SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Broadcasting directly from 11 days in the past [echoes: past…past…past…], I bring you this report as the San Jose Cla- I mean, Earthq- I mean Houst-, I mean San Jose Earthquakes, our favourite football club suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, travel north to The Evergreen for an early evening fixture at Royal Brougham Park. Time to face an auld rival………sort of.

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

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

When: 5:30 p.m. (provided the start time is not changed) Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 19 July.

At Stake: Points in the league. This fixture will also decide who holds the Heritage Cup. We drew with the Quakes at Coleman Avenue 1:1 on 29 March, so it looks like whoever wins gets the trophy. If it’s a draw the outlook is less than clear. I don’t know if the away-goals rule is in effect, so…you know, there’s that.

Where to Watch: Safe bet this match will be on MLS League Pass via Apple TV. It’s always good to check the ‘how to watch’ link on the Sounders website.

Where to Listen: Safe bet it’s KJR 93.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM, but check that link on the Sounders website just in case.

Sounders and the Quakes. A rivalry that dates back to at least 1974, complicated by San Jose repeatedly changing first the name of its club, and then later actually moving to Houston in a sulky act because San Jose wouldnae finance a new ground with public money. At least that’s how I think the story goes. Then San Jose decided they wanted the Quakes back, and Quakes 2.0 was formed. Or is it 3.0 if you count the NASL iteration? See, it’s proper complicated.

We have a chance to win a trophy. Sure, it’s only a regional honour, not unlike state leagues and cups in Brazil. However any chance at hardware of any type will provide a spectacle that is enhanced by the extra stakes. I might even find the way to the ground meself for this one.

Gather up your mates and head to the ground. If that’s not possible it’s pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings, houses and flats for pints and cats, and sometimes boats and ships for pie and chips. The point is there are choices.

It’s Sounders football in the Heritage Cup decider, under the early evening Saturday 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!!!”

One of the interesting things about Laurie Calloway was that he managed both 

the Quakes and the Sounders during his coaching career. (Photo Credit: nasljerseys.com)

The Good News

Sounders’ form in the league is holding as of the results of 6 July. Since 12 April, Sounders have a record of 7-3-3 in the league.

Sounders home record is 7-3-5, which means it’s not easy to beat us at Royal Brougham Park.

At this writing both clubs are very close to one another in the standings, with the Sounders 13th in the league, and San Jose two points adrift in 15th. Then again, a lot can happen in 12 days.

We seem to be playing a better brand of football since our hard-learnt lessons during Club World Cup. Perhaps playing a bit faster, and perhaps making fewer mistakes.

The Bad News

Although at this writing Hawkins, Kim, and Gomez Andrade, three of our five centre-halves (six if you count Leo Burney, seven if you count Alex) are still injured. Stefan Frei also suffered a head injury at the end of the 6 July draw against Columbus, the severity of which has yet to be diagnosed by the Sounders medical team. Hopefully, all will return to fitness in time to be considered for selection.

Joao Paulo has been ruled out for the season, as he’s torn his ACL in training. He hadn’t gotten much run this season, but it was good to know he was there if we needed him. We have the depth to withstand losing him provided the Gaffer has confidence in Danny Leyva, but it’s just not the same. I think even Danny would agree. Joao Paulo Mior, a proper servant to the club. I hope he mends soon, and that this isn’t the way his career ends.

San Jose has scored (as of 7 July) the second most goals in the league with 41. Sounders have managed only 28 league goals. San Jose has a tonne of firepower averaging nearly two goals per match (1.91). Cristian “Chicho” Arango leads their attack with 10 goals and three assists. Venezuelan international Josef Martinez has hit eight goals. Then there’s Cristian Espinoza who can hurt you with a goal or a killer pass (4 goals, 11 assists), and the emergence of 21 years-old starlet Beau Leroux (4 goals, 4 assists). That’s a lot of attacking threats to deal with, and our defence has its work cut out.

The Side I Would Select

Again, I’m writing from 12 days in the past, so please understand that there is no way to adjudge who is eligible for selection as changes in injury status or suspensions may have occurred within that span of time. This match will also be played only three days after facing Colorado, so maybe it’s time to rest some players. Taking all that into consideration, picking from the entire squad, I’d have this lot:

GK     Frei

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH     Kim

RCH    Bell

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Leyva

LF     Kent

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Minoungou

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

It doesn’t change much from match to match. Assuming everyone is healthy, I think you can expect these in the team:

GK     Frei

LB    Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

They call me Bruce.

Like or despise him, Bruce Arena had the most league wins of any MLS Manager at the end of the 2024 season with 262, Sigi (RIP) was next best at 240, Our Gaffer wasn’t even in the top 10. In MLS Cup victories, Arena has 35 for best all-time, Sigi is 2nd with 26 victories, and Schmetzer has 16 which is 3rd best all-time. Arena was also Manager for United States for eight years amassing a 71-29-30 record getting the Yanks to an 8th place finish in the 2002 FIFA World Cup - America’s best World Cup finish since 1930. In short, it’s a difficult task to not be out-managed in a football match by Bruce Arena.

Honours as Manager:

Arena

5x MLS Cup

4x MLS League Champion

1x US Open Cup

1x CONCACAF Champions Cup (one of the ones that no one supposedly won before we did)

1x Interamerican Cup

3x CONCACAF Gold Cup

4x MLS Manager of the Year. 

Schmetzer 

2x USL Cup

2x USL League Champion

2x MLS Cup

1x CONCACAF Champions Cup

Outspent yet again.

SEA 2025 season disclosed transfer fees paid: €1.45M

SJ 2025 season disclosed transfer fees paid: €2.87M

Officiating.

PRO Referees website still down for maintenance. Nothing says transparency like a website that’s been inaccessible for weeks. Our match official for the San Jose match? Unknown.

MLS transfer window opens on 24 July.

I wonder who our General Manager and scouting team are considering for our U-22 addition. As of 7 July, no players have been linked to the Sounders that I’ve heard of.

General notes on personnel

San Jose transfers IN:

Harkes (New England Revolution) €157,000

Kaye (New England Revolution) €157,000

Romney (New England Revolution) €157,000

Lima (New England Revolution) free

Floriani - draft

Edwards Jr. (New England Revolution) €144,000

Arango (Real Salt Lake) €1.35M

Martinez (CF Montreal) free

Roberts - draft

Spivey - academy

Fernandez - draft

Leroux - reserves

Montali (Minnesota United FC) free

Jones (Columbus Crew SC) €370,000

Buck (New England Revolution) €530,000

San Jose transfers OUT:

Akapo (Amazonas) free

Baldisimo - released

Beason (New England Revolution) free

Ebobisse (Los Angeles FC) free

Jackson (San Diego FC) draft

Marcinkowski (Los Angeles Galaxy) free

Morales (St. Louis City SC) free

Richmond - released

Thompson - released

Yarbrough - released

Walls - released

Yueill (New England Revolution) free

Ochoa (Cruz Azul) €1.9M

Gruezo (LDU Quito) free

Verhoeven (San Diego FC) loan

Comparison against common opponents*

*through 7 July 2025 - It should be noted that Sounders will have played Colorado and Kansas City whilst San Jose will have played Minnesota United and Dallas before Sounders and San Jose meet at Royal Brougham Park on 19 July.

SEA 2:2 CLT

CLT 4:1 SJ

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

RSL 2:0 SEA

SJ 4:0 RSL

(against RSL: SEA 0-0-1 -2, SJ 1-0-0 +4) decisive edge SJ

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

LAFC 2:1 SJ

(against LAFC: SEA 1-0-1 -1, SJ 0-0-1 -1) edge SEA

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

STL 2:1 SJ

(against STL: SEA 1-0-1 +2, SJ 0-0-1 -1) decisive edge SEA

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

SJ 3:3 HOU

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

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

DAL 2:4 SJ

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

COL 1:1 SEA

SJ 1:2 COL

COL 0:2 SJ

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

POR 1:1 SEA

SJ 4:1 POR

POR 1:1 SJ

SJ 1:0 POR USOC

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

SEA 2:3 MIN

SJ 0:1 MIN

(against MIN: SEA 0-0-1 -1, SJ 0-0-1 -1) even

SEA 1:1 CLB

CLB 2:1 SJ

(against CLB: SEA 0-1-0 0, SJ 0-0-1 -1) edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

San Jose as they lined up in their 1:1 draw against the Red Donkeys at Coleman Avenue on 5 July.

GOALKEEPER

Daniel, 31

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Internacional (68/0), San Jose Earthquakes (51/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Full name: Daniel de Sousa Britto. Developed by Uniao Rondonopolis and Internacional.

DEFENCE

Vitor Costa, 31

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Bahia (17/2), Avai (20/0), Arouca (55/0), Lens (5/0), Maritimo (72/2), San Jose Earthquakes (46/3)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Full name: Vitor Costa de Brito.

Daniel Munie, 25

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (34/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by St. Louis Scott Gallagher and Saint Louis FC (USL). Played his university football at Indiana (79/8).

Dave Romney, 32

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (84/3), Nashville SC (87/4), New England Revolution (61/1), San Jose Earthquakes (20/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Irvine Strikers. Played his university football for San Francisco (72/5).

Rodrigues, 27

Brazil

Notable Clubs: ABC (40/2), Gremio (54/0), San Jose Earthquakes (67/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Full name: Antonio Josenildo Rodrigues de Oliveira. Developed by ABC and Cruzeiro.

DeJuan Jones, 27

United States (8/0)

Notable Clubs: New England Revolution (142/6), Columbus Crew SC (15/2), San Jose Earthquakes (10/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by East Lansing High School. Played his university football at Michigan State (76/16). Won an MLS league title with New England Revolution. Won a Leagues Cup with Columbus.

MIDFIELD

Ian Harkes, 30

England

Notable Clubs: DC United (33/2), Dundee United (128/7), New England Revolution (36/3), San Jose Earthquakes (19/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by DC United. Played his university football for Wake Forest (82/9). Won a Scottish Championship title (second-tier) with Dundee United.

Beau Leroux, 21

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (21/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Santa Cruz Breakers and Santa Teresa High School. Played his university football at San Jose State (43/7).

FORWARD

Cristian Arango, 30

Colombia (2/0)

Notable Clubs: Envigado (71/7), Millonarios (65/24), Aves (19/1), Tondela (16/1), Los Angeles FC (51/30), Pachuca (11/5), Real Salt Lake (41/23), San Jose Earthquakes (17/10)

Estimated Transfer Value: €7.5M

Notes: Developed by Envigado. Won Taca de Portugal with Aves. Named MLS Newcomer of the Year 2021. Won an MLS Cup and League double with LAFC in 2022.

Josef Martinez, 29

Venezuela (68/14)

Notable Clubs: Caracas (36/8), Young Boys (37/4), Thun (18/8), Torino (58/7), Atlanta United FC (131/93), Inter Miami CF (27/7), CF Montreal (23/11), San Jose Earthquakes (17/8)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Developed by Caracas. Named to Swiss Super League Team of the Year 2013-14. Won the 2018 MLS Cup with Atlanta United. Won US Open Cup and Campeones Cup with Atlanta United in 2019. Won a Leagues Cup with Inter Miami CF. Named 3x to MLS Best XI. 2018 MLS Most Valuable Player. Won 2018 MLS Golden Boot (scored an MLS-record 31 league goals). 2018 MLS Cup MVP.

Cristian Espinoza, 30

Argentina

Notable Clubs: Huracan (90/9), Alaves (6/0), Valladolid (10/0), Boca Juniors (15/2), San Jose Earthquakes (207/36)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Huracan. Won an Argentine league title with Boca Juniors. Won an Argentinian Cup with Huracan. Won an Argentinian Supercopa with Huracan.

Familiar Faces

San Jose coach Shalrie Joseph played for Sounders FC (10/1) in 2013.

Squads

Since I have no idea who’s going to be eligible for selection, I’ll list the entirety of both squads minus Arriola and Joao Paulo for the Sounders as both have season-ending injuries and Verhoeven for San Jose who is on loan at San Diego FC.

Sounders FC from:

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

San Jose from:

Daniel, Edwards, Montali, Ricketts, Marie, Bruno Wilson, Munie, Romney, Roberts, Jones, Lima, Floriani, Rodrigues, Eisner, Vitor Costa, Harkes, Espinoza, Kaye, Medina, Skahan, Fernandez, Buck, Lopez, Spivey, Tsakiris, Leroux, Mendoza, Pellegrino, Arango, Bouda, Martinez, Judd, Kikanovic, Cowell.

Injury List

Will have no idea about injuries for 19 July except for Arriola and Joao Paulo for the Sounders. The MLS website should display this information at roughly 5:30 p.m. the day before the match under the Player Availability listing.

Discipline

Again, this match is 12 days in the future from when I’m writing this. Under the Player Availability listing on the MLS website there should be a link for the Disciplinary Summary. This will become available at the same time that injuries are listed, see above.

Fun Fact

All-time in the league, the Sounders record against San Jose is dead-even at 15-10-15. When playing San Jose at Royal Brougham Park, our record is 10-5-7.