As the Seattle Sounders head into the meat of one of their toughest weeks of the season, it’s worth taking a minute to consider where this team was about five weeks ago. San Diego FC had just delivered a pretty comprehensive 3-0 beatdown to the Sounders.
That loss left the Sounders 1-3-3, equaling their record at the same point during last year’s disastrous start. Including the humbling 4-1 loss to Cruz Azul that sent them out of Concacaf Champions Cup, the Sounders were also winless in five and seemed to be failing the test of depth that their offseason moves promised to solve.
After the game, Paul Rothrock declared that it was “rock bottom” and said “things have to change, things have to shift, mindsets have to be better.”
The response has been stark.
Since that game, the Sounders have gone 4-0-1 while outscoring their opponents 12-3. They are tied for the most points, best goal-difference and fewest goals allowed in the league during that time and have scored the second most goals as they’ve gone from 12th in the West to fourth, just three points out of second.
The underlying numbers are nearly as flattering, with the Sounders holding a 10.84-5.01 xG advantage and besting their opponents by .90 or better in all four of their wins. By xPoints — a stat that American Soccer Analysis creates based on 1,000 simulations of the shots each team took in a game — the Sounders average 2.0 points per game during this stretch, which is fourth best in MLS.
“There was a lot of times last year that goal-scoring was a challenge,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer. “We didn’t score enough goals. We tried to address those issues. We’re seeing some of the work we did in preseason is starting to show up. I think we’re a better offensive team.”
They’ve been doing all this while not only missing Paul Arriola — who was looking their best offseason acquisition before he tore his ACL about 10 weeks ago — but also without Jackson Ragen and Jordan Morris, arguably their best defensive player and their leading scorer from a year ago.
“It’s obviously a good thing from the team’s perspective to have a lot of quality on the bench,” said Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnák, who now has five goals and three assists after his brace against the Dynamo. “The top teams all have that in common. It wasn’t just about the 11 guys who started. We had a bunch of guys influence it.
“We have a good group of human beings. It seems like whoever starts is doing the job and whoever comes off bench is doing the job.”
Perhaps no player embodies the Sounders’ turnaround more than Danny Musovski. At the start of this stretch, Musovski was struggling to get on the field and not exactly making the most of the time he did get. Although he scored against Cruz Azul in that 4-1 loss, he hadn’t scored in league play in more than a year.
Somewhat through happenstance, Musovski got the start on April 12 against FC Dallas after Morris was a late scratch due to an adductor strain. Musovski scored in that game and has now scored in five straight. A year after scoring just once in league play, Musovski now leads the Sounders with five goals and is averaging .89 non-penalty goals per 90, second in MLS among players with at least 300 minutes.
Musovski’s scoring streak was unforeseen enough that Schmetzer admitted that at one point he had even “written off” the striker. But Musovski has consistently put in the work at training and put the feedback he receives from coaches into action. While the goal-scoring has made it easy to keep him on the field, it’s the other stuff that put him in position to take advantage.
“He’s an example of a player who worked hard and was prepared when the opportunity came,” Schmetzer said. “When a center forward puts himself inside the six good things can happen. … Moose actually went out and has done it. Now he’s been rewarded.”
Musovski’s goal against the Dynamo was a great example. Cristian Roldan played a ball over the top to Paul Rothrock, who got out ahead of the defense. Musovski was Rothrock’s only option and there were four Dynamo defenders in the penalty area. But after first showing a near-post run that drew everyone’s attention, Musovski peeled off to the back post and was left all alone for a header.
“As a striker you have to put in that effort and believe the ball is going to get there,” Musovski said. “I was just hoping the ball would land where I was going. It’s the little things that add up.”
Right now, it’s adding up to quite a lot.
