REAL SALT LAKE v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC head up to Sandy, Utah for a Saturday matinee with the Salt Lake. Real Salt Lake: Delusions of monarchy in a land that can’t even sort out proper lager.

What: MLS league match, Real Salt Lake v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: State Street, Sandy, Utah.

When: 1:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Saturday 1 March 2025 CE.

At Stake: A win probably gets Sounders FC into the top 10 places in the league.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

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

I have good news for you, Green Fam. Sounders are unbeaten in all competitions, including pre-season. That’s right. You heard me correctly. Sounders are 6-3-0. We’re scoring goals at a breakneck pace. Absolutely stuffing the opposition with our defence. It’s beautiful. What’s that? I’m not cryin’. It’s just my allergies, so that’ll do, you lot.

However, the universe doesn’t seem keen to leave well enough alone. We have an away match against the Salt Lake on Sat. For those of you playing our home game, you know that we tend to bollux the job when we go there. Likely due to our first-choice players having their legs run off, with a bit of credit also to the unstoppable march of Father Time, and the rarefied air of the State Street ground at an altitude of 4,450 feet.

I digress.

Support as always is vital. I want this one badly. The lads want this one badly. The Gaffer wants this one badly. We haven’t won at Salt Lake since 28 May 2011, so it’s well and bloody overdue for a reckoning.

You know what to do, Green Fam. If you’re heading to the match, look after one another, tie your scarves proper, yell your heads off at the ground, and try to find beer that’s not 2.4% (fuck’s sake). Those of us who remain in The Evergreen…the duty is clear. Gather your mates at pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings, houses and flats for pints and cats, and sometimes even boats and ships for pie and chips. Every voice must be heard! C’MON YE!

Attention all hands…this is not a drill. Sound collision. Brace for impact. All hands to action stations. It’s Sounders FC football, in the Wasatch under the unforgiving and relentless sun which is simultaneously destroying us and also preventing us from freezing to death. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

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

At the base of the Wasatch Mountains lies Sandy, Utah and Salt Lake’s State Street

football ground. History shows that when we play here, things not be smooth.

The Good News

The squad are playing well now. Averaging three goals per match whilst conceding only one goal per match. It’s very difficult to be critical with the results we’ve been getting. So well done lads and the staff as well.

Pedro de la Vega looked all-world scoring three goals in the tie against Antigua GFC. Morris hit a brace versus the Charlotte. Arriola looks sharp as he hit two goals against the Guatemalans. Ferreira looks sharp both on and off the ball. Everyone looks sharp for the most part. The only things that need fixing are the types of things that can be ironed out in training. Can we produce that type of performance at Sandy? That’s the real question.

I feel we are two deep at every position this season. This isn’t the first time I’ve felt we had that sort of depth, though. The difference this time being that the Gaffer seems to trust the squad players a bit more than he used to. So we’ve got the depth. The question is, will the Gaffer use it enough to keep the squad fresh?

Last Sat, Salt Lake got absolutely abused by San Jose at Coleman Avenue by a score of 4:0. So good news, the Salt Lake are having trouble putting it all together and they released a bunch of players in the off-season.

The Bad News

We last won a league match here on 28 May 2011………yeh, it’s been that long. Our record at the State Street ground, all-time in the league, is 1-4-12. We have not won in the league at Sandy since Schmetzer took charge of the team in 2016.

There’s a bit of quality in the team for Salt Lake and they’ll have their backs up after getting absolutely thrashed at San Jose last Sat. Cabral has a good goalkeeper resume, with loads of appearances for Santos and Cruzeiro, with stints at Napoli and Reading. Brayan Vera, one of their centre-halves, played 32 matches in Italy’s Serie B with Lecce and Cosenza. Midfielder Diogo Goncalves played 88 times in the top division in Portugal for Benfica and Famalicao, and also for Nottingham Forest and FC Copenhagen. Young Dominik Marczuck recently earned his first Poland cap and won titles in the first and second divisions in Poland, whilst also earning individual honours from the League and the player’s union. Nelson Palacio played 74 times for Atletico Nacional in Colombia, winning three trophies with them. We would be fools to take Salt Lake for granted.

The Fox network is 100% shite. Their news is disinformation at best, straight up lies at worst, and they can’t even get sport right. What an embarrassment. Saying they’re going to telecast Sounders football in the Champions Cup. Then joining the match already in progress over four minutes in. Then sloughing off the match with almost zero warning in favour of…wait for it…amateur Basketball, and then in turn kicking our football match to their streaming app, which needs more authentication than the release of nuclear weapons to even use, and then demanding we open ourselves up to targeted adverts. Wot a bunch of wankers. Congratulations, Rupert Murdoch, top fucking job [sarcasm]. I finished watching the match on the CONCACAF YouTube channel in Spanish. I recommend you lot do the same from now on for our matches in CONCACAF.

The Side I Would Select

Who is most well-rested? Younger players will do better in the altitude. This should inform the selection.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Baker

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Minoungu

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I would be shocked if this weren’t the lineup come Saturday.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Arriola

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Morris

Intangibles

Rotation. Older players and players that played 60 or more minutes midweek in the CONCACAF Champions Cup really have no business playing at altitude on Saturday. This will, of course, be ignored. On top of all this, we have Cruz Azul in the Champions Cup midweek, to be played in Seattle, Wednesday next.

Officiating. The match official for Saturday night will be Ricardo Fierro.

Salt Lake record with Fierro as Ref: 0-0-1

Sounders FC record with Fierro as Ref: 0-0-1

Altitude. Salt Lake’s State Street ground is at an elevation of 4,450’. The International Soccer Science & Performance Federation defines high-altitude as anything between 1250-3000 metres (4,101-9,843 feet).

Form. Sounders dominated Antigua GFC on the scoreboard. Charlotte were considerably more formidable, though their 2024 season was solidly mid-table. Sounders have yet to win at State Street with Brian Schmetzer as Manager.

General notes on personnel

Salt Lake transfers IN:

Wolff (Atlanta United) €47,000

Ajago (Nashville SC) re-entry draft

Manoel (New York RB) €671,000

Junqua (FC Dallas) undisclosed

Henry (Reims) loan

Stajduhar (Orlando City SC) €49,000

Anderson - reserves

Hezarkhani - reserves

Marquez - reserves

Gio Villa - reserves

Cabral (Cruzeiro) free

Piol (Macarthur FC) undisclosed

Farnsworth - re-signed, free

Kerkvliet - draft

Barea - draft

Salt Lake transfers OUT:

Bonilla - released

Chang - released

Gomez - released

Holt - released

Jacquesson (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC) loan

Michel - released

Orozco (St. Louis City SC Reserves) free

Paul (Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves) loan

Pierre (FC Tulsa) free

Rubin - released

Marcelo Silva - released

Julio (FC Dallas) €384,000

Crooks (Hull City) undisclosed

Arango (San Jose Earthquakes) €1.35M

Beavers (Brondby IF) undisclosed

Lambert (Louisville City FC) loan

Brody  (Sporting Kansas City) free

Manoel (Botafogo) €900,000

Comparison against common opponents

n/a

Know Thine Enemy

The Salt Lake as they lined up against Herediano in their 1:2 defeat in the CONCACAF Champions Cup at the State Street ground on 26 February.

GOALKEEPER

Rafael Cabral, 34

Brazil (3/0)

Notable Clubs: Santos (151/0), Napoli (32/0), Sampdoria (2/0), Reading (95/0), Cruzeiro (95/0), Real Salt Lake (1/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €300,000

Notes: Full name: Rafael Cabral Barbosa. Won a Copa do Brasil, a Copa Libertadores, and a Recopa Sudamericana with Santos. Won a Coppa Italia and a Supercoppa Italia with Napoli. Won a Brazilian Serie B title with Cruzeiro.

DEFENCE

Samuel Junqua, 28

United States

Notable Clubs: Houston Dynamo (46/1), FC Dallas (54/3), Real Salt Lake (1/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €650,000

Notes: Developed by De Anza Force. Played his university football for California (68/0).

Brayan Vera, 26

Colombia (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Leones (4/1), Lecce (10/0), Cosenza (22/0), America de Cali (1/0), Real Salt Lake (49/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Brayan Emmanuel Vera Ramirez. Developed by Leones. Won an Italian Serie B title with Lecce. Won a Central American and Caribbean Games title with Colombia.

Kobi Henry, 20

United States

Notable Clubs: Orange County SC (27/1), Real Salt Lake (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €100,000

Notes: Developed by Florida Rush, Orlando City SC, and Inter Miami CF. Has played for United States (7/0) at youth levels. Won a USL Cup with Orange County SC.

Bode Hidalgo, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (55/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Real Salt Lake.

MIDFIELD

Diogo Goncalves, 28

Portugal

Notable Clubs: Benfica (61/1), Nottingham Forest (7/0), Famalicao (27/5), FC Copenhagen (38/15), Real Salt Lake (10/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Full name: Diogo Antonio Cupido Goncalves. Developed by Almodovar, Ferreiras, and SL Benfica. Won a Portuguese league title and Supercup with SL Benfica. Won a Danish league title and Danish Cup with FC Copenhagen.

Lachlan Brook, 24

Australia

Notable Clubs: Adelaide United (24/1), Crewe (34/3), Western Sydney Wanderers (23/9), Real Salt Lake (7/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €350,000

Notes: Developed by Gawler Eagles, Para Hills Knights, Adelaide Raiders, SA NTC, FFA CoE, and Adelaide United. Won an Australian Cup with Adelaide United. Won youth honours for Australia.

Dominik Marczuck, 21

Poland (1/1)

Notable Clubs: Stal Rzeszow (60/5), Jagiellonia Bialystok (37/6), Real Salt Lake (8/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Huragan Miedzyrzec Podlaski, Gornik Leczna, and TOP 54 Biala Podlaska. Has played for Poland (19/5) at youth levels. Won a 2nd Division Polish league title with Stal Rzeszow. Won a Polish league title with Jagiellonia Bialystok. Named Polish league Young Player of the Season 2023-24. Named to the Polish Union of Footballers Polish league Team of the Season, Young Player of the Season, and Discovery of the Season 2023-24.

Emeka Eneli, 25

United States (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (55/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Chukwuemeka Somto Eneli. Developed by Columbus Crew SC and Ohio Premier. Played his university football for Cornell (60/20).

Nelson Palacio, 23

Colombia (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Atletico Nacional (71/2), Valledupar (34/0), Real Salt Lake (35/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Full name: Nelson Daniel Palacio Ruiz. Developed by Atletico Nacional. Won a Copa Colombia, Columbian league title, and Columbian Superliga title with Atletico Nacional.

FORWARD

Forster Ajago, 23

Ghana

Notable Clubs: Nashville SC (12/0), Real Salt Lake (1/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

Notes: Played his university football for Delaware (5/1), Dayton (35/13), and Duke (18/14).

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Salt Lake from:

Cabral, Stajduhar, Kerkvliet, Glad, Brown, Junqua, Farnsworth, Henry, Quinton, Rivera, Vera, Katranis, Silva, Villa, Ruiz, Wolff, Hidalgo, Wellings, Luna, Ojeda, Moisa, Eneli, Caliskan, Anderson, Palacio, Gozo, Marquez, Brook, Goncalves, Marczuk, Kei, Ajago, Herzarkhani, Barea, Piol.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Burney, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Joao Paulo, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, Arriola,

de la Vega, Ferreira, Morris, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Salt Lake -

OUT: Bell (hamstring), MacMath (shoulder).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Katranis (arm), Piol (hamstring).

Sounders FC -

OUT: Baker-Whiting (hamstring)

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

No players suspended from either squad.

Fun Fact

Jordan Morris’ brace last Sat grew his total to 86 goals in all competitions. This ties him with Raul Ruidiaz for the most goals in the history of the Sounders FC (per Sounders FC Communications Dept.). It wasn’t mentioned how that compared with the NASL and A-League/USL iterations of the club, but I’m curious to know if anyone hit 80-some-odd goals in the before times. Odd how we like to separate things that should be connected. Congratulations on your milestone, Jordan!!! Well done!!!