SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. LOS ANGELES FC - LEAGUES CUP QUARTER-FINAL - ROYAL BROUGHAM PARK, OCCIDENTAL AVENUE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders have powered their way to the Quarter-Final stage of Leagues Cup. The opponent? Why it’s the same opponent we’ll face in the US Open Cup Semi-Final, LAFC. LAFC travelling from their Figueroa Street ground where they played all their previous matches in the tournament, but now they must face us…in The Evergreen.

What: Leagues Cup Quarter-Final stage, Seattle Sounders FC v. Los Angeles FC.

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

When: 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 17 August 2024.

At Stake: The stakes are relative to your valuation of Leagues Cup and/or your valuation of winning matches, which I think includes all of us. We won’t turn up our noses at winning a nice, shiny tin pot. Even that beat to shite, bent-up excuse for a trophy that is the Leagues Cup. More important than the tournament results though, is that should Sounders triumph over LAFC, it will have been a third straight victory against some of the toughest teams in the CONCACAF zone. When something happens at least three times, it is indicative of a pattern.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV (looks like we get Keith Costigan back for one match, with the Spanish language play-by-play provided by Jorge Perez-Navarro).

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

Whether or not you like Leagues Cup or see it as the blatant cash-grab that it is, it’s pretty damn fine work for the Sounders to reach the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament.

Support at home or support at the ground. The choice of venue is yours, but we must support our Boys in Green. This is non-negotiable.

Gather ‘round the telly, or meet your mates at the ground or the pub. I’m so sick of LAFC beating us and somehow being able to, within MLS’ apparently, completely arbitrary salary cap rules, spend millions more than our club can manage in transfers.

Galaxy tried to out-finesse us, and we saw them off. Pumas tried to out-goon us, and we weren’t havin’ it. We sent them off as well. The next challenge is nigh.

Fasten that seat-belt. It’s Leagues Cup football, such as it is, in the early evening sun at Royal Brougham Park. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

To paraphrase: Now Rothrock the party rock the partay…

The Good News

We’ve beaten two elite teams, LA Galaxy and UNAM Pumas, in the region in a row. For me, a victory over LAFC, currently in 4th place in MLS, will demonstrate that we’ve truly turned a corner, and raised our competitive level to the point where elite clubs can’t just show up and bloody our noses whenever they feel like it.

We’ve won the last two matches by an aggregate score of 7:1. The technical term for this is “bossing it”.

Ruidiaz and De la Vega are fit enough to be included on the bench for this match, should they be selected. This is very good news. The only Sounders player that is still injured is Rodrigues with his hamstring issue that won’t seem to heal.

Royal Brougham Park is a fortress again. Our home record in all competitions is 11-5-3. Only three losses in 19 home matches. That is a significant and dominant statistic. Full disclosure: Two of those victories were US Open Cup ties played at Starfire, and therefore, technically still home matches.

Jordan Morris leads the Sounders FC with three Leagues Cup goals. That’s good enough to be among the top ten in goal scoring for this tournament.

Andrew Thomas has been quite good between the sticks for us. The former Watford FC Academy player has shown that in terms of goalkeeping, our future looks quite bright indeed.

The Bad News

Both times we faced LAFC this season they defeated us, by scores of 2:1 on 24 February, and 0:3 on 20 July in our most recent match in the league. Although the statistics of the July match showed that the Sounders were superior to LAFC in many statistical categories, we were on the wrong end of a relatively lopsided result.

LAFC have star power to spare. They spent for some of it, but also got some big names on free transfers. Hugo Lloris who represented France 145 times, and previously played for Tottenham and Lyon came on a free transfer, but it’s pretty clear he’s all quality. Omar Campos came from Santos Laguna for €4.6M. Venezuelan, David Martinez came from Monagas SC for €3.2M (though he’s suspended for Saturday’s match). Olivier Giroud came on a free transfer and had 137 caps and 37 goals for France, and previously played for Chelsea, AC Milan, and the Arsenal. They have Gabonese striker Denis Bouanga who is tied for second with 16 goals scored in MLS league play and four goals in Leagues Cup. Bouanga is rated by Transfermarkt as having an estimated transfer fee of €10M. Uruguayan winger, Cristian Olivera has an estimated transfer value of €4M. Polish youth international winger, Mateusz Bogusz is also rated at a transfer value of €4M. I could go on, but you get the idea.

In stark relief: Aside from De la Vega (€6.5M), Cristian Roldan (€5M), Nouhou (€4.5M), Jordan Morris (€4.5M), and Leo Chu (€4M) no other Sounder has an estimated transfer value higher than €3.5M. The most elite clubs any of those players listed above ever played for are Lanus (10 titles), Rainbow FC (no known honours), Gremio (15 titles), and Swansea City (4 titles). If you know what countries those clubs are from and how many titles they’ve won without looking it up, congratulations - I had to look it up. Sounders FC must generate results against expectation and relative pedigree. However, sometimes the gap is just too vast. Let’s hope our Boys in Green continue to make the experts and bookmakers pull their hair out. Full disclosure: Raul Ruidiaz played 152 times scoring 70 goals for Universitario who have won 46 titles, including 27 Peruvian league championships. Ruidiaz has a current estimated transfer value of €2M.

LAFC average over two goals per match (2.19) in all competitions. Although the Sounders attack is much improved, the average in all competitions for goals scored is 1.56/match. This is a sobering statistic, mitigated by the Sounders eye-goggling recent form, which has left our detractors… and our supporters, a bit slack-jawed.

Both teams defend well, conceding almost exactly the same amount of goals per match in all competitions, with LAFC slightly better at 1.13 goals conceded/match to the Sounders 1.16 goals conceded/match. So the match will likely go to the team that is the best at scoring goals no matter how elite the other team’s defending is.

LAFC have a good road record at 6-2-4. So only four losses in 12 away matches. This demonstrates how difficult it is to defeat them.

LAFC were last defeated (in any competition) on 13 July, suffering a 1:5 battering by Columbus Crew at Figueroa Street. LAFC’s record in their last 20 matches in all competitions is 16-3-1. This includes unbeaten streaks in the league of six victories in a row in the league from 11 May - 15 June, and an unbeaten streak in the league of 10 matches. They have yet to lose a cup match having won all three of their US Open Cup matches, and with a current 3-1-0 record in Leagues Cup. A lot of words to point out that our opposition on Sat is actually quite good at football.

The Side I Would Select

Never drop a player from a winning side, excepting for injuries and suspensions. That would be ideal. Having said that, it won’t be possible to keep everyone in the team, as Vargas picked up his second booking against Pumas, and is out this match.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Atencio

RDM   Joao Paulo

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

With Vargas suspended, Atencio looks like the most likely to temporarily replace him in the team.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Atencio

RDM   Joao Paulo

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Cristian

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The referee for Saturday night’s match will be Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos.

Sounders FC record with Ramos Palazuelos as Ref: 0-0-0

LAFC record with Ramos Palazuelos as Ref: 0-1-1

Back to back extraordinary results for the Sounders FC. Can they replicate that success a third straight match?

General notes on personnel

LAFC transfers IN:

Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) free

Dellavalle - reserves

Campos (Santos Laguna) €4.6M

Angel (Atletico Nacional) free

Martinez (Monagas SC) €3.2M

Atuesta (Palmeiras) loan

Chanot (AC Ajaccio) free

Kamara (Chicago Fire) free

Muller - reserves

Giroud (AC Milan) free

Musto - reserves

Hasal (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) free

O’Brien (Nottingham Forest) loan

LAFC transfers OUT:

Chiellini - retired

Crisostomo (Tampa Bay Rowdies) free

Gaines - released

Jakupovic - released

Leone (Monterrey) free

Maldonado (Motagua) end of loan

McCarthy (Los Angeles Galaxy) free

Rosales - released

Torres (Tapatio) free

Traore (Phoenix Rising) free

Acosta (Chicago Fire) free

Crepeau (Portland Timbers) free

Palacios (Corinthians) free

Vela - released

Gonzalez (Sporting Gijon) loan

Krastev (Lommel SK) end of loan

Biuk (Real Valladolid) €4M

Fall (FC Barcelona) €2M

Angel (Phoenix Rising) loan

Gonzalez (FC Famalicao) loan

Ginella - released

Romero (Columbus Crew) €45,000

Comparison against common opponents

RSL 2:0 SEA

SEA 1:1 RSL

RSL 3:0 LAFC
LAFC 1:1 RSL

(against RSL: SEA 0-1-1 -2, LAFC 0-1-1 -3) edge SEA

SKC 2:1 SEA

LAFC 0:0 SKC

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

SEA 2:0 MIN

SEA 2:0 MIN LC

MIN 2:0 LAFC

LAFC 2:0 MIN

(against MIN: SEA 2-0-0 +4, LAFC 1-0-1 0) edge SEA

SEA 1:1 COL

COL 3:2 LAFC
LAFC 3:0 COL

(against COL: SEA 0-1-0 0, LAFC 1-0-1 +2) edge LAFC

LAG 1:0 SEA
SEA 0:0 LAG

SEA 3:1 LAG LC

LAFC 2:1 LAG

LAG 1:2 LAFC

(against LAG: SEA 1-1-1 +1, LAFC 2-0-0 +2) edge LAFC

POR 1:2 SEA

POR 2:2 LAFC

LAFC 3:2 POR

(against POR: SEA 1-0-0 +1, LAFC 1-1-0 +1) edge LAFC

SJ 3:2 SEA

SJ 3:1 LAFC

LAFC 6:2 SJ

LAFC 4:1 SJ LC

(against SJ: SEA 0-0-1 -1, LAFC 2-0-1 +5) edge LAFC

SEA 0:2 VAN

SEA 1:1 VAN

LAFC 3:0 VAN

LAFC 2:2 (2:4) VAN LC

(against VAN: SEA 0-1-1 -2, LAFC 1-1-0 +3) edge LAFC

STL 1:2 SEA

SEA 2:0 STL

STL 0:2 LAFC

(against STL: SEA 2-0-0 +3, LAFC 1-0-0 +2) edge SEA

DAL 0:0 SEA

SEA 3:2 DAL

LAFC 1:0 DAL

(against DAL: 1-1-0 +1, LAFC 1-0-0 +1) edge SEA

SEA 0:0 ATX

ATX 0:1 SEA

ATX 1:1 LAFC

LAFC 2:0 ATX LC

(against ATX: SEA 1-1-0 +1, LAFC 1-1-0 +2) edge LAFC

Know Thine Enemy

LAFC as they lined up in their 4:1 victory over San Jose at Figueroa Street on 13 August.

GOALKEEPER

Hugo Lloris, 37

France (145/0)

Notable Clubs: Nice (72/0), Lyon (146/0), Tottenham Hotspur (361/0), Los Angeles FC (24/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Cedac Cimiez and Nice. Won Coup de France and Trophee des Champions with Lyon. Won the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Nations League with France. Named Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year three times. Named to Ligue 1 Team of the Year three times.

DEFENCE

Ryan Hollingshead, 33

United States

Notable Clubs: FC Dallas (193/18), Los Angeles FC (84/11)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Played his university football for UCLA (81/16). Won an MLS League Championship and US Open Cup double with Dallas in 2016. Won MLS league and MLS Cup double in 2022 with LAFC.

Aaron Long, 31

United States (35/3)

Notable Clubs: Sacramento Republic (2/0), New York RB (139/12), Los Angeles FC (42/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Played his university football for UC Riverside (71/13). Won an MLS League Championship with NYRB. Named USL Defender of the Year in 2016. Named MLS Defender of the Year and MLS Best XI in 2018. Named to CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI in 2019. Named to CONCACAF Champions League Best XI 2023.

Maxime Chanot, 34

Luxembourg (71/4)

Notable Clubs: Beerschot (9/0), Kortrijk (82/5), New York City FC (165/5), Ajaccio (21/0), Los Angeles FC (15/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by Nancy and Reims. Won an MLS Cup, and a Campeones Cup with New York City FC.

Jesus Murillo, 30

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Deportivo Pasto (19/0), Patriotas Boyaca (92/1), Independiente Medellin (90/4), Los Angeles FC (107/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Independiente Medellin. Won a Copa Colombia with Independiente. Named to CONCACAF Champions League Team of the Tournament 2020. Won MLS league and MLS Cup double in 2022.

Sergi Palencia, 28

Catalonia

Notable Clubs: Bordeaux (25/0), Saint Etienne (6/0), Leganes (71/0), Los Angeles FC (41/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by CF Badalona and FC Barcelona. No known honours.

MIDFIELD

Eduard Atuesta, 27

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Independiente Medellin (29/0), Los Angeles FC (118/9), Palmeiras (26/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Produced by Independiente Medellin. Won a league championship with LAFC in 2019. Named to MLS Best XI in 2019. Won a league championship with Independiente Medellin in 2016. Won Recopa Sudamericana, two Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, and a Supercopa do Brasil with Palmeiras.

Ilie Sanchez, 33

Catalonia

Notable Clubs: 1860 Munich (24/1), Elche (27/1), Sporting Kansas City (144/7), Los Angeles FC (90/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Martinenc, FC Barcelona, Poble Sec, Catalonia, Collblanc, and Cornella. Won a US Open Cup with Kansas City in 2017. Won an MLS Cup and MLS League double with LAFC in 2022.

FORWARD

Denis Bouanga, 29

Gabon (40/10)

Notable Clubs: Lorient (38/10), Strasbourg (18/5), Tours (36/16), Nimes (35/8), Saint-Etienne (97/26), Los Angeles FC (62/37)

Estimated Transfer Value: €10M

Notes: Developed by SO Maine and Le Mans. Won MLS league and MLS Cup double in 2022 with LAFC. Won CONCACAF Champions League Golden Boot (7 goals) 2023. Named to CONCACAF Champions League Best XI 2023. Won 2023 MLS Golden Boot (20 goals). Named to MLS Best XI 2023.

Mateusz Bogusz, 22

Poland

Notable Clubs: Ruch Chorzow (32/5), Leeds United (1/0), Los Angeles FC (52/16)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Gwiazda Ruda Slaska, and Ruch Chorzov. Won a EFL Championship with Leeds. Has played for Poland (44/7) at youth levels.

Cristian Olivera, 22

Uruguay (7/0)

Notable Clubs: Rentistas (32/6), Almeria (3/0), Penarol (15/0), Boston River (29/10), Los Angeles FC (27/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Arapey Mendoza, Potencia, Flores Palma, Danubio (AUFI), Cerrito, Danubio, Defensor, and Rentistas. Won a Uruguayan league title and Supercopa Uruguaya with Penarol.

Familiar Faces

Former Sounders FC Coach Ante Razov is a Coach with LAFC.

LAFC and United States defender Aaron Long played for Sounders FC reserves (27/1) in 2015.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Baker, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Nathan, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Atencio, Baker-Whiting, De la Vega, Joao Paulo, Kitahara, Leyva, Rusnak, Morris, Cristian, Leo Chu, Musovski, Rothrock, Ruidiaz, Teves.

Note: The game notes show Trayvian Sousa and Snyder Brunell in the squad list, but I think they were only on short term loan, and may not be available. Thus I did not include them in the squad list.

LAFC from:

Lloris, Hasal, Ochoa, Campos, Murillo, Segura, Palencia, Duenas, Hollingshead, Chanot, Long, Bombino, Rosales, Berumen, Sanchez, O’Brien, Boguz, Atuesta, Musto, Jaime, Evans, Giroud, Olivera, Kamara, Ordaz, Wibowo, Muller, Bouanga.

Note: Bombino, Rosales, Berumen, Musto, Jaime, Evans, Wibowo, and Muller are all players from LAFC Reserves and may or may not find their way into the team or bench for the match.

Injury List

(Sounders FC injury info based on press conference information, LAFC injury info based largely on MLS injury list from 19 July)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Rodrigues (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

LAFC -

OUT: Dellavalle (knee), Tillman (leg), 

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

Sounders FC: Vargas is suspended this match due to picking up his second booking against Pumas.

LAFC: Martinez is suspended this match due to picking up his second booking against San Jose.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves will play their next match against LA Galaxy Reserves on Sunday 18 August at Starfire. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. PDT. Check both YouTube and Apple TV if you want to stream the match, and see a bit of our future. As Sounders FC Reserves were defeated by Galaxy Reserves in both their previous meetings (5:2 and 3:2), the lads have an opportunity to deliver a bit of comeuppance. So, go on lads! You can beat these.