SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC v. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. San Jose make the trip north to face our beloved Sounders. Silicon Valley vulture capitalists did in fact try to replace the entire Quakes squad with AI. They haven’t quite succeeded…yet. Maybe they’re just waiting for that arrogant bastard of an oligarch John Fisher to move the team to Vegas.

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

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

When: 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday 13 May 2026 CE.

At Stake: Points in the league and a chance to win Heritage Cup. At this writing, Sounders FC are 7th place in the league table on 21 points, eight points adrift of leaders San Jose. Sounders have two matches in hand though, so they’re still very much in the hunt for the league championship. 28 of the league’s 30 clubs will be playing on 13 May. With a Sounders victory, it not only functions as a ‘six-pointer’ in any attempt to win the league, we could conceivably rise to as high as 4th place in the league in the following scenario: New England (v.NSH) lose or draw, Miami (@CIN) lose or draw, and LAFC (@STL) lose or draw. In the event of a Sounders defeat, the following clubs have the chance to overtake: MIN (v.COL) win or draw, Salt Lake (v.HOU) win, Dallas (v.VAN) win. In the event of the worst case scenario we could fall to 10th place. Also at stake is the Heritage Cup, which Sounders could secure for a second season in a row with a draw or victory.

Where to Watch: Apple TV. Remember that you can listen to the KJR simulcast if you select Seattle home radio under Alternate Audio in the Apple TV control layer. It all depends on whether you want to hear Danny Jackson and Steve Zakuani, or Max Bretos and former Dallas Burn player Brian Dunseth, or Carlos Mauricio Ramirez.

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

Recent performances haven’t been good enough for our Boys in Green to earn a victory. This is, of course, unacceptable. I mean, better a draw than a defeat, sure, but victories are the only thing that can march you toward a possible league championship.

Lucky for us, the current league leaders have our convenience at heart and will travel north to play us, to reciprocate our sojourn to Coleman Avenue on 15 March. It’s not going to be easy. Sure we have the best defence in the league, but our friends from the South Bay aren’t far behind tied for 3rd best in defence. In addition to solid defence, the Quakes are averaging better than two goals per match, and that is something that we aren’t doing of late.

Our supporters have unshakeable confidence in the side and are convinced that we can beat anyone at any time. But I would say that confidence has been sorely tested over the past two fixtures.

Sounders are still a top ten team in the league and having only been defeated twice in 14 matches (9-3-2) is a massive achievement. All that said, drawing too many matches will, inevitably knock us out of contention for the league championship.

We’re going to qualify for MLS Cup. It would be utterly shocking if we didn’t, and most of the league (18 of 30 teams) qualifies for that tournament anyway. We are also most certainly going to qualify for next season’s Leagues Cup as you only have to finish in the top 18 teams in the league table. We will, most likely, disqualify ourselves from US Open Cup, because MLS, in its seemingly infinite stupidity, limits participation in the second oldest sporting tournament in North America, and the club championship of the United States FA to only the teams that finish in the bottom 12 of the MLS league table. Sounders FC rarely finish in the bottom 12.

This puts into stark focus the fact that Sounders FC have never won the league, or the US Open Cup with Brian Schmetzer as Manager.

All of that said, the focus midweek will be on looking for a six point net gain in the title race by defeating the Quakes, and enabling the Brougham Faithful to hoist the Heritage Cup, and repeatedly chant “THAT’S OUR CUP!”

It’s Sounders football, under the Wednesday night lights of 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!!!”

User: “Computer, why have Sounders FC gotten draws the last two matches against inferior opposition? 

Computer: “DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! DOES NOT COMPUTE!!!” 

The Good News

Sounders remain in the top ten of the league, having only been defeated twice in 14 matches, and currently sit at 7th place in the table. With two games in hand, we are still very much in the running for the 2026 MLS league championship, which people insist on calling the Supporters’ Shield. It’s the trophy you have to win by earning the most points in the league and can’t just play crappy football and bundle your way through on penalty kicks.

Sounders continue to maintain the league’s best defence having conceded only 6 goals in 10 MLS matches. Only two clubs have managed to score two goals on us this season. Salt Lake and Tigres. Every other club has been either shut-out or has only managed a single goal.

When playing San Jose in the league at Royal Brougham Park, Sounders have a 11-5-7 record. That plays very much in our favour.

We have the talent to get better results against teams like Kansas City and San Diego. The question is how do we unlock it.

The Bad News

Although the two club’s defences are playing equally well (0.71 goals/match), San Jose is scoring 2.36 goals/match to our 1.57 goals/match. This asks questions of why defending for us seems to come at the expense of goal scoring.

Although the Sounders have an unbeaten home record of 4-1-0 (add a win if you’re counting the cup tie in Spokane), San Jose are unbeaten on the road with a record of 5-1-0.

We did not look ourselves in the last two matches. In the San Diego match in particular, It was a mistake to deploy Jordan Morris at centre-forward, a mistake to not move Ferreira to the #10 as Rusnak faded from view in the match, a mistake to deploy Alex at centre-half, and also to deploy Kingston at right-back. It was a mistake to not make major adjustments, by waiting to bring in Kingston, Musovski, and Lopez, with only 26-27 minutes left until full-time. We must do better.

Sounders have an excellent record and, indeed, defeated San Jose at Coleman Avenue by a score of 0:1. However, we only have a goal difference of +12 compared to San Jose’s +23. With form over the last five matches being identical (3-2-0), and the all-time record in the league against San Jose being 15-10-17 which is not quite a 50% record, and a bit of doubt starts to seep through the cracks. It seems San Jose scores a lot more goals than we do, and they do it whilst managing to not sacrifice effectiveness in defence. This is a problem.

The problem with long-term success as a Manager, is that you can develop a bit of an ego. Develop an idea that your tactics and team selection can remain static, and everything will work out in the long run. The problem with a starters vs. second-team mentality is that it only works in American football, baseball, and basketball. A football manager can’t afford to play favourites. You have to select the players that train the best, or who are least likely to be injured due to fatigue, age, or both, in the days before the next fixture. When we were regularly winning and looking dominant, playing favourites can be overlooked. The events of last Sat against San Diego, and the week before at Kansas City, inferior opponents by any reasonable metric, only serves to underscore my point.

There was plenty of blame to go around for not securing three points against San Diego. It wasn’t just tactics and team selection. The Referee made several mistakes, with his worst one being not calling a penalty kick when a San Diego defender handled in the penalty area. The Linesman was also in error, calling a toenail offsides against Morris, who was even and clearly through on goal, washing out his calm finish. In general our finishing, static player movement, glacially slow ball movement, spacing, and run selection were all extremely poor. The first 25 minutes of the match largely consisted of Sounders players staring at their teammate with the ball, but making little to no effort to find open space for a passing lane, or to make runs away from the ball to create spaces for potential passes, dribbles, and shots. This needs fixing, and quickly. It’s on the players for not doing those things, and on the coaching staff for not training well enough on it to improve performance.

Sounders FC Reserves continue to struggle, and were dealt a heavy blow, playing to a 3:0 defeat at Parmer Field against Austin FC II. Manager, Paulo Nagamura and coach Joao Paulo Mior have not yet got the side to a place of consistency. Sounders FC Reserves have only one outright victory, a 4:1 battering of LAFC 2 on 26 April. With a record of 1-3-6, the Reserves find themselves in 27th place (out of 30) in the MLS Next Pro table.

The Side I Would Select

Don’t at all like what I saw over the last two matches. I would make some changes.

Rationale:

I know Kossa-Rienzi doesn’t play the left side of defence. However, Nouhou is literally the only left-back in the squad since we sold Reid Baker-Whiting. The lone San Diego goal was on a play where Nouhou lost track of his mark. So it’s time for a bit of a change, and if Kalani struggles, Nouhou could come off the bench to replace. Lopez deserves Schmetzer’s confidence at this point and should be in the team until Gomez Andrade returns to fitness. Alex returning to right-back is better for both him, the defence, and the team as a whole. We only started to come alive last Sat when Kingston and Musovski came on as substitutes. Unfortunately, at that point in the match, there were only 25 minutes remaining. Morris is far more effective at left or right-forward than as a centre-forward. I rate both Musovski and De Rosario over him at the #9. Rusnak was virtually invisible against San Diego. Let’s give Jesus a try at the #10 where he’s far more effective than at right-forward, and Albert can sub if necessary, or can be in the team on Sat against Galaxy after the short two-day turn-around.

GK     Thomas

LB     Kossa-Rienzi

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Lopez

RB     Alex

LDM   Cristian

RDM   Kingston

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Ferreira

RF     Morris

CF     Musovski

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

I’m fairly certain I can safely predict the team for the midweek fixture.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Alex

RB     Kossa-Rienzi

LDM    Cristian

RDM   Brunell

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     Morris

Intangibles

The Referee for Wednesday night’s match will be Filip Dujic.

SEA record with Dujic as Ref: 3-1-0

SJ record with Dujic as Ref: 1-2-1

If Sounders FC want any of our 30+ years-old players to play on Sat against LA Galaxy, they shouldn’t play more than 30-40 minutes against San Jose on Wednesday night.

Bruce Arena, the current Manager of San Jose Earthquakes, has the most league victories of any Manager in MLS history with a record of 273-139-167 (as cited from MLS 2026 Facts and Record Book). Sounders FC Manager Brian Schmetzer is 9th on this list at 141-78-89. Former Sounders, LA Galaxy, and Columbus Crew Manager, Sigi Schmid, rest in peace, is second with 240-125-183.

SJ 2026 season transfer fees paid: €0

SEA 2026 season transfer fees paid: €0

General notes on personnel

San Jose transfers IN:

Crockford (FC Cincinnati) free

Allen - reserves

Werner (Leipzig) free

Jonathan Gonzalez (Juarez) free

Adimabua - reserves

Jasinski - draft

San Jose transfers OUT:

Verhoeven (San Diego FC) €304,000

Eisner (San Diego FC) free

Espinoza (Nashville SC) free

Kaye (Sacramento Republic FC) free

Josef Martinez (Tijuana) free

Rodrigues (Mirassol) free

Wilson - released

Cowell (Real Salt Lake) free

Lima - retired

Medina (Guadalajara) loan

Arango (Atletico Nacional) loan, €420,000 fee

Comparison against common opponents

STL 0:1 SEA

SEA 4:1 STL

STL 2:3 SJ

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

MIN 0:0 SEA

SJ 4:2 MIN USOC

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

SKC 1:1 SEA

SJ 3:0 SKC

SKC 1:3 SJ

(against SKC: SEA 0-1-0 0, SJ 2-0-0 +5) decisive edge SJ

SEA 1:1 SD

SJ 3:0 SD

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

VAN 0:3 SEA CCC

SEA 2:1 VAN* CCC        *played at Spokane

VAN 0:1 SJ

SJ 1:1 VAN

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

Know Thine Enemy

The Quakes as they lined up in their 1:1 draw against Vancouver at Coleman Avenue on 9 May.

GOALKEEPER

Daniel, 32

Brazil

Notable Clubs: Internacional (68/0), San Jose Earthquakes (75/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

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

DEFENCE

Dave Romney, 32

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (84/3), Nashville SC (87/4), New England Revolution (61/1), San Jose Earthquakes (40/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

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

Reid Roberts, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (25/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Played his university football for San Francisco (50/2).

Daniel Munie, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (56/4)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

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

Benji Kikanovic, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (115/14)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Placer United. Played his university football for Sacramento State (34/9).

MIDFIELD

Beau Leroux, 22

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (44/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €2M

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

Ousseni Bouda, 26

Burkina Faso (12/2)

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (82/10), Monterey Bay FC (3/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Right to Dream Academy, Millbrook Mustangs, and Black Rock FC. Played his university football for Stanford (39/10).

Ronaldo Vieira, 27

Guinea-Bissau (1/0)

Notable Clubs: Leeds United (63/1), Sampdoria (102/0), Hellas Verona (4/0), Torino (2/0), San Jose Earthquakes (18/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €500,000

Notes: Full name: Ronaldo Augusto Vieira Nan. Developed by CB Portimao, Benfica, Whitley Bay Boys Club, Batley Phoenix, i2i Football Academy, and Leeds United.

FORWARD

Jamar Ricketts, 24

United States

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (30/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by Cedar Stars Academy. Played his university football for Cal State Northridge (55/16).

Preston Judd, 26

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles Galaxy (17/3), San Jose Earthquakes (67/16)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Las Vegas Academy. Played his university football for California Baptist (39/22) and Denver (19/7).

Paul Marie, 31

France

Notable Clubs: San Jose Earthquakes (148/7)

Estimated Transfer Value: €400,000

Notes: Developed by UA Saint-Sever, GRF Severin, Grab Sourdin, Avranches, and Caen. Played his university football for Newberry (16/4, NCAA II) and Florida International (52/14).

Familiar Faces

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

Squads

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Anchor, Baker, Hawkins, Kossa-Rienzi, Kim, Lopez, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Sailor, Brunell, Dotson, Gomez, Kingston, Cristian, Rusnak, Arriola, De Rosario, Ferreira, Morris, Musovski, Rothrock, Tsukanome.

San Jose from:

Daniel, Crockford, Montali, Ricketts, Marie, Romney, Munie, Jasinski, Roberts, Floriani, Harkes, Vieira, Skahan, Fernandez, Buck, Spivey, Leroux, Rajagopal, Mendoza, Gonzalez, Bouda, Judd, Kikanovic, Adimabua.

Injury List

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Sounders FC -

OUT: Petkovic (knee), Gomez Andrade (hamstring), de la Vega (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none

San Jose -

OUT: Costa (lower body, we’ll say yeast infection), Edwards (lower body, we’ll say varicose veins), Jones (lower body, we’ll say penile curvature), Tsakiris (lower body, we’ll say haemorrhoids), Werner (lower body, we’ll say genital warts).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

No players suspended from either squad.

Fun Fact

According to Sounders FC Communications, Saturday’s draw against San Diego extended the Sounders’ home unbeaten streak to 21 matches (15-6-0).