SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. COLORADO RAPIDS

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Colorado Rapids visit The Evergreen for a midweek fixture against our beloved Sounders FC. Welcome to Green Hell.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Colorado Rapids.

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

When: 7 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 16 July 2025 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league. The most we can move up in the league standings is one place to 9th where Orlando currently sit. If NYC FC (@ORL) draw or win, paired with a Sounders victory, we will move up from 10th to 9th place. Sounders FC currently sit 10th in the league on 33 points, 10 points adrift of league leaders Philadelphia.

Where to Watch: Apple TV+, MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes.

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

It’s just over a third of the season to go, as we grind on to match 22 of 34 in the league. Part of me feels a bit footballed-out. Then I stop and think how the lads feel. They’ve played 28 matches in all competitions, and will face 13 more in the league, a minimum of three in the Leagues Cup, and a minimum of three (or one if we desperately fuck things up) in MLS Cup, which we will likely qualify for, for a total of 19 more matches at a minimum. That’s a total of 47 matches, with more added on if we advance in Leagues Cup or MLS Cup. So we’ve a bit reached the point in the marathon that we’re kind of slogging it out and hoping for that second wind. Provided we can actually think about football for five minutes without all the external horrors creeping in. So many horrors…Right. Back to football.

Again, there’s not much to be won or lost in this match but for the points in the league. If we’re not making a real run at a league title (we’re currently 10 points off the pace with 13 matches left to play), then it kind of doesn’t matter as long as we qualify for MLS Cup. Or so you would think. The strategy here, though, won’t be to win the league, but will be as it always is. To finish top of our division. This requires results from league play. All of which brings me back to my abject hatred of the divisional play format within the same league. [purses lips…takes a moment to look down and scrape a bit of crud from beneath my fingernail] Anyway, so there are two divisions instead of a single table because stupid, and where you stack up in that division determines whether you’ll play at home or not in MLS Cup, and whether you’ll get the deluxe express pass straight into the ridiculous best-of-three opening round format, or have to manage a one-match play-in or [wincing] wild-card [grits teeth] to re-qualify for the best-of-three experience. The Gaffer likes when we play at home. The supporters like when we play at home. I like when we play at home. So there you go, we’re after top spot in the made-up division that only exists because we have too many teams in the league to have a proper single-table format. That’s the calculus of it.

Right. Let’s take a moment to zoom back in and consider the fixture at hand. Perhaps that would be best. So much irritability. Where could it possibly be coming from? Right. Focus.

Regardless of the stakes at hand, and I’d imagine I’ve demonstrated there’s more than one way to see that, the lads could use some chuffing up. That was rough going, the last twenty minutes or so in Kansas City. Everything was going smashingly ’til we conceded that penalty on 67 minutes. Then the football, and the players’ temperament, started to unravel a bit. So it’s pretty clear what needs to happen here. We have to chuff up the lads and let them know we care, and show that we know that they care about getting the best result possible. Within the framework of the squad, there needs to be an emphasis on keeping one’s head. This is, of course, manifestly difficult to do when someone has just kicked you in the shin or ankle, come through the back of your legs from behind with a dirty tackle, trod on your boot, elbowed you in the ribs, tugged at your shirt, called you some kind of a slur, dragged you to ground by your collar-bone, shoved you to the turf, clattered you to ground, or delivered a forearm shiver to your neck or throat area, etc, etc. I digress once again, because digression springs eternal in the shade of the grape arbour within my mind.

So turn up, if you can manage it, to support the lads. They’re a good bunch, generally working their socks off for the likes of us. So, you know, whatever you can do. Link up with your mates and head to the ground. Then make an absolutely silly amount of noise. Come on down! You’re the next contestant on The MLS Is Always Right!!!! Look at this studio, filled with fabulous prizes…no, wait. That’s the missus watching a game show in the next room bleeding into my conscious mind. Or is it…?

I’d focus more and stay more on-topic, but that would be extremely predictable and boring. It’s Sounders football under the Wednesday night lights 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!!!”

You know who played a significant role in developing both Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock? This guy. Former Sounders player (1994-96), Sounders Reserves (a/k/a Tacoma Defiance) Manager, and current Director of Development for the Sounders FC Academy system, Wade Webber. In fact, if you were looking to hire a Manager for a football team, you could do far worse than him. (picture credit: YouTube)

The Good News

As it turns out, we’re much better at footballing when we can breathe properly. So playing Colorado at sea-level, rather than un-acclimated at altitude, sounds lovely to me.

Looks like Morris is well on his way back to full match fitness. He played the entire first half last Sat and scored a banger of a goal. That’s progress. We’re stronger with Jordan in the team for certain, so this is good news.

Sounders FC and Jamaica centre-half Jon Bell done well against Kansas City. Put a header off the bar, wasn’t it. Good stuff that. More please.

It’s pretty difficult to argue with success. Sounders are 7-2-6 at home in all competitions. We’re 8-3-3 in the league since 12 April. Granted, there’s a tonne of football left to play in the league, but we’re in the process of cementing something resembling a finish somewhere between 7th and 12th place in the league (in my pre-season preview, back in February, I predicted a top 10 finish for Sounders). That’s a fair amount better than the rest of the lot.

Rusnak was dead-reliable from the spot, and Ferreira scored a goal last Sat. We created a bushel of chances. I’d say things are clicking along just fine in attack.

Sounders are in the process of fine-tuning the defence. We’re now tied for 6th best defence in the league with Salt Lake. This is encouraging and, at least in this moment, shows that we’re going to be extremely difficult to play against.

Colorado does not travel well. Their record on the road this season is 2-3-6 in all competitions.

The Bad News

Having players sent off in four straight matches is deeply troubling. You have to ask “What’s going on?” isn’t it? Trouble in the dressing room? Team morale issue? Panic at the disco? It’s completely un-Sounders-like and unsettling.

Colorado have a fair amount of talent. A thorough analysis of their personnel shows a club that is massively underperforming. Manchester City once saw something in goalkeeper Zack Steffen, and he currently has 30 caps for United States. Between Brazilian striker Rafael Navarro (8 goals), United States midfielder Djordje Mihailovic (8 goals, 6 assists and I believe him to be one of the better attacking midfielders developed in America), along with the steadiness at the back of Keegan Rosenberry the undying (185 appearances for Colorado), Cole Basset (144 appearances, 29 goals), Sam Vines, and former Sounder Josh Atencio, there is plenty of skill to cope with, and we had better be up to the task. If we falter the least bit, these will pounce on us for certain.

Colorado defeated Vancouver by a comprehensive 3:0 result last Sat. I’m trying to think of the last time we were able to defeat Vancouver. I’ll have to look it up. Right. The last time we defeated Vancouver was 2 October 2024, a 0:3 victory at BC Place.

We’ve got 10 players in the squad with 1,000+ minutes in the league. We have 28 in the squad. Even if you take out our backup goalkeepers, Thomas and Castro, and Arriola and Joao Paulo who are out for the rest of the season, that leaves 14 outfield players in the squad with less than 1,000 minutes. We have three healthy outfield squad players with less than 100 minutes! It’s not sustainable, and teams that get better results than we do don’t overuse their players.

The Colorado fixture is the second of three matches in eight days. Anyone who plays more than an hour in this match probably shouldn’t play any more than 20 minutes or so in the San Jose match on Sat. But that’s not what’s going to happen. The Gaffer is going to find a way to cobble together minutes combinations in such a way that we only use 13-14 players to shoulder the bulk of the minutes. Every time we do this, particularly with our older veteran players, we are rolling the dice hoping they won’t get injured.

The Side I Would Select

I would want the points, of course, but also a team that’s not exhausted when San Jose come to town. That said, I want the team that scored three on Kansas City and see if they can re-create some of that goal-scoring magic. Leyva for Cristian, de la Vega for Rusnak (Ferreira moves to the #10), De Rosario for Morris, Kent for Rothrock, and Sousa for Kossa-Rienzi as substitutes. With Leyva, de la Vega, and De Rosario coming on after half-time. Why substitute them? Because they’ll then be good for at least one half, in theory, on Sat against San Jose.

GK     Thomas

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Bell

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Morris

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

He’s likely going to have the same lot that sorted it out last Sat, and I can’t blame him if he does that, considering the attacking success we had against Kansas City.

GK     Thomas

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Bell

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas
RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Morris

Intangibles

Two paths diverged in a wood.

Sounders and Colorado have had opposite seasons. Rapids started out strong (4-4-2) in the league and have had great difficulty, with results coming at a premium, since 3rd May (4-1-8). Sounders started the season with only one league win out of their first seven matches (1-3-3). Since 12 April, they have only suffered three defeats in the league (8-3-3). When we last met Colorado they were in 10th place in the league, and we were 16th. The reverse is true today.

The Atencio factor.

After being sold to Colorado for €1.25M this season, Josh has set career highs for matches in the team (20), and minutes played (1553) with nearly half the season yet to play (11 matches). Atencio hasn’t played this frequently since 2021 with Sounders, when he was 18 times in the team with 24 appearances over 1513 minutes for the entire league season.

Discipline.

Bell, Baker-Whiting, and Kossa-Rienzi have been sent off over the last four matches. Nouhou has been sent off twice over the last four matches. I’m struggling to recall a time where we’ve had this many sent off over such a short spell. Is it an aberration? Suspect officiating? Discontent in the squad?

Officiating.

The Referee for the midweek fixture will be Lorenzo Hernandez. Before I list what the records are with Hernandez as ref, you should know something though. Lorenzo Hernandez was a scab Ref during the Referee’s strike. You should let him know you know that. It’s an easy chant. SCAB! SCAB! SCAB! SCAB! SCAB! You know the rest.

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

Colorado record with Hernandez as Ref: 0-1-2

General notes on personnel

Colorado transfers IN:

Awaziem (FC Cincinnati) €475,000

Murphy (FC Cincinnati) €475,000

Alex Harris - draft

Bassett - re-signed

Edwards - re-signed

Fadal (Valencia) free

Ku-DiPietro (DC United) €1.1M

Atencio (Seattle Sounders FC) €1.25M

Jamison (Orange County SC) €365,000

Hansen - reserves

Colorado transfers OUT:

Abubakar (FC Dallas) free

Anderson (Hartford Athletic) free

Bandre (Tampa Bay Rowdies) free

Remi Cabral (Phoenix Rising) free

Lewis (Barnsley) free

Loffelsend (San Diego FC) expansion draft

Navarro (Talleres) €1.75M

Jones (Las Vegas Lights FC) loan

Chacon (Alajuelense) free

Fernandez (Portland Timbers) up to €220,000

Edwards (Charleston Battery) loan

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 2:2 CLT

COL 2:0 CLT

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

RSL 2:0 SEA

COL 1:0 RSL

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

SEA 5:2 LAFC
LAFC 4:0 SEA

LAFC 3:0 COL

COL 2:1 LAFC CCC

LAFC 1:0 COL CCC

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

STL 1:0 SEA
SEA 4:1 STL
STL 0:0 COL

COL 1:0 STL

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

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

HOU 2:2 COL

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

SJ 1:1 SEA

SJ 1:2 COL

COL 0:2 SJ

(against SJ: SEA 0-1-0 0, COL 1-0-1 -1) marginal edge COL

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

COL 3:2 SD

SD 2:0 COL

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

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

COL 3:3 DAL

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

POR 1:1 SEA

COL 0:3 POR

POR 2:1 COL

(against POR: SEA 0-1-0 0, COL 0-0-2 -4) decisive edge SEA

VAN 3:0 SEA

VAN 2:0 COL

COL 3:0 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 0-0-1 -3, COL 1-0-1 +1) decisive edge COL

SEA 2:0 ATX

ATX 0:1 COL

COL 0:2 ATX

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

SKC 2:3 SEA

COL 1:2 SKC

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

Know Thine Enemy

Colorado as they lined up in their 3:0 win against Vancouver at Victory Way on 12 July.

GOALKEEPER

Zack Steffen, 30

United States (30/0)

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew (76/0), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (9/0), Manchester City (2/0), Fortuna Dusseldorf (17/0), Middlesbrough (42/0), Colorado Rapids (45/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by West Chester United, FC Delco, and Philadelphia Union. Played his university football for Maryland (48/0). Won two English Premier League titles and one English League Cup with Manchester City. Won a CONCACAF Nations League with United States. Named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 2018. Named to MLS Best XI 2018. Named 2024 Leagues Cup Best Goalkeeper.

DEFENCE

Sam Vines, 26

United States (9/1)

Notable Clubs: Colorado Rapids (91/3), Royal Antwerp (44/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Pride SC and Colorado Rapids. Won a Belgian Pro League title, Belgian Cup, and Belgian Super Cup with Royal Antwerp. Won a CONCACAF Gold Cup with United States.

Andreas Maxso, 31

Denmark (2/0)

Notable Clubs: FC Nordsjaelland (108/3), Osmanlispor (20/1), FC Zurich (28/0), Brondby IF (96/5), Colorado Rapids (88/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.8M

Notes: Developed by Brondby IF and FC Nordsjaelland. Won a Danish Superliga title with Brondby.

Chidozie Awaziem, 28

Nigeria (33/1)

Notable Clubs: Porto (10/0), Nantes (22/1), Rizespor (16/0), Leganes (26/0), Boavista (54/0), Alanyaspor (18/1), Hajduk Split (28/5), FC Cincinnati (7/0), Colorado Rapids (26/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by El-Kanemi Warriors and Porto. Won a Supertaca with Porto. Won a Croatian Cup with Hajduk Split.

Reggie Cannon, 27

United States (28/1)

Notable Clubs: FC Dallas (67/2), Boavista (82/0), Queens Park Rangers (21/0), Colorado Rapids (24/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by FC Dallas. Played his university football for UCLA (20/0). Won a CONCACAF Gold Cup and a CONCACAF Nations League with United States.

MIDFIELD

Connor Ronan, 27

England

Notable Clubs: Wolverhampton (8/0), Portsmouth (16/0), Walsall (11/0), Blackpool (10/1), Grasshoppers (30/1), St. Mirren (27/7), Colorado Rapids (77/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Copperpot JFC, Rochdale, and Wolverhampton. Won an English EFL Championship title (2nd Tier) with Wolverhampton. Won a Swiss 2nd division league title with Grasshopper.

Djordje Mihailovic, 26

United States (11/3)

Notable Clubs: Chicago Fire (73/7), CF Montreal (61/13), AZ Alkmaar (23/1), Colorado Rapids (51/19)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Chicago Blast and Chicago Fire. Won a Canadian Championship with CF Montreal. Son of former Washington Diplomats midfielder Aleks Mihailovic.

Cole Bassett, 23

United States (1/1)

Notable Clubs: Colorado Rapids (144/29), Feyenoord (8/0), Fortuna Sittard (10/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Colorado Rush and Colorado Rapids. Played for United States at youth levels (5/3).

FORWARD

Ted Ku-DiPietro, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Loudoun United (58/11), DC United (65/7), Colorado Rapids (79/8)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by DC United. Has played for United States U-23s (5/1).

Rafael Navarro, 25

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Botafogo (62/18), Palmeiras (47/2), Colorado Rapids (64/24)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Rafael Navarro Leal. Developed by Fluminense and Atletico Goianiense. Won a Brazilian Serie B title with Botafogo. Won a Recopa Sudamericana, two Brazilian Serie A titles and a Supercopa do Brasil with Palmeiras.

Calvin Harris, 25

England

Notable Clubs: FC Cincinnati (24/1), Colorado Rapids (67/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Hong Kong FC and Wellington Phoenix. Played his university football for Wake Forest (32/10).

Familiar Faces

Colorado midfielder Josh Atencio played for Seattle Sounders FC (91/1) from 2020-2024.

Colorado coach Chris Little was a coach at Seattle Sounders FC Academy from 2017-2018 and with Seattle Sounders FC Reserves from 2019-2020. He managed several Sounders FC Academy teams to national championships.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Thomas, Castro,Baker, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Burney, Gomez Andrade, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Ragen, Alex, Sousa, Leyva, Cristian, Rusnak, Vargas, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Kent, Morris, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock.

Colorado from:

Steffen, Beaudry, Rosenberry, Vines, Cannon, Maxso, Awaziem, Murphy, Edwards, Travis, Larraz, Mihailovic, Atencio, Fadal, Sam Bassett, Ronan, Ku-DiPietro, Cole Bassett, Amadou, Navarro, Calvin Harris, Stewart-Baynes, Yapi, Cabral, Jamison.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Frei (concussion), Hawkins (quadriceps), Joao Paulo (knee), Arriola (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Colorado -

OUT: Frederick (hip), Hansen (groin), Alex Harris (ankle).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: Nouhou will serve a one-match ban. Musovski and Ragen out next match if booked.

Colorado: Cabral is out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

We scored three goals at Kansas City last Sat. We hadn’t done that in the league since 10 May at Houston. What’s more fun than watching us score three goals in one match?