SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. REAL SALT LAKE

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. The Salt Lake descend from their perch in the Wasatch to be our guests in Green Hell.

What: MLS league match, Seattle Sounders FC v. Real Salt Lake.

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

When: 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday 11 October 2025 CE.

At Stake: Sounders cannot advance their position, they can only finish as high as W5 for MLS Cup seeding. Only Austin can knock us to W6, but not if we can get two points of six against Salt Lake and NYC FC next week. The rest of the lot can’t touch us. That’s it. That’s what’s at stake.

Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Where to Listen: KJR 950 AM, El Rey 1360 AM, and SiriusXM FC 157.

[Film trailer V/O voice]

MLS MATCHDAY 800 BILLION: THE SCHEDULING.

BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID.

In theatres now.

Yeps. Almost every league in the world doesn’t schedule top-division league football during a FIFA International break. Not MLS though, ‘cause ‘Murica. Give us a reasonable system and we will fuck it the fuck up ’til it doesna make sense no more.

Yeh, I know that this match was rescheduled from 30 August because of Leagues Cup, but I feel pointing this out only further underscores my point that the people writing the fixture list for MLS don’t possess any real understanding of what it’s like to play a sport that often requires you to run 13-15 kilometres per match.

Right. So on to the football.

The maths are simple. The Salt Lake are hanging on to the W9 MLS Cup play-in spot by their collective fingernails as they’re ahead of Colorado Rapids only by the grace of goal difference………or whatever nonsense passes for MLS tie-breakers these days: Total Wins, fewer disciplinary points, which clubs turned in their extra-credit assignments, bake-sale receipts, Tiddlywinks, Hopscotch, Artistic Impression, roll of 5 or less on a d20, etc.

Conclusion: The Salt Lake have their backs to the wall, and I expect them to be very, very aggressive. Much as their Manager Pablo Mastroeni was as a player.

This would have been a difficult match even if both teams had their full squads available.

Also: It’s Fan Appreciation Night at Royal Brougham Park. There’s gonna be music and food, and all sort of things to see and do. And when you’ve sorted through all that hoopla, it’s time to settle in with the Brougham and chuff up the lads.

Although we could get the points to stave off the Austin next week at Seaver Way or Yankee Stadium, it would be nicer to sort things now and be able to rest players who have run their legs off all season, and also rest those returning from national team service.

Look after one another. Link up with mates. Tie your scarves proper. Make an ungodly noise reminding the Salt Lake that Royal Brougham Park is the hardest away match in the league.

It’s MLS league football, under the 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!!!”

More “top flight” decision-making from MLS schedulers. Let the mayhem ensue.

The Good News

When you remove all the unavailable players from the equation, I like the Sounders chances in this one. We have Frei, Alex, Ragen, de la Vega, Ferreira, Morris, Rothrock, and Musovski all available for selection, and a decent amount of depth behind them to fill in. Salt Lake is missing their best goal scorer and play-maker in Diego Luna (9 goals/7 assists) on a club that struggles to score goals (1.14 goals/match in all competitions).

We don’t have to play against this lot at high altitude, which takes away the tremendous advantage the Salt Lake have playing their matches and training at altitude.

Royal Brougham Park is a fortress. The Sounders have a 14-8-4 record in all competitions. That’s right, just four losses this entire season at home. Add to this that Salt Lake doesn’t travel well, with a 3-4-9 record in all competitions on the road and you get a recipe that makes us likely favourites.

The Bad News

The problem with a lot of the numbers that underpin “The Good News” section is that those numbers are heavily based on the Gaffer’s reliance on Vargas and Cristian as his chosen ones at holding midfield. Neither will be in the team on Sat. The defence has only Alex and Ragen as regular selections in team at the back with Nouhou, Baker-Whiting, and Gomez Andrade unavailable for selection.

Much depends on how well our squad players play up with so many absent. Don’t get me wrong, I have confidence in our squad players, and feel they should get more opportunities to shift the heavy burden of minutes Schmetzer loads on to his chosen ones. You can make a decent argument that we play faster and arguably better the younger our lineup gets. The trade-off is, with youth you get sometimes more pace, stamina, and athleticism, but you must live with the mistakes that come with relative inexperience. It doesn’t have to be this way, but because of the Gaffer’s management style we end up in situations like this where we’re suddenly counting on players he stapled to the bench for nearly the entire season. The lesson to be learnt here is that you must provide enough developmental minutes to younger and lesser-used players so that when squad players have to fill in, they feel confident to do so, and feel they have the full confidence of the coaching staff as well. In a way, this match could be a kind of bellwether displaying whether or not we’ve done a good job in this regard.

Historically, we don’t play well against the Salt Lake. Our overall all-time record in the league is 13-7-17, although if you isolate the Sounders home results, the mark does improve to 12-3-4.

Diogo Goncalves (4 goals/4 assists), William Agada (2 goals/2 assists), and Johnny Russell the Undying (2 goals) make the Salt lake more dangerous than they appear at first glance. Russell could be especially dangerous, as he once sank us with a hat-trick whilst playing for Kansas City, and who earned 14 caps and 1 goal with Scotland in the before-times. Rwan Cruz has not yet scored in eight matches with Salt Lake, but the loan player from Botafogo recently scored 19 goals in 33 matches for Ludogorets, and won two trophies with them in Bulgaria. I wouldn’t sleep on Rwan Cruz, and neither should our defence.

The Side I Would Select

We need two points from our last two matches to keep Austin from knocking us from W5 MLS Cup berth to W6. So as it turns out, we need the points despite 11 players unavailable for selection due to injury, suspension, or national team commitments.

RATIONALE: 

Frei between the sticks because with MLS Cup approaching we need Stefan more match sharp.

With both our left-backs (Nouhou and Baker-Whiting) unavailable, Jon Bell (Sounders FC & Jamaica) seems the only logical choice there (unless we’re playing a back-five in which case a midfielder would do). Travian Sousa or Cody Baker would have been good choices, but they are both on loan. They’re both on loan because they couldn’t get in the team. You get the idea.

Ragen is arguably our most reliable centre-half with the possible exception of Gomez Andrade who is currently injured. In a depleted squad, you need Ragen at left-centre-half.

Lopez is perhaps the best choice at right-centre-half (assuming he’s selected) as Jon Bell will likely be forced into a left-back role. Lopez has played for us in the US Open Cup for both the senior team and for the reserves. Lopez sometimes captains the reserves and is a fine, steady, and reliable player. He’s probably past ready to be promoted but Lopez’ path to the senior team is logjammed by Ragen, Gomez Andrade, Kim, and Hawkins although he’s likely ahead of Leo Burney on the depth chart.

Kossa-Rienzi would be my choice at right-back as Alex recently had a hip issue and it’s more sensible to rest Alex at this stage. There’s no drop in quality if you select Kossa-Rienzi in my estimation. Add to this the fact that Kossa-Rienzi hasn’t logged so many minutes this season that he’s completely gassed, so there’s that as well.

Leyva and Joao Paulo haven’t been in the team much this season, so they’re fresh legs, and also have a good amount of quality. The alternate choices for holding midfield roles are Kingston and/or Gomez from the reserves who can play both the #8 and #6 and may enter the match if things aren’t going to plan, assuming they’ve been selected.

Rothrock is a good choice for left-forward. Skill. Tenacity. A bit of pace and technique. Can score goals or set them up. Is a willing runner to create space for his teammates or to open passing lanes. I would choose de la Vega, but I’ve got a feeling he’s not yet fit enough and we’re going to need him fully fit for MLS Cup.

At the #10 Ferreira is a good choice with Rusnak suspended. Leyva can also play in this role. Though I have confidence in both, Ferreira gets the nod in my book though he could probably use a rest.

At right-forward I’d have Morris, although Jordan prefers to play on the left side. Although Morris is Schmetzer’s first choice at centre-forward, Musovski has done a far more consistent job of finishing with 16 goals in all competitions. Maybe right-forward is a better fit?

Although Musovski has scored more senior team goals this season than De Rosario, I’d like to see Osaze get a run-out for 30-45 minutes. If we’re still scoreless at half-time it makes sense to bring in Musovski as either a replacement or for a defender to add another scoring option up front. Mark my words, we will need both players to be match-sharp for MLS Cup.

GK     Frei

LB     Bell

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Lopez

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Leyva

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Morris

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I’d expect nothing less than that the most veteran players available will be in the team. Although we cannot further advance our MLS Cup seeding, we can be knocked from W5 to W6 by the Austin. That would put us on the road to begin MLS Cup. Not ideal for a club that relies on performances at home. With both left-backs unavailable, you’d have to think Bell moves out to the left. Provided that’s true, you’d have to imagine Schmetzer selects Lopez over Burney. You’d think it would be Hawkins straight-away if he’s fit, but I wouldn’t wager as much as a penny that that’s what will happen. Even if Stu hadn’t just got off injury list, he was out of favour, whether justified or not, anyway.

GK     Frei

LB     Bell

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Lopez

RB     Alex

LDM    Joao Paulo

RDM   Leyva

LF     de la Vega

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Rothrock

CF     Morris

Intangibles

Officiating.

The Referee for Saturday night’s match will be Ricardo Montero Araya.

SEA record with Araya as Ref: 0-0-0

RSL record with Araya as Ref: 0-1-0

We are being outspent.

SEA 2025 disclosed transfer fees paid: €1.45M

RSL 2025 disclosed transfer fees paid: €3.62M

Late-season attrition and national team call-up convergence.

I’d say it’s gonna be pretty wooly out there come Saturday night. Straight chaos. Squad players: If you get a chance to try and get out of Schmetzer’s bench jail on Sat. Make the most of it.

General notes on personnel

Salt Lake transfers IN:

Wolff (Atlanta United) €47,000

Ajago (Nashville SC) re-entry draft

Manoel (New York RB) €671,000

Junqua (FC Dallas) undisclosed

Henry (Reims) loan

Stajduhar (Orlando City SC) €49,000

Anderson - reserves

Hezarkhani - reserves

Marquez - reserves

Gio Villa - reserves

Cabral (Cruzeiro) free

Piol (Macarthur FC) undisclosed

Farnsworth - re-signed, free

Kerkvliet - draft

Barea - draft

Agada (Sporting Kansas City)  €440,000

Russell (Sporting Kansas City) free

Zambrano (Guimaraes) free

Cruz (Botafogo) loan

Olatunji (Sparta Prague) €2.15M

DeAndre Yedlin (FC Cincinnati) €260,000

Salt Lake transfers OUT:

Bonilla - released

Chang - released

Gomez - released

Holt - released

Jacquesson (Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC) loan

Michel - released

Orozco (St. Louis City SC Reserves) free

Paul (Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves) loan

Pierre (FC Tulsa) free

Rubin - released

Marcelo Silva - released

Julio (FC Dallas) €384,000

Crooks (Hull City) undisclosed

Arango (San Jose Earthquakes) €1.35M

Beavers (Brondby IF) undisclosed

Lambert (Louisville City FC) loan

Brody  (Sporting Kansas City) free

Manoel (Botafogo) €900,000

Ajago (Lexington SC) loan

Palacio (FC Zurich) loan

Brook (Auckland FC) undisclosed

Kei - released

Hidalgo (CF Montreal) €175,000

Marczuk (FC Cincinnati) loan

Comparison against common opponents

SEA 2:2 CLT

CLT 1:0 RSL

(against CLT: SEA 0-1-0 0, RSL 0-0-1 -1) marginal edge SEA

SEA 5:2 LAFC

LAFC 4:0 SEA

RSL 1:4 LAFC
LAFC 4:1 RSL

(against LAFC: SEA 1-0-1 -1, RSL 0-0-2 -6) decisive edge SEA

STL 1:0 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

RSL 3:2 STL

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

SEA 0:0 HOU

HOU 1:3 SEA

HOU 1:2 RSL

RSL 1:0 HOU

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

SJ 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:2 SJ

SJ 4:0 RSL

RSL 2:1 SJ

(against SJ: SEA 1-1-0 +1, RSL 1-0-1 -3) decisive edge SEA

SD 3:0 SEA

SEA 1:0 SD

RSL 1:3 SD

SD 1:3 RSL

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

DAL 0:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 DAL

RSL 0:1 DAL

DAL 1:1 RSL

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

SEA 3:0 NSH

NSH 2:1 RSL

(against NSH: SEA 1-0-0 +3, RSL 0-0-1 -1) decisive edge SEA

COL 1:1 SEA

SEA 3:3 COL

COL 1:0 RSL

RSL 1:0 COL

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

POR 1:1 SEA

SEA 1:0 POR

RSL 0:0 POR

POR 0:1 RSL

(against POR: SEA 1-1-0 +1, RSL 1-1-0 +1) even

SEA 2:3 MIN

MIN 1:0 SEA

MIN 2:0 RSL

RSL 1:3 MIN

(against MIN: SEA 0-0-2 -2, RSL 0-0-2 -4) marginal edge SEA

VAN 3:0 SEA

SEA 2:2 VAN

VAN 2:1 RSL

RSL 2:3 VAN

(against VAN: SEA 0-1-1 -3, RSL 0-0-2 -2) even

SEA 2:0 ATX

ATX 2:1 SEA

ATX 1:1 RSL

RSL 3:1 ATX

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

SKC 2:3 SEA

SEA 5:2 SKC

SKC 1:1 RSL

RSL 2:1 SKC

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

LAG 0:4 SEA

SEA 2:2 LAG

LAG 0:2 SEA LC

RSL 2:0 LAG

LAG 2:0 RSL

(against LAG: SEA 2-1-0 +6, RSL 1-0-1 0) decisive edge SEA

Know Thine Enemy

The Salt Lake as they lined up in their 1:0 victory against Colorado at State Street on 4 October.

GOALKEEPER

Rafael Cabral, 35

Brazil (3/0)

Notable Clubs: Santos (151/0), Napoli (32/0), Sampdoria (2/0), Reading (95/0), Cruzeiro (95/0), Real Salt Lake (32/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €200,000

Notes: Full name: Rafael Cabral Barbosa. Won a Copa do Brasil, a Copa Libertadores, and a Recopa Sudamericana with Santos. Won a Coppa Italia and a Supercoppa Italia with Napoli. Won a Brazilian Serie B title with Cruzeiro.

DEFENCE

Alexandros Katranis, 27

Greece

Notable Clubs: Atromitos (49/0), Mouscron (8/0), Hatayspor (22/1), Piast Gliwice (64/0), Real Salt Lake (57/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1M

Notes: Developed by Atromitos.

Justen Glad, 28

United States

Notable Clubs: Real Salt Lake (270/13)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Developed by Real Salt Lake.

Brayan Vera, 26

Colombia (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Leones (4/1), Lecce (10/0), Cosenza (22/0), America de Cali (1/0), Real Salt Lake (73/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Full name: Brayan Emmanuel Vera Ramirez. Developed by Leones. Won an Italian Serie B title with Lecce. Won a Central American and Caribbean Games title with Colombia.

DeAndre Yedlin, 32

United States (81/0)

Notable Clubs: Seattle Sounders FC (56/1), Tottenham (1/0), Sunderland (23/0), Newcastle (112/3), Galatasaray (27/1), Inter Miami CF (65/0), FC Cincinnati (55/0), Real Salt Lake (5/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.2M

Notes: Developed by Crossfire Premier, Northwest Nationals, an unnamed youth football club in New York, and Seattle Sounders FC. Played his university football at Akron (45/1). Won a MLS league Championship and US Open Cup double with Seattle Sounders FC. Won an English Football League Championship with Newcastle. Won an MLS league Championship and Leagues Cup double with Inter Miami CF. Won a CONCACAF Nations League with United States. Named Young Athlete of the Year 2014 by the United States FA.

MIDFIELD

Diego Luna, 22

United States (14/3)

Notable Clubs: El Paso Locomotive (41/13), Real Salt Lake (93/22)

Estimated Transfer Value: €8M

Notes: Developed by Palo Alto SC, San Jose Earthquakes, and Barcelona Residency Academy. Has represented United States at youth levels (36/8). Won CONCACAF U20 Championship with United States. Named MLS Young Player of the Year 2024. Named to CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI 2025.

Braian Ojeda, 25

Paraguay (10/0)

Notable Clubs: Olimpia (28/1), Defensa y Justicia (10/0), Nottingham Forest (3/0), Real Salt Lake (98/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Developed by Olimpia. Won a Paraguayan Primera Division title with Olimpia.

Noel Caliskan, 25

Germany

Notable Clubs: Portland Timbers (4/0), Real Salt Lake (28/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Developed by Koln and Fortuna Dusseldorf. Played his university football at Loyola Marymount (65/9).

Diogo Goncalves, 28

Portugal

Notable Clubs: Benfica (61/1), Nottingham Forest (7/0), Famalicao (27/5), FC Copenhagen (38/15), Real Salt Lake (36/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Full name: Diogo Antonio Cupido Goncalves. Developed by Almodovar, Ferreiras, and SL Benfica. Won a Portuguese league title and Supercup with SL Benfica. Won a Danish league title and Danish Cup with FC Copenhagen.

FORWARD

Victor Olatunji, 26

Nigeria

Notable Clubs: Inter Bratislava (11/2), Zeleziarne Podbrezova (9/0), Mattersburg (14/0), AEK Larnaca (15/1), Slovan Liberec (19/8), Sparta Prague (57/10), Real Salt Lake (6/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2.5M

Notes: Won a Czech First League Championship and Czech Cup double with Sparta Prague.

Rwan Cruz, 24

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Santos (28/3), Vasco da Gama (2/0), Ludogorets Razgrad (50/24), Botafogo (14/2), Real Salt Lake (8/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Full name: Rwan Philipe Rodrigues de Souza Cruz. Developed by Nautico, Sport Recife, Figueirense, Flamengo (SP), and Santos. Won a Bulgarian Championship and Supercup double with Ludogorets.

Familiar Faces

Salt Lake defender, DeAndre Yedlin is a Seattle native and played for the Sounders FC (56/1) from 2013-2014.

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Castro, Jonathan Bell, Burney*, Hawkins, Kossa-Rienzi, Lopez* Ragen, Alex, Gomez*, Kingston*, Leyva, Joao Paulo, de la Vega, De Rosario, Ferreira, Morris, Musovski, Rothrock.

*It was not revealed at press time which three of these short-term loan players from Sounders FC Reserves would be available for selection for Saturday night’s match. It’s like this because there’s no web or print source I could find that can confirm, and MLS does not track and list short-term loan agreements. As usual, no one tells us anything. We live in the back.

Salt Lake from:

Cabral, Kerkvliet, Stajduhar, Silva, Katranis, Vera, Farnsworth, Rivera, Quinton, Glad, Yedlin, Junqua, Diogo Goncalves, Anderson, Eneli, Caliskan, Wolff, Ruiz, Olatunji, Rwan Cruz, Piol, Barea, Hezarkhani, Agada, Russell.

Notes: Lambert and Palacio are listed as on loan.

National Team Call-Ups

Sounders FC:

Baker-Whiting (USA U-20)

Vargas (Mexico U-20)

Brunell (USA U-19)

Minoungou (Burkina Faso)

Nouhou (Cameroon)

Cristian (USA)

Salt Lake:

Luna (USA)

Henry (Trinidad & Tobago)

Moisa (USA U-17)

Ojeda (Paraguay)

Villa (USA U-17)

Zambrano (USA U-20)

Gozo (USA U-20)

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Kim (calf), Kent (hamstring), Arriola (knee), Gomez Andrade (hamstring).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Salt Lake -

OUT: Matthew Bell (hamstring), Brown (knee), MacMath (shoulder).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Olatunj (groin).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC: Rusnak is suspended. Ragen is out next match if booked.

Salt Lake: No players suspended. Katranis out next match if booked.

Fun Fact

Sounders and Mexico midfielder Obed Vargas was at the top of MLS’ 22 Under 22 list, a listing of the finest players under 22 years of age in the league, as chosen by “…an expert panel of select MLS staff, MLS Season Pass talent, and club technical staff.” Congratulations, Obed on the recognition. That’s well done, lad.