SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. AUSTIN FC

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. The second half of the MLS season is underway, as our beloved Sounders FC host Austin on a Saturday night.

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

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

When: 7:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 28 June 2025 CE.

At Stake: Staving off mediocrity. Sounders are in 15th place in the league table, dead mid-table. If we’re better than a mid-table club in this league, we had better start showing it. A victory could see Sounders leap as high as 11th place, although it would require LAFC (VAN), SJ (LAG), NYC (@MTL), and NYRB (MIN) to drop points to get us there.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

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

Back to league football, fam. Over the years we’ve done well against Austin (4-3-1). Looks like it’s going to be a bit chilly at night (55ºF) with rain possible, so pack a jumper or a jacket if you’re going to the ground.

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

With all our centre-halves either injured or suspended,

who’s lining up next to Ragen at right-centre-half?

The Good News

We’re nowhere close to being terrible.

In the eight times we’ve played Austin in the league, we have only lost once (4-3-1).

Austin have not travelled well this season, with a 3-1-5 record on the road.

Austin have scored the fewest league goals of any MLS club this season (15).

The Bad News

We’re nowhere close to being dominant.

The club seems rudderless. There is no direction or plan that Sounders are working towards that I can discern based on available information. Sounders aren’t buying veteran players expected to make an immediate impact. The players coming through our academy system and reserve team are not getting meaningful minutes at the senior squad level as our core continues to age. To compound the problem, none of our youngers are going out on loan that have their progress currently blocked by players in our senior squad. Our young players often leave the club, likely because they’ve been frozen out of the team, because our Manager thinks they “aren’t ready” or haven’t “earned” a place in the team. When they do leave the club it’s often on a free transfer. This means we recoup almost none of the resources spent developing our youngers. We’ve watched 16 clubs join the league since we did in 2009. Nine of those clubs have brand new stadia, whilst we continue to share with the NFL. We talk big about contending for trophies, yet we haven’t managed to even win our regional cup (Cascadia Cup) since 2021. Sounders haven’t won the league since the one time they did, in 2014. Sounders haven’t won the US Open Cup, and lately not even cared to truly compete in it (with the notable exception of 2024), since 2014. We’ve lost legendary players such as Alonso, Dempsey, Martins, Lodeiro, and Ruidiaz. Were they ever truly replaced? One season ago we contested every trophy we participated in, reaching two cup semi-finals, a cup quarter final, and a respectable 7th place finish in the MLS league table. What has become of us?

The Side I Would Select

Between injuries and suspensions, I’d have this lot:

GK     Frei

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Burney

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rusnak

CAM   Ferreira

RF     de la Vega

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I’d expect pretty much the same team that played against Paris Saint-Germain, minus injuries and suspensions.

GK     Frei

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Burney

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Kent

CF     Ferreira

Intangibles

Lessons learnt?

We played some big-time opponents in Club World Cup. We held our own. Can we apply what we’ve learnt to defeating league opposition?

The streak.

We haven’t won a match since 28 May when we defeated San Diego FC at Royal Brougham Park. That puts us directly under the cosh. What will the Sounders’ response be?

We are being left behind.

Sounders FC 2025 season declared transfer fees paid: €1.45M

Austin 2025 season declared transfer fees paid: €25.12M

General notes on personnel

Austin transfers IN:

Sanchez (LAFC) free

Vazquez (Monterrey) €9.6M

Dubersarsky (Instituto) €2.9M

Sabovic (Djurgarden) free

Uzuni (Granada) €12M

Thomas - reserves

Taylor (Inter Miami) €615,000

Austin transfers OUT:
Bersano - retired

Finlay - retired

Hedges (Des Moines Menace) free

Jimenez - retired

Ring (HJK Helsinki) free

Valencia (Universidad Catolica) free

Zardes (MLS Pool) buyout

Driussi (River Plate) €9.75M

Las (Louisville City) loan

Vaisanen (BK Hacken) €450,000

Comparison against common opponents

RSL 2:0 SEA

ATX 1:1 RSL

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

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

LAFC 0:1 ATX

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

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

STL 0:1 ATX

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

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

HOU 2:0 ATX

ATX 3:1 HOU USOC

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

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

ATX 2:1 SD

SD 2:0 ATX

(against SD: SEA 1-0-1 -2, ATX 1-0-1 -1) marginal edge ATX

COL 1:1 SEA

ATX 0:1 COL

COL 0:2 ATX

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

POR 1:1 SEA

POR 1:0 ATX

ATX 0:0 POR

(against POR: SEA 0-1-0 0, ATX 0-1-1 -1) even

SEA 2:3 MIN

ATX 0:3 MIN

MIN 1:1 ATX

(against MIN: SEA 0-0-1 -1, MIN 0-1-1 -3) marginal edge SEA

VAN 3:0 SEA

VAN 5:1 ATX

ATX 0:0 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 0-0-1 -3, ATX 0-1-1 -4) even

Know Thine Enemy

Austin as they lined up in their 2:1 victory over the Red Donkeys at McKalla Place on 14 June.

GOALKEEPER

Brad Stuver, 34

United States

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (2/0), New York City FC (7/0), Austin FC (151/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Played his university football for Cleveland State (71/0).

DEFENCE

Guilherme Biro, 25

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Coritiba (71/1), Mirassol (43/2), Austin FC (50/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Full name: Guilherme da Trindade Dubas.

Oleksandr Svatok, 30

Ukraine (9/0)

Notable Clubs: Volyn Lutsk (4/0), Zorya Luhansk (41/1), Hajduk Split (16/0), Dnipro-1 (90/2), Austin FC (23/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Inter Dnipropetrovsk and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Brendan Hines-Ike, 30

United States

Notable Clubs: Orebro SK (70/2), KV Kortrijk (53/1), DC United (46/1), Austin FC (44/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Chivas USA. Played his university football for Creighton (50/2) and South Florida (20/2).

Mikkel Desler, 30

Denmark

Notable Clubs: Odense (116/1), Haugesund (67/2), Toulouse (89/2), Austin FC (14/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Full name: Mikkel Desler Puggaard. Developed by Assens and Odense. Won a Coupe de France and Ligue 2 title with Toulouse.

MIDFIELD

Jon Gallagher, 29

Ireland

Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (16/4), Aberdeen (22/1), Austin FC (144/13)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Beachside SC and Home United. Played his university football for Notre Dame (84/39).

Besard Sabovic, 27

Sweden

Notable Clubs: Djurgarden (74/6), Brommapojkarna (7/0), Dalkurd (27/5), Mjallby (27/4), Kayserispor (11/0), Khimki (21/1), Austin FC (18/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Brommapojkarna and Djurgarden. Won an Allsvenskan title with Djurgarden.

Daniel Pereira, 24

Venezuela (7/0)

Notable Clubs: Austin FC (127/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Daniel Pereira Gil. Developed by Virginia Blue Ridge Star. Played his university football for Virginia Tech (26/6). Has youth caps for Venezuela.

Osman Bukari, 26

Ghana (18/3)

Notable Clubs: Trencin (51/12), Gent (25/4), Nantes (24/2), Red Star Belgrade (56/19), Austin FC (28/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Accra Lions and Anderlecht. Won a Coupe de France with Nantes. Won 2x Serbian SuperLiga and 2x Serbian Cup with Red Star Belgrade. Named to Slovak Super Liga Team of the Season 2019-20.

FORWARD

Brandon Vasquez, 26

United States (11/4)

Notable Clubs: Atlanta United FC (32/3), FC Cincinnati (112/32), Monterrey (40/10), Austin FC (18/5)

Estimated Transfer Value: €7.5M

Notes: Full name: Brandon Vasquez Toledo. Developed by Tijuana. Won an MSL Cup and US Open Cup with Atlanta United FC. Won an MLS league title with FC Cincinnati. Named to MLS Best XI 2022.

Owen Wolff, 20

United States

Notable Clubs: Austin FC (105/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Developed by Columbus Crew SC, Atlanta United FC, and Austin FC. Played for United States (10/3) at youth levels.

Familiar Faces

Austin goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland played for the Sounders FC (22/0) from 2020-2023.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

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

Austin from:

Stuver, Cleveland, Thomas, Desler, Hines-Ike, Svatok, Gallagher, Cascante, Kolmanic, Biro, Sanchez, Pereira, Sabovic, Taylor, Dubersarsky, Burton, Obrian, Vazquez, Uzuni, Bukari, Fodrey, Rubio, Farkarlun.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Hawkins (quadriceps), Kim (calf), Gomez Andrade (hamstring/calf), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Austin -

OUT: none.

MATCHDAY DECISION: Uzuni (hamstring).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: Bell and Nouhou will serve a one-match ban for being sent off at Vancouver. Musovski out next match if booked.

Austin: No players suspended.

Fun Fact

Sounders FC Goalkeeper, Stefan Frei is on 998 saves in league play. Two more to 1,000, Stef!!!