony Avenue to The Evergreen, to play our lot. Corndogs are optional.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Minnesota United FC.

Where: Royal Brougham Park, Occidental Avenue, Seattle, Washington.

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 15 June 2024 CE.

At Stake: Well, firstly, can we put it together for 90 minutes is at stake. Secondly, do we have what it takes to beat a top 10 team in this league? Thirdly, a Sounders FC victory could see us climb as high as 16th place in the league table, whilst a defeat could see us drop as low as 24th. For those early-schvitzing over MLS Cup qualification, Sounders are three points adrift of our close personal friends from Portland for the last berth for the [grits teeth] wild-card round. Sounders FC are currently in 20th place in the league table, 17 points adrift of leaders Inter Miami.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. As this is a home fixture, there is alternate audio available if you wish to hear the KJR simulcast.

Where to Listen: 950 KJR FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

From the supporters point of view, you chuff up the lads, and sing your hearts out, win, draw, or lose. We’re gonna need a fair amount of that spirit in the Brougham End on Sat. We’re accustomed to seeing Minnesota United off. It’s a bit different this time. They’ve released the likes of Dibassy, Gregus, Kallman, and Reynoso - and all the messy, messy luggage that came with Reynoso and his singular level of talent.

No, this lot sits 6th place in the league and has only lost three times in 16 matches. Can we defeat them. Of course. MLS is “designed for parity” (Nothing says parity like letting Miami sign Messi, Suarez, and Jordi Alba, whilst everyone else can only afford Sunday League players - I’d say an independent review of Inter’s salary cap compliance is overdue) In fact, that should be MLS’ new tagline - “MLS…Designed for Parity”, I’ll have to e-mail Commissioner Garber about that. Right. Re-Focus. We can defeat these. We have done before, and can do now. What’s it going to take? Total commitment. From our support, from the players, and from the coaching staff. Who wants to find out if the Sounders FC are up for a classic bounce-back victory?

It’s Sounders football, under the lights on Saturday night at Royal Brougham Park. Are you ready for us to serve a heaping plate of comeuppance to our guests? GO ON YOU SOUNDERS! GET IN!

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

What is the way forward for Sounders FC? Craig Waibel, Henry Brauner, Adrian Hanauer, Wade Webber,

and Craig Dalrymple…you may open your blue books, you have 45 minutes starting…now.

The Good News

We have some very good players, and a decent portion of them are still young enough to make a go of it.

We have the best support in the league - no question.

Every time I run the numbers that objectively say there’s either no way to beat this lot, or we should win this match definitively, MLS throws me a freak result that makes every statistic and metric look like straight rubbish. This being said, why not us for the win on Sat?

Sounders have only two players serving with their national teams now in Nouhou and Stu Hawkins. Minnesota United have four players with their national teams including their starlet Canadian goalkeeper, Dayne St. Clair. A slight edge is better than no edge.

The Bad News

Sounders FC have zero victories against clubs in the top ten of the MLS league table (0-3-4) in the first half of this season. Changes must be made, but is the club willing to make the hard choices to see changes done?

Our results look good on paper as we’re 3-3-2 in our last eight matches. A slightly deeper examination reveals that the teams we beat (Philadelphia, Portland, and St. Louis) are placed 17th, 16th, and 21st in the league. The teams we drew were all in the top ten in the league (Salt Lake 3rd, LA Galaxy 8th, and Vancouver 9th). We were shut out by both Vancouver and LA Galaxy in that stretch. Over those eight matches we’ve scored 10 goals (1.25 goals/match). Of those 10 goals, one was a penalty kick, and one was an own-goal. Objectively, this is not good enough. Not by a long shot.

For the life of me, I couldn’t tell you why this season is not going better. Have injuries played a role, especially the injury that has limited Pedro de la Vega to two matches? Sure. Has Nico’s departure played a role? Sure. Has spotty officiating played a role? I’d say so. Has tactics, team selection, and training played a role? That’s a question for Brian and his staff. The big questions are: What has become of us? and What’s to be done about it?

Last match, in Kansas City, we had only one shot on goal, let in a howler, had a man sent-off, and we no longer seem to be able to close out games. What in the name of St. Brigid is going on?!

The Side I Would Select

Assuming that the current injury report is valid, everyone is fit for selection, and that everyone listed as questionable is actually still injured, I’d pick this lot. It’s time for some changes.

Rationale:

Well. Last week’s match at Kansas City happened. We played the second-worst team in MLS, such as it is, and after taking an early 12th minute lead on a lovely goal from Jordo, shit went pear-shaped, and we ended up losing 2:1 on Alenis Vargas’ 85th minute winner. Shambles. So some of the team from last week, you can have a seat today, maybe the rest and seeing the match from another point of view will do you good. I’d have Ruidiaz and Joao Paulo as substitutes at half-time if need be. Thomas has played well enough in the US Open Cup to deserve a look in goal. Leyva is good and doesn’t play enough, Cristian is a 6 or 8, not a right-forward, Albert’s play in the #10 role has been spotty at best, so I’d say Josh has earned a chance in the team, Dylan Teves has scored goals when given an opportunity, let’s get him a run-out at centre-forward. This lineup is younger, hungrier, and has better pace. After this match, we would see about who would be in the team for the midweek fixture at Houston, perhaps with a clearer vision of what the roles of some of our veteran players should be.

GK     Thomas

LB     Baker

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Lopez

RB     Alex

LDM    Leyva

RDM   Cristian

LF     Morris

CAM   Atencio

RF     Vargas

CF     Teves

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I mean, who else? Barring injury, of course.

GK     Frei

LB     Baker

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB      Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM    Vargas

LF     Morris

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Ruidiaz

Intangibles

I wonder how different this season might’ve been had Pedro De la Vega been healthy all season.

The referee for Saturday night’s match will be Rosendo Mendoza.

Sounders FC record in matches refereed by Mendoza: 3-1-2.

Minnesota United record in matches refereed by Mendoza: 3-2-2.

General notes on personnel

Minnesota United transfers IN:

Wil Trapp - re-signed

Dodson (Charleston Battery) free

Adebayo-Smith (New England Revolution Reserves) €115,000

Bran (Herediano) loan

Harvey (Phoenix Rising) undisclosed fee

Nyeman (SK Beveren) undisclosed fee

Eriksson (Varnamo) free

Duggan - draft

Bacharach - draft

Shashoua (Albacete) free

Minnesota United transfers OUT:
Dibassy - released

Dick (Pittsburgh Riverhounds) free

Emmings - reserves

Garcia - (Independiente Medellin) free

Gregus (Houston Dynamo) free

Iwe (SV Sandhausen) free

Jiba (Union Omaha) free

Tajouri-Shradi (Asswehly) free

Dunbar (Orange County) free

Kallman (Nashville SC) free

Bristow (Stockport County) loan

Marques (Vasteras SK) loan

Dodson (Birmingham Legio) loan

Reynoso (Club Tijuana) undisclosed fee

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 0:0 ATX

ATX 1:2 MIN

(against ATX: SEA 0-1-0 0, MIN 1-0-0 +1) edge MIN

LAFC 2:1 SEA

MIN 2:0 LAFC

LAFC 2:0 MIN

(against LAFC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, MIN 1-0-1 0) edge MIN

PHI 2:3 SEA

PHI 2:0 MIN

(against PHI: SEA 1-0-0 +1, MIN 0-0-1 -2) edge SEA

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:1 RSL

MIN 1:1 RSL

(against RSL: SEA 0-1-1 -2, MIN 0-1-0 0) edge MIN

SKC 2:1 SEA

MIN 2:1 SKC

MIN 3:1 SKC

(against SKC: SEA 0-0-1 -1, MIN 2-0-0 +3) edge MIN

LAG 1:0 SEA

SEA 0:0 LAG

MIN 2:2 LAG

(against LAG: SEA 0-1-1 -1, MIN 0-1-0 0) edge MIN

POR 1:2 SEA

MIN 2:1 POR

(against POR: SEA 1-0-0 +1, MIN 1-0-0 +1) even

SEA 1:1 COL

COL 3:3 MIN

(against COL: SEA 0-1-0 0, MIN 0-1-0 0) even

DAL 0:0 SEA

MIN 1:1 DAL

(against DAL: SEA 0-1-0 0, MIN 0-1-0 0) even

Know Thine Enemy

The Loons as they lined up in their 1:1 draw against the Dallas at St. Anthony Avenue on 8 June.

GOALKEEPER

Clint Irwin, 35

United States

Notable Clubs: Colorado Rapids (105/0), Toronto FC (32/0), Minnesota United FC (5/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000

Notes: Developed by Charlotte United. Played his university football at Elon (54/0). Won an MLS Cup and league double, and three Canadian Championships with Toronto FC.

DEFENCE

Caden Clark, 21

United States

Notable Clubs: New York RB (47/7), Vendsyssel (2/0), Minnesota United FC (15/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.7M

Notes: Has played with United States U20s (12/3). Won CONCACAF U20 Championship with United States.

Devin Padelford, 21

United States

Notable Clubs: Minnesota United FC (20/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €450,000

Notes: Developed by St. Croix SC and Minnesota United FC.

Michael Boxall, 35

New Zealand (44/0)

Notable Clubs: Auckland City (6/0), Vancouver Whitecaps (19/0), Wellington Phoenix (39/2), SuperSport United (53/4), Minnesota United FC (196/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Three Kings United and Mount Albert Grammar School. Played his university football for UC Santa Barbara (78/1). Won a New Zealand League title with Auckland City. Won two South African Cups with SuperSport United. Won an OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand.

VIctor Eriksson, 23

Sweden (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Varnamo (125/4), Minnesota United FC (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Varnamo Sodra. Won second division and third division league titles with Varnamo.

Sang-Bin Jeong, 22

South Korea (1/1)

Notable Clubs: Suwon Bluewings (28/6), Grasshopper (13/0), Minnesota United FC (37/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Cheonan Elementary School, Daejeon Jungang Elementary School, Maetan Middle School, Maetan High School, and Suwon Bluewings. Played for South Korea at youth levels (18/8).

MIDFIELD

Wil Trapp, 31

United States (20/0)

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (185/2), Inter Miami CF (21/0), Minnesota United FC (104/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Columbus Crew SC. Played his university football for Akron (45/1).

Hassani Dotson, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: Minnesota United FC (124/13)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Crossfire Academy and Washington Premier. Played his university football for Oregon State (72/5). Dotson is a Seattle, WA native.

FORWARD

Franco Fragapane, 31

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Boca Juniors (3/0), Elche (1/0), Arsenal de Sarandi (23/0), Union Santa Fe (49/10), CA Talleres Cordoba (46/7), Fortaleza (10/0), Minnesota United FC (84/14)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Huracan Las Heras, EF Ariel Gomez, and Boca Juniors.

Jordan Adebayo-Smith, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Tampa Bay Rowdies (25/4), Minnesota United FC (6/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by EastSoccerBase. 

Bongokuhle Hlongwane, 23

South Africa (19/4)

Notable Clubs: Maritzburg United (53/7), Minnesota United FC (73/13)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Nxamalala Fast XI and Maritzburg United.

Familiar Faces

Midfielder Hassani Dotson was developed by Crossfire Academy and Washington Premier. Hassani is a Seattle native.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Lopez, Nathan, Ragen, Alex, Atencio, de la Vega, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Leyva, Rusnak, Vargas, Morris, Cristian, Leo Chu, Musovski, Rodrigues, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.

Minnesota from:

Irwin, Smir, Bacharach, Boxall, Eriksson, Padelford, Tapias, Valentin, Arriaga, Clark, Dotson, Lod, Nyeman, Reynoso, Trapp, Weah, Adebayo-Smith, Dodson, Duggan, Fragapane, Hlongwane, Jeong, Mesanvi, Romanshyn.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: none.

MATCHDAY DECISION: de la Vega (hamstring), Bell (hamstring), Nathan (quadriceps).

Minnesota -

OUT: Bacharach (knee), Pukki (knee), Taylor (leg),

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: Baker-Whiting is out this match serving a one-match ban.

Minnesota: Rosales is out this match serving a one-match ban. Trapp out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

The corpos are giving out free stuff if you go to the match on Sat.