Seattle Sounders Offensive Stats In All Competitions

There's a tiny pause in play for the Seattle Sounders. There is the Reserve game on Tuesday, but for the Senior squad, or First Team as the Sounders FC website tracks it they actually have a midweek of just practicing and refining who will start in which competitions for the rest of the packed August.

One thing that should be highlighted is that O'Brian White will be returning to competitive matches very soon. The continuing issue of finding a pairing for Fredy Montero from within will get more complex, and not just because of a transfer window addition. There will be a need for a second pairing as well, since the heat within this schedule will continue with matches at Dallas, at Monterrey Mexico. Players will tire.

Coach Sigi Schmid (with 150 MLS wins) without additional talent will have plenty of choices. None easy, and the statistics don't make it any easier. By Points Per 90 ((2*G+A)/Minutes Played*90) the non-White choices are tight. The differences marginal. Roger Levesque, Nate Jaqua and Mike Fucito are just a few minutes played apart.

Each has differences in style. Different skills that they bring to the table. Throw in White and the still hoped for 3rd DP and the challenge of pairings will not be about output, but chemistry and their tools. The balance of aerial ability, speed, strength on ball, passing skill, spacial awareness and ability to harry the opposition will be as important as the ability to finish. Clearly, most readers of this site have a preference. I'm probably a big reason for that.

Here are the offensive statistics by PP90 for 2011, and then by the past two seasons. Only those outfield players with an assist or goal in MLS, US Open Cup or CONCACAF Champions League play with the time period are listed. They are also listed with a notation for their most typical role played.

When sorted by past two years, only statistics gathered wearing the Sounders crest were noted. For most parts this was due to a lack of league conversion statistics, but in some cases are due because most MLS teams don't track all competitions statistics for their players.