SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. SAN DIEGO FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. San Diego FC travel north to The Evergreen to face our Sounders in a midweek league fixture.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. San Diego FC.

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

When: 5:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 28 May 2025 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league. Sounders are currently in 12th place in the MLS league table, eight points adrift of leaders Vancouver. Should Sounders be victorious, we could rise as high as 9th place, provided MIN (@VAN) are defeated, and NYC (HOU), and MIA (MTL) do no better than a draw. Should we be defeated, we could be surpassed by POR (COL), CLT (@NYRB), COL (@POR), and NYRB (CLT). There’s also a bit of pride at stake as we were battered 3:0 when we visited San Diego on 5 April. 

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

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

If you have the means and inclination, you could head down to Royal Brougham Park on Wednesday and show San Diego FC the same warm hospitality that they shown us nearly two months ago.

If recent results are any indication, the lads could use some chuffing up. So there’s that to consider. It’s midweek football on an early evening start 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!!!”

Just recently cleared to play, I wonder if we’ll see Ragen as a substitute on Wednesday night.

The Good News

Sounders still unbeaten at home (5-3-0).

Musovski and Ragen have regained fitness and are eligible for selection. Even though you’ll likely see them as substitutes, if at all, it’s good to have them back in the squad.

Although Sounders are currently 12th in the league and San Diego are in 4th place, only two wins separate the clubs. We’re about to find out if they’re eight places better than us.

San Diego’s away form is three won and three lost (3-0-3), so this could be an exploitable weakness. In addition, San Diego have five players on injury list, including Willy Kumado who has played in 14 of 15 matches this season, which could hamper them.

If you look at our record as a whole, we’re doing quite well (6-5-4).

Sounders did control the bulk of possession in our last meet up with San Diego.  We exceeded our hosts in most statistical categories, and we didn’t have our best centre-forward in the team that day. So maybe a better result this time.

The Bad News

By the numbers the result is likely a crapshoot. The differences in the ability of both clubs to score goals and prevent them are marginal.

As far as attacking play is concerned, I don’t think Sounders have the equivalent of Mexico international Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, whose estimated transfer fee is €12M. United States international Luca De La Torre also has bags of quality, having played 60 times with Celta Vigo in La Liga and over 60 times with Heracles Almelo of the Dutch Eredivisie.

Sounders have only scored two goals in the last three matches whilst conceding five goals.

It’s not Sounders struggle for good results that’s been the problem since 2023. The problem has been that’s we’ve struggled to get good results against good teams. Sounders FC as currently constructed will get you a top 10 finish in the league, but have not won a trophy since 2022.

The Side I Would Select

As we’ve scored only three goals in the past three matches, I’d say it’s past time to shake things up a bit. Bell and Hawkins to give old men Gomez Andrade and Kim a rest. Kossa-Rienzi because pace and he’s an attacking threat. Vargas as the #6, Rusnak as the #8 with the freedom to go forward. Rothrock because he’s a gritty competitor, scores goals, and also can create. Ferreira at the #10 because I rate him over Albert in that position. De la Vega because he’s young, technical, and can score and create goals. De Rosario because he will score a hatful of goals if you give him the chances to, and the Sounders’ attack is based on crosses into the box. This would also just generally be a younger and faster lineup. So this lot in the 4-2-3-1.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Bell

RCH    Hawkins

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM   Vargas

RDM   Rusnak

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Ferreira

RF     de la Vega

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Expect the same lot as last match, barring injuries. With Ragen and Musovski just cleared to play, expect to see them as substitutes, if at all.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Kim

RCH    Bell

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Kent

CAM   Rusnak

RF     de la Vega

CF     Ferreira

Intangibles

Officiating.

The Referee for Wednesday’s match will be Ismir Pekmic.

Sounders FC record with Pekmic as Ref: 1-1-2

San Diego record with Pekmic as Ref: 0-0-0

Royal Brougham Park is a fortress.

Still unbeaten at home this season (5-3-0).

Revenge factor.

We were embarrassed 3:0 at Cottonwood Lane. The balance must be addressed against the upstarts from San Diego.

We are being left behind.

San Diego FC total transfer spend 2025: €19.14M (Including €12M for Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, and excluding the €87,000 loan fee for Oscar Verhoeven).

Sounders FC total transfer spend 2025: €1.45M

Mikey Varas.

As it turns out, the Manager for San Diego FC was responsible for some hot-shot kids that come out of the FC Dallas academy, when he was Manager of their U-16s. Varas also was Manager for the Yanks U-20s from 2021-2023 during which time they won the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. Varas was a manager with De Anza Force, a prominent club in domestic youth football. The man has chops. That’s a problem for us, I’d say.

General notes on personnel

San Diego transfers IN:

Feree (Orange County SC) end of loan

Ingvartsen (FC Nordsjaelland) undisclosed

Tverskov (FC Nordsjaelland) undisclosed

Lozano (PSV Eindhoven) €12M

McNair (West Bromwich Albion) end of loan

Mighten (Nottingham Forest) undisclosed

Angel (Los Angeles FC) €190,000

dos Santos (CF Inter Miami) €95,000

McVey (DC United) €48,000

Bruseth (Orlando City SC) expansion draft 

Diop (Charlotte FC) expansion draft

Loffelsend (Colorado Rapids) expansion draft

Reyes (New York RB) €764,000

Jackson (San Jose Earthquakes) re-entry draft

Godoy (Nashville SC) free

Duah - draft

Sisniega (San Antonio FC) free

Saidi (Philadelphia Union) €97,000

Boateng (New England Revolution) €193,000

Negri (CF Inter Miami) re-entry draft 

Valakari (Pafos FC) loan fee €250,000

Alvarado (FC Vizela) free

de la Torre (Celta Vigo) loan

Dreyer (RSC Anderlecht) €5.5M

Pilcher - draft

Kumado (Lyngby BK) undisclosed

Bombino (Los Angeles FC) loan

Iloski (FC Nordsjaelland) loan

Verhoeven (San Jose Earthquakes) loan €87,000 fee

San Diego transfers OUT:
Thiago Andrade (Toronto FC) €240,000

Kijima (DC United) €380,000

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 2:2 CLT

CLT 3:0 SD

(against CLT: SEA 0-1-0 0, SD 0-0-1 -3) edge SEA

RSL 2:0 SEA

RSL 1:3 SD

SD 1:3 RSL

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

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

SD 3:2 LAFC

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

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

SD 0:0 STL

STL 1:2 SD

(against STL: SEA 1-0-1 +2, SD 1-1-0 +1) even

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

SD 5:0 DAL

(against DAL: SEA 2-0-0 +2, SD 1-0-0 +5) even

COL 1:1 SEA

COL 3:2 SD

SD 2:0 COL

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

Know Thine Enemy

San Diego as they lined up in their 2:1 victory over LA Galaxy on 24 May at Cottonwood Lane.

GOALKEEPER

CJ dos Santos, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: CF Inter Miami (2/0), San Diego FC (15/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €125,000

Notes: Developed by Foxchase SC, Philadelphia SC, FC Delco, Philadelphia Union, and Benfica. Won an MLS league championship and a Leagues Cup with CF Miami.

DEFENCE

Luca Bombino, 18

United States

Notable Clubs: San Diego FC (9/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Los Angeles FC. Played at youth levels for United States (6/0).

Christopher McVey, 28

Sweden

Notable Clubs: Elfsborg (32/0), Inter Miami CF (50/1), DC United (27/1), San Diego FC (15/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Sparsors AIK and Elfsborg. Won a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF.

Paddy McNair, 30

Northern Ireland (73/7)

Notable Clubs: Manchester United (24/0), Sunderland (25/5), Middlesbrough (198/14), West Bromwich Albion (2/0), San Diego FC (14/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Ballyclare Colts and Manchester United. Won an FA Cup with Manchester United.

Willy Kumado, 22

Ghana

Notable Clubs: Nordsjaelland (2/0), Lyngby (53/0), San Diego FC (14/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Right to Dream Academy and Nordsjaelland.

MIDFIELD

Luca de la Torre, 27

United States (24/1)

Notable Clubs: Fulham (7/0), Heracles Almelo (64/2), Celta Vigo (60/1), San Diego FC (15/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Nomads, San Diego Surf, and Fulham. Won a CONCACAF Nations League with United States.

Jeppe Tverskov, 32

Denmark

Notable Clubs: Lyngby (36/1), Randers (38/3), Odense BK (210/8), FC Nordsjaelland (47/5), San Diego FC (15/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by B 1903 and Lyngby.

Anibal Godoy, 35

Panama (147/4)

Notable Clubs: Chepo (113/10), Honved (24/1), San Jose Earthquakes (101/5), Nashville SC (111/3), San Diego FC (14/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Produced by Chepo.

FORWARD

Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, 29

Mexico (70/18)

Notable Clubs: Pachuca (120/31), PSV Eindhoven (93/44), Napoli (120/23), San Diego FC (12/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €12M

Notes: Developed by Pachuca and Titanes. Won a Liga MX title and a CONCACAF Champions League with Pachuca. Won two Dutch Eredivisie titles with PSV Eindhoven. Won a Serie A and Coppa Italia with Napoli. Twice named Liga MX Best XI. Named Liga MX Best Attacking Midfielder 2015-16.  Won 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League Golden Boot (8 goals). Named CONCACAF Champions League Best Young Player 2016-17. Named to Dutch Eredivisie Team of the Season 2017-18. Named to UEFA Champions League Breakthrough Team 2018. Named CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year 2018.

Anders Dryer, 27

Denmark (3/0)

Notable Clubs: Esbjerg fB (41/20), St. Mirren (10/1), SC Heerenveen (11/1), Midtjylland (79/28), Ruben Kazan (14/8), RSC Anderlecht (69/26), San Diego FC (15/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Developed by Ribe BK, Bramming BK, and Esbjerg fB. Won a Danish 1st Division promotion play-off with Esbjerg fB. Won a Danish Superliga and Danish Cup with Midtjylland.

Alex Mighten, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Nottingham Forest (56/4), Sheffield Wednesday (9/1), KV Kortrijk (10/0), Port Vale (10/0), San Diego FC (11/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by Arnold Town and Nottingham Forest. Won an EFL Championship promotion play-off with Nottingham Forest.

Familiar Faces

None.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Baker, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Burney, Hawkins, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Joao Paulo, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Kent, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

San Diego from:

Dos Santos, Sisniega, Jackson, McNair, Loffelsend, Negri, Pilcher, Bombino, Verhoeven, McVey, Tverskov, Valakari, De La Torre, Bruseth, Godoy, Duah, Alvarado, Angel, Dreyer, Lozano, Saidi, Iloski, Mighten.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (hamstring), Morris (hamstring), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

San Diego -

OUT: Kumado (lower body, we’ll say scurvy), Diop (lower body, we’ll say sprained penis), Ingvartsen (lower body, we’ll say ingrown pubic hair), Boateng (lower body, we’ll say chlamydia), Reyes (lower body, we’ll say chapped testicles).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

San Diego: Negri and Tverskov out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Reserves are currently in 10th place in the MLS Next Pro league table, 12 points adrift of leaders Chattanooga. The Reserves next match will be played on 31 May at Starfire, hosting Minnesota United Reserves with kick-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PDT. Make us proud, lads.