There once was a team from Seattle
Who took to the road to do battle
They fell on their face
Up in old BC Place
And got herded around like cattle

Another game filled with bad form
And the team has begun to transform
The score was two-zero
With nary a hero
Has us asking, “Is this the new norm?”

We expect that our Sounders will win
This much talent? To not is a sin
Our rankings are falling
The effort’s appalling
Where oh where have the scorers all been?

---

Goalkeeper

Stefan Frei – 5 | Community – 4.6

Our keeper is strong Stefan Frei
Whose rank in the league had been high
He’s had some clean sheets
Which aren’t easy feats
But lately we’ve kissed those goodbye

Defense

Nouhou – 5 | Community – 5.1 (off 46’ for Baker)

Sweet Nouhou returned from malaria
Could not cause his standard hysteria
His play not sublime
He subbed at halftime
And obviously covered less area

Xavier Arreaga – 5 | Community – 4.7

Xavi did make the lineup charts
As the coaches rotated some parts
Defense started breaks
Followed up by mistakes
This was not a strong case for more starts

Yeimar – 6 (MOTM) | Community – 4.6

Yeimar’s typically one of the best
Three games in a week, endurance test
Missed an early header
Attackers weren’t better
He’s somewhat less bad than the rest

Alex Roldan – 4 | Community – 4.1 (off 64’ for Baker-Whiting)

Roldan had just played a great game
Midweek MOTM, star by his name
His defense left holes
That gifted some goals
So subbed out in Vancouver in shame

Defensive Midfield

Josh Atencio – 5 | Community – 4.5 (off 80’ for João Paulo)

Atencio returned to the middle
To link up and show off a little
Earning minutes is tough
This outing was rough
His consistency remains a riddle

Albert Rusnák – 6 | Community – 4.9

Midfielder Rusnák was ready for more
His job: create a strong Sounders core
This Albatross snack
Didn’t connect front to back
So Whitecaps did dominate and score

Attacking Midfield

Léo Chú – 5 | Community – 4.4 (off 46’ for Teves)

There once was a Chú active and fit
But not in this game, not a bit
He has a new kid
But performance has slid
Must be better or be forced to sit

Nico Lodeiro – 5 | Community – 4.6

Poor Nico had tried to discuss
The reasons his team’s looking sus
He captained this mess
They failed this test
Sounders never disembarked the bus

Jordan Morris – 5 | Community – 4.7 (off 64’ for Heber)

Once Morris had played like “The Man”
But on right only chokes out Roldan
Rarely seeing the ball
Did he play at all?
The whole team looked like there was no plan

Forward

Fredy Montero – 5 | Community – 5.0

Fredy knows this Cascadia stage
But was playing on another page
His impact was naught
With only one shot
He’s part of a team showing age

Substitutes

Cody Baker – 6 | Community – 5.6 (MOTM) (on 46’ for Nouhou)

New guy Baker subbed on at the break
Right away found a shot he could take
His energy shone
He defended his zone
But alas no difference could he make

Dylan Teves – 5 | Community – 4.7 (on 46’ for Chu)

Young Teves at halftime subbed in
Made good runs on the right once again
While showing nice touch
Didn’t accomplish much
He struggles to contribute to wins

Reed Baker-Whiting – 5 | Community – 4.8 (on 64’ for Roldan)

RBW has not played a lot
When given a chance, though, he’s fought
His defense was strong
His control was not wrong
As a sub he has found a good spot

Héber – 5 | Community – 4.2 (on 64’ for Morris)

Forward Héber got a chance to come out
Got into good spots; had a near-shout
His shot sadly went wide
His scoring has dried
And the game was never in doubt

João Paulo – 5 | Community – 5.3 (on 80’ for Atencio)

Coming in against Whitecaps so late
Working hard to alter Sounders’ fate
JP opened the space
But his teammates lacked pace
So no chance to change the game state

Referee

Joseph Dickerson - 6 | Community – 5.9

This referee’s job was not too hard
Watching that performance might have scarred
He wasn’t the story
With Sounders playing poorly
But he gave out a sweet delayed card

Vancouver Whitecaps MOTM

Ryan Gauld waltzed off with this award
Frei’s own goal he’ll claim that he scored
A menace throughout
Best on the field, no doubt
Made sure three points went to him and his horde

---

Next up:

That game, each fan likely agrees
Makes us question the team’s expertise
The next game’s at Lumen
And I’m only human
Let me actually cheer for them. Please!