SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. LA Galaxy fly northerly to The Evergreen for round three of our heavyweight title bout……seriously though, sorry for that. I hate mixed-sport comparisons.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Los Angeles Galaxy.

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

When: 5:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 13 September 2025 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league. Although it’s unlikely we’ll take enough points to unseat the Loons or San Diego for the W1 or W2 MLS Cup qualifying slots, we still have a shot to get past auld rivals Vancouver for W3, with LAFC just three points adrift at W5. Sounders currently sit 12th place in the league table on 44 points with seven league matches left to play, 13 points adrift of leaders Philadelphia. For MLS Cup qualifying we sit in the W4 position, five points adrift of Vancouver at W3, seven points adrift of Minnesota United at W2, and 12 points adrift of San Diego who hold at W1.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and Apple TV+.

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

After the dizzying heights of our Leagues Cup victory, we clatter back to the terra firma of league football. It is at this moment that I recall my prediction that we would win no trophies this season. I’m so glad I was wrong. Congratulations to all the players, management, coaching staff, and everyone else at the club. That was very well done, indeed.

With our Leagues Cup victory in the rear-view, we shift back into league football, and manoeuvring for the best possible MLS Cup qualifying position. Which brings us to a familiar opponent. Los Angeles Galaxy.

LA Galaxy are experiencing the jarring duality of having the most crap season of anyone in the league, whilst having been extremely competitive in their two cup competitions. They are also injury-riddled with at least six of their better players (Aude, Garces, Nascimento, Puig, Reus, and Sanabria) out due to injury, and star attacker Gabriel Pec serving a one-match ban.

Do we play a reserve side and save our first-choice players for Miami on Tuesday? Or do we try to get all six points, figuring that the lads can rest later, as there are no matches closer than four days apart once our transcontinental trip to Miami is done?

Decisions, decisions. What to do? There are times I don’t envy the Gaffer. This is one of those times.

It’s MLS league football, under the early evening sun 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!!!”

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our football.

The Good News

Who’s just won a trophy? Yes! It was us! A tonic to the nervous, salve to the supporters, and food and drink to our Boys in Green and the coaching staff that powers our training sessions.

Form is nearly as good as it gets. We haven’t lost a match since 16 August sporting a 6-1-0 record since.

We’re scoring loads (1.83 goals/match) and giving up almost nothing at the back (1.33 goals conceded/match).

LA Galaxy have zero wins on the road this season (0-6-11 in all competitions), with Royal Brougham Park a fortress for Sounders (13-6-4 record in all competitions).

Cody Baker (Sacramento Republic FC) and Travian Sousa (FC Tulsa) have been sent out on loan. I had recently said that every player in the squad should be able to be called on at any time and if the players aren’t trusted enough to do so, they should be sent out on loan to develop, sold, or released. So, this is ultimately a good thing for both players, though there is a meaningful caveat in the Bad News section.

The Bad News

Jordan Morris, Joao Paulo, and Pedro de la Vega are all listed as matchday decisions. Ryan Kent and Stuart Hawkins are still both out due to injury, with Arriola having been lost for the season early on. Mend soon lads. We’re gonna need ye.

Sounders FC Reserves are struggling since the dismissal of former Manager Herve Diese and have only one win in their last 11 matches. Caretaker manager Michael Morris has his work cut out for him. Hang tough, lads.

The club was right to loan out Baker and Sousa, although why did they wait so late to do so? Both players have two players each ahead of them on the depth chart at left-back and right-back, and with the season nearly halfway through September, how many opportunities for competitive football remain at their loan clubs?

The Side I Would Select

I know that Galaxy are bottom of the league table, but they have plenty of quality and skill. It should be noted that Galaxy made it to the Quarter-Finals of CONCACAF Champions Cup and the Semi-Finals of Leagues Cup. Galaxy have nothing to play for but pride, as their chance of qualifying for MLS Cup is astronomically small. We, on the other hand, have an away match against an angry and embarrassed Miami side coming up on a two-day turn-around. Here’s my selection if it were up to me:

GK     Frei

LB     Baker-Whiting

LCH    Bell

RCH    Kim

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Brunell

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Leyva

RF     Minoungou

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

Sounders are having a really, really good season. We’ve won our first (arguably) major trophy in three years. That said, getting the W1 slot off of San Diego who are 12 points clear would be a highly unlikely outcome. We have seven league matches left, including this Saturday against Galaxy, for a potential total of 21 points. We’ve got Galaxy (H), Miami (A), Austin (A), Vancouver (H), Portland (H), Salt Lake (H), and NYC FC (A) for the last seven fixtures. The chance of getting 21 points out of that, and San Diego dropping enough points for us to move up, is almost nil, although we could conceivably earn enough points to pip Vancouver at W3. Hopefully we will use as much of the squad as possible over the last seven fixtures to lower the risk of injury. At this late stage of the season the squad are probably nicked up a fair amount. So there’s that. I’d expect these in the team, as I imagine the strategy will be to ensure as many points as possible versus divisional opponents, and then deal with Miami as best we can in three days time.

GK     Frei

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Gomez Andrade

RB     Alex

LDM    Vargas

RDM   Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Musovski

Intangibles

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Rosendo Mendoza.

SEA record with Mendoza as Ref: 5-2-4

LAG record with Mendoza as Ref: 4-1-2

Ambition v. Caution.

With a trip to the angered hornets nest that is Miami on Tuesday next, how much should we risk to get the three points against an attrition-ravaged LA Galaxy squad? 

A dish best served cold.

Galaxy would love to have a proper go at us, seeing as we’ve beaten them twice this season, conceding zero goals as we done it.

We are being outspent.

SEA 2025 disclosed transfer fees paid: €1.45M

LAG 2025 disclosed transfer fees paid: €5.42M

General notes on personnel

LA Galaxy transfers IN:

“Zanka” Jorgensen (Anderlecht) free

Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes) free

Yoshida - re-signed

Scott - re-signed

Zavaleta - re-signed

Wynder (Louisville City) €380,000

Sanabria (Nacional) €4.8M

Ramirez (Columbus Crew SC) €240,000

Nascimento (Botafogo) loan

Vivi (Saprissa) end of loan

Chris Rindov - reserves

LA Galaxy transfers OUT:

Caceres (Libertad) free

Brugman (Nashville SC) undisclosed

Neal (CF Montreal) €625,000

Delgado (Los Angeles FC) €385,000

Joveljic (Sporting Kansas City) €3.85M

Davis (MLS Pool) bought out

Bibout (Vasteras) €100,000

Essengue (Phoenix Rising) loan

McCarthy (New York RB) €128,000

Perez (Nashville SC) €1.3M

Comparison against common opponents

RSL 2:0 SEA

RSL 2:0 LAG

LAG 2:0 RSL

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

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

LAG 2:2 LAFC

LAFC 3:3 LAG

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

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

LAG 0:3 STL

STL 3:3 LAG

(against STL: SEA 1-0-1 +2, LAG 0-1-1 -3) decisive edge SEA

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

LAG 1:1  HOU

HOU 1:1 LAG

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

SJ 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:2 SJ

LAG 0:1 SJ

SJ 1:1 LAG

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

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

LAG 0:2 SD

SD 2:1 LAG

(against SD: SEA 1-0-1 -2, LAG 0-0-2 -3) edge SEA

COL 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:3 COL

COL 2:0 LAG

LAG 3:0 COL

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

POR 1:1 SEA

POR 1:1 LAG

LAG 2:4 POR

(against POR: SEA 0-1-0 0, LAG 0-1-1 -2) marginal edge SEA

SEA 2:3 MIN

MIN 1:0 SEA

MIN 2:2 LAG

(against MIN: SEA 0-0-2 -2, LAG 0-1-0 0) edge LAG

VAN 3:0 SEA

VAN 2:1 LAG

LAG 3:0 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 0-0-1 -3, LAG 1-0-1 +2) decisive edge LAG

SEA 2:0 ATX

ATX 1:0 LAG

LAG 1:2 ATX

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

SKC 2:3 SEA

SEA 5:2 SKC

SKC 1:0 LAG

(against SKC: SEA 2-0-0 +4, LAG 0-0-1 -1) decisive edge SEA

SEA 0:0 CAZ

CAZ 4:1 SEA

SEA 7:0 CAZ LC

LAG 1:1 CAZ LC

(against CAZ: SEA 1-1-1 +4, LAG 0-1-0 0) decisive edge SEA

SEA 2:1 CSL LC
LAG 4:0 CSL LC

(against CSL: SEA 1-0-0 +1, LAG 1-0-0 +4) edge LAG

SEA 2:1 TIJ LC

LAG 5:2 TIJ LC

(against TIJ: SEA 1-0-0 +1, LAG 1-0-0 +3) marginal edge LAG

SEA 3:0 MIA LC

MIA 3:1 LAG

(against MIA: SEA 1-0-0 +3, LAG 0-0-1 -2) decisive edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

Here’s how Galaxy lined up in their 1:1 draw against Houston at Walker Street on 6 September.

GOALKEEPER

JT Marcinkowski, 28

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (95/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by San Jose Earthquakes. Played his university football for Georgetown (56/0).

DEFENCE

John Nelson, 27

United States

Notable Clubs: FC Dallas (30/0), FC Cincinnati (24/0), St. Louis City SC (17/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (48/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Internationals SC. Played his university football for North Carolina (41/1). Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Chris Rindov, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Sporting Kansas City (1/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (2/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €75,000

Notes: Developed by Olney Soccer. Played his university football at Maryland (58/4).

Maya Yoshida, 37

Japan (126/12)

Notable Clubs: Nagoya Grampus (71/5), VVV Venlo (54/5), Southampton (154/6), Sampdoria (72/3), Schalke 04 (29/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (69/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Nagoya Grampus. Won an AFC Asian Cup with Japan. Named to AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament 2019. Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Mauricio Cuevas, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (44/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €350,000

Notes: Developed by Los Angeles Galaxy. Played for United States at youth levels (25/2). Won CONCACAF U-20 Championship with United States. Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

MIDFIELD

Diego Fagundez, 30

Uruguay

Notable Clubs: New England Revolution (261/53), Austin FC (89/15), Los Angeles Galaxy (71/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

Notes: Full name: Diego Santiago Fagundez Pepe. Developed by Leominster Youth Soccer, Greater Boston Bolts, and New England Revolution. Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Edwin Cerrillo, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: FC Dallas (87/0), Los Angeles Galaxy (70/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by FC Dallas. Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Elijah Wynder, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: Louisville City FC (71/10), Los Angeles Galaxy (13/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Not to be confused with his little brother Joshua, who is now with SL Benfica. Developed by Louisville City FC. Named USL Championship Comeback Player of the Year 2022. Named USL Championship Second Team All-League 2024. Named USL Championship Young Player of the Year 2024.

FORWARD

Harbor Miller, 18

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (6/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €150,000

Notes: Developed by Los Angeles Galaxy.

Miguel Berry, 27

Catalonia

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (34/10), San Diego Loyal SC (14/6), DC United (14/0), Atlanta United FC (27/1), Los Angeles Galaxy (42/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €350,000

Notes: Developed by San Diego SC and San Diego Surf SC. Played his university football for San Diego (72/38). Won an MLS cup and Campeones Cup with Columbus Crew SC. Won an MLS Cup with Los Angeles Galaxy.

Tucker Lepley, 23

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (14/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Developed by Charlotte Soccer Academy and Sporting Kansas City. Played his university football at UCLA (45/11). Won an MLS Cup with LA Galaxy.

Familiar Faces

Galaxy forward, Miguel Berry played for the Sounders U23s (9/2) in 2017.

Galaxy defender, Eriq Zavaleta played for the Sounders FC (5/0) from 2013-2014.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Baker-Whiting, Bell, Gomez Andrade, Kim, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Brunell, Leyva, Cristian, Joao Paulo, Rusnak, Vargas, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Minoungou, Morris, Musovski, Rothrock.

LA Galaxy from:

Marcinkowski, Micovic, Scott, Cuevas, “Zanka” Jorgensen, Miller, Nelson, Rindov, Yamane, Yoshida, Zavaleta, Cerrillo, Fagundez, Lepley, Musto, Parente, Wynder, Berry, Paintsil, Ramirez, Ramos.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Kent (hamstring), Arriola (knee), Hawkins (quadriceps).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Morris (shoulder), Joao Paulo (knee), de la Vega (knee).

LA Galaxy -

OUT: Aude (ankle), Garces (foot), Nascimento (lower body, we’ll say fractured penis), Puig (knee), Reus (lower body, we’ll say chlamydia), Sanabria (foot), 

MATCHDAY DECISION: Ramirez (lower body, we’ll say athlete’s foot), “Zanka” Jorgensen (lower body, we’ll say scurvy).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: No players suspended.

LA Galaxy: Gabriel Pec will serve a one-match ban. Garces and Sanabria out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

“Cristian Roldan (United States), Nouhou (Cameroon), Georgi Minoungou (Burkina Faso), Obed Vargas (Mexico U-20s) Reed Baker-Whiting (United States U-20s), and Snyder Brunell (United States U-19s) were all called up for international duty during the September FIFA window.” – Per Sounders FC Communications.

Congratulations, lads! Way to do us proud!