SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. CHARLOTTE FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Sounders FC make a triumphant return to The Evergreen after besting Antigua GFC 1:3, with our trip to Guatemala bearing the fruits of delicious victory. The focus now switches to league football, with Charlotte FC as the visitors.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Charlotte FC.

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

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Saturday 22 February 2025 CE.

At Stake: First points available in the MLS league championship. Who wants it?

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Where to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM.

It’s another fine day in the Fatherlan– I mean, America, and there’s footballing goodness just ‘round the corner. Yeh, I know the Charlotte have put a few pieces together, but surely they are no match for our Boys in Green.

This means we gather our numbers and converge on Royal Brougham Park. Failing that, we gather up in our pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings. Houses and flats for pints and cats. And boats and ships for pie and chips. The point is, we support the lads. I believe our guests from North Carolina deserve nothing less than a warm, Pacific Northwest welcome. You know what to do, Fam.

It’s Sounders football under the Saturday night lights of 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!!!”

Young Pedro got himself a goal whilst down in Guatemala. Nice one, lad!

The Good News

A convincing 1:3 away victory in the CONCACAF Champions Cup against one of the best clubs in Guatemala gets us off to a proper start. This hopefully sets the tone for what promises to be another successful season.

There are those among us who believe Sounders FC can only focus on one tournament at a time, sacrificing the others, which would suggest a shortage of talent. I think that assessment is an inaccurate one, and we have the depth to prove we can do better. Take last season for example: 7th Place finish in the league, reaching the Semi-Finals in both the US Open Cup and the MLS Cup, and a Quarter-Final appearance in the Leagues Cup. That was a good run, and this season I feel we are capable of better if we manage the workload properly, spreading the minutes throughout our squad.

Including our victory in Guatemala midweek, Sounders FC are unbeaten so far, including our pre-season matches (5-2-0 combined). We are averaging over three goals per match (3.14 goals/match), including results from pre-season matches.

The Sounders attack was re-fashioned for our Champions Cup match. Although Morris was still at centre-forward, Arriola replaced Rothrock on the left, de la Vega took the right-forward role that had been Cristian Roldan’s, and with Rusnak working his way back to full fitness, Ferreira was playing at the #10 when I had expected him to be more of a False-9. I have to say the changes worked spectacularly. Respect to the coaching staff and management who re-built the attack. I had my doubts, but it’s working. For now.

Ferreira looked very sharp on the ball. He seems like a triple-threat as he can break defences down by dribbling, passing, or through goal scoring. We’ve gotten a very versatile player, and at the age of 24, Jesus has plenty of football ahead of him.

The all-female officiating crew for the midweek cup tie was 100% excellent. That is the fairest shake I have ever seen an American team get during an away match in Central America. I sensed no bias at all. The match in Antigua Wednesday night was one of the most evenly officiated matches I’ve ever seen in 40+ years of following football. Nothing but props. Can we please have them certified in the PRO Referees pool for MLS match assignment?

The Bad News

If there was any retaliation for Antigua FC players tackling Vargas with reckless challenges, I didn’t see those attempts to address the balance. Antigua FC players three times, that I remember, cut Vargas down coming right through the back of his legs. It’s unacceptable. I’m not saying we should break the rules and attempt to injure. That’s not who we are, or how anyone should play football. Our legal tackles should be just as savage, though, when provoked.

Charlotte does have a bit of heft in the team, and if the resumes of the players in the team against Portland on 15 February are any indication this is going to be a difficult match. Wilfried Zaha was a regular goal scorer in the English Premier League and has an estimated transfer fee of €8M. Their first-choice Croatian goalkeeper, Kristijan Kahlina, was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year last season. He was developed by Dinamo Zagreb and won a league title and Supercup with Bulgarian club Ludogorets. Defender Nathan Byrne played over 90 times for Swindon and 127 times for Wigan in England. Centre-half Tim Ream has played 67 times for the Yanks, 114 times for Bolton, and 281 times for Fulham. Addison Malanda is an up and coming, young French prospect. Ashley Westwood played 437 matches of football in England for Crewe, Aston Villa, and Burnley, and captains the side for Charlotte. Eryk Williamson helped the Yanks win a CONCACAF Gold Cup. Pep Biel made quite a name for himself at Copenhagen and Olympiacos, winning honours in Denmark. Patrick Agyemang is a promising young forward with two goals in his two appearances for the Yanks. Liel Abada has won honours in both Israel and Scotland. His transfer fee is estimated at €7M.

Charlotte won their last three pre-season matches 3:2 over Phoenix Rising, 1:0 over Austin FC, and 2:0 over our close, personal friends Portland Timbers. Charlotte played all but one of their pre-season matches on the road and were unbeaten (4-2-0).

Charlotte have conceded only seven goals in seven matches during their pre-season. That defence is going to be tricky to unlock.

The Side I Would Select

The group that played in Guatemala did quite well, but I think I’d keep out Rusnak just to make sure he’s completely recovered. I’d also heavily rotate the team as it’s only two days between matches this week. I think this selection has more than enough talent to defeat Charlotte.

GK     Frei

LB     Sousa

LCH    Bell

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Baker

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Leyva

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Minoungou

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Anyone who can go again after Wednesday’s victory at Antigua will probably go again. Expect Rusnak to be in the team, unless his injury flares up in training. The Gaffer might rest Gomez Andrade (33 years-old), but I doubt he’ll rest Morris (30 years-old), who played over 2800 minutes in the league last season.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Bell

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Morris

Intangibles

Rotation. Will the Gaffer rotate most of the team with only two days between matches? History says no. So fatigue could be a factor, hopefully not accompanied by injury.

Officiating. Jair Marrufo will be the match referee for Saturday night.

Sounders FC record with Marrufo as Ref: 19-6-7

Charlotte FC record with Marrufo as Ref: 2-0-2

Venue. Sounders FC are super tough to beat at Royal Brougham Park. Between the regular support, the Brougham Faithful, and the Sounders FC team, Charlotte FC will know no rest.

General notes on personnel

Charlotte FC transfers IN:

Biel (Olympiacos) loan

Williamson (Portland Timbers) €97,000

Zaha (Galatasaray) loan €2.7M

Thomas - draft

Charlotte FC transfers OUT:
Lindsay - released

Paterson - released

Urso (Houston Dynamo) free

Diop (San Diego FC) expansion draft

Uronen (AIK Stockholm) free

Swiderski (Panathinaikos) €1.9M

Joao Pedro (Rio Ave) loan

Comparison against common opponents

n/a

Know Thine Enemy

Charlotte as they lined up in their 2:0 victory over Portland Timbers in their last pre-season match on 15 February.

GOALKEEPER

Kristijan Kahlina, 32

Croatia

Notable Clubs: Koper (11/0), Ludogorets (19/0), Charlotte FC (89/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Dinamo Zagreb. Won a Bulgarian league title and Supercup with Ludogorets. Named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 2024. Named to MLS Best XI 2024.

DEFENCE

Nathan Byrne, 32

England

Notable Clubs: Brentford (11/0), Bournemouth (9/0), Crawley (12/1), Swindon (90/10), Wolverhampton (24/2), Wigan (127/2), Charlton (17/1), Derby (82/0), Charlotte FC (67/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by St. Albans City and Tottenham. Won an EFL League One title with Wigan. Named to PFA Team of the Year League One 2014-15 and 2017-18. Named to EFL Team of the Season 2017-18.

Tim Ream, 37

United States (67/1)

Notable Clubs: New York RB (58/1), Bolton (114/0), Fulham (281/5), Charlotte FC (67/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by St. Louis Scott Gallagher. Played his university football for St. Louis (82/6). Won an EFL Championship league title, and twice won the EFL Championship promotion play-offs with Fulham. Won CONCACAF Nations League twice with United States. Named to PFA Team of the Year EFL Championship 2021-22.

Addison Malanda, 23

France

Notable Clubs: Nimes (1/0), Rodez (33/0), Charlotte FC (67/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by Nimes.

MIDFIELD

Andrew Privett, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: Charlotte FC (42/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Baltimore Armour. Played his university football for Penn State (68/14).

Ashley Westwood, 34

England

Notable Clubs: Crewe (128/14), Aston Villa (147/5), Burnley (162/7), Charlotte FC (62/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by Crewe. Won EFL League Two promotion play-offs.

Eryk Williamson, 27

United States (6/0)

Notable Clubs: Portland Timbers (98/6), Charlotte FC (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by DC United. Played his university football for Maryland (58/14). Won a CONCACAF Gold Cup with United States.

Pep Biel, 28

Spain

Notable Clubs: Zaragoza (23/6), Copenhagen (95/23), Olympiacos (43/10), Augsberg (11/0), Charlotte FC (9/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Constancia and Rayo Vallecano. Won a Danish Superliga title with Copenhagen. Named to Danish Superliga Player of the Year 2021-22. Named to Danish Superliga Team of the Year 2021-22.

FORWARD

Patrick Agyemang, 24

United States (2/2)

Notable Clubs: Charlotte FC (43/11)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Hartford Hellions. Played his university football for Eastern Connecticut (NCAA III) (39/30) and Rhode Island (37/19).

Liel Abada, 23

Israel (10/1)

Notable Clubs: Maccabi Petah Tikva (67/20), Celtic (79/21), Charlotte FC (24/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €7M

Notes: Developed by Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Petah Tikva. Won an Israeli 2nd  division league title with Maccabi Petah TIkva. Won two Scottish Premier League titles, a Scottish Cup, and two Scottish League Cups with Celtic. Named PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year 2021-22.

Wilfried Zaha, 32

England (2/0) and Ivory Coast (33/5)

Notable Clubs: Crystal Palace (433/82), Manchester United (2/0), Cardiff City (12/0), Galatasaray (30/9), Lyon (4/0), Charlotte FC (0/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Developed by Crystal Palace. Won EFL Championship Promotion play-offs with Crystal Palace. Won an FA Community Shield with Manchester United. Won a Turkish Super Lig title and Turkish Super Cup with Galatasaray. Named to PFA Team of the Year EFL Championship 2012-13.

Familiar Faces

Charlotte FC midfielder Brandt Bronico played for the Sounders FC U23s (9/4) in 2015.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker, Bell, Burney, Gomez Andrade, Hawkins, Kim, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Joao Paulo, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, Arriola, de la Vega, Ferreira, Morris, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

Charlotte from:

Kahlina, Bingham, Johnson, Ream, Tuiloma, Malanda, Byrne, Thomas, Neeley, Williamson, Bronico, Bender, Cambridge, Westwood, Scardina, Privett, Petkovic, Diani, Biel, Berchimas, Agyemang, Tavares, Smalls, Abada, Toklomati, Zaha.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Baker-Whiting (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Charlotte -

OUT: Cambridge (thigh), Forbes (thigh).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Agyemang (ankle).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

No players suspended from either club.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Academy U-16s are currently at the International Cup held in Doha, Qatar, a tournament for U-17 teams from clubs around the world. Our lads were drawn into a group that included Rangers FC of Scotland, Mohammed VI Football Academy of Morocco, and Aspire Academy of Qatar. Although we succumbed to Rangers 2:0, our U-16s were able to defeat Mohammed VI FA 0:3, and also defeat Aspire Academy 0:1. On the strength of our two victories in the Group Stage, we qualified for the Semi-Finals, where were unable to get past Real Madrid, who defeated us 2:0. Sounders FC Academy U-16s will play Rangers on Saturday in the tournament’s match for 3rd Place. Congratulations to our lads for finishing in the top half of the tournament, and showing the rest of the world a peek at what we’re building here in The Evergreen.