Postgame Pontifications: Now we’re having fun

SEATTLE — There are a lot of adjectives that can describe the Seattle Sounders during Brian Schmetzer’s tenure in charge. Successful, stout, hard-working, industrious, relatable, reliable. They all work.

One word I’m not sure many would use is “fun.”

Winning is obviously fun, but that’s not so much about process and something that can only really be appreciated after the fact. “Fun” is something that is almost immediate, that can be witnessed in real time.

For the first time in a long time, that’s the word I’d use to describe Saturday’s performance.

It wasn’t just that the Sounders beat St. Louis City 4-1. It’s not just that they got four goals from four different players or even that Nouhou capped it off by roofing a shot inside the near post despite having a wide open net to shoot at. It was more the pure entertainment factor that was present virtually from the moment the match kicked off all the way through the final whistle.

“There was a lot, a lot of attacking quality in the attacking third,” Schmetzer said in his typically understated way. “I actually really enjoyed watching that game.”

The metrics all do a good job of illustrating what Schmetzer meant.

Typically speaking, 20 shots is considered a very good total. If half of those shots come from inside the penalty area, that’s generally a sign of an effective attack. The Sounders squeezed off about 30 — various stat providers have slightly different totals — with 20 of those coming from 18 yards or closer.

They were quality chances, too. The Sounders compiled roughly 4.0 xG — again, various stat providers differ slightly — with more than 3.0 of that coming from open play. St. Louis City, meanwhile, was limited to just about .25 xG from open play. It was the Sounders’ second-highest xG total in a single game and their largest xG margin since 2015, according to American Soccer Analysis’ database that goes back to 2013.

While the numbers are helpful as an illustration, it was the actual game play that was so entertaining.

Facing an opponent who had given up just eight goals all season, had yet to allow more than two in a game and had won their previous meeting this year, the Sounders came out ready to play from the opening whistle.

Led by Cristian Roldan, the Sounders’ counter-press was causing St. Louis all kinds of problems while the attack was able to push numbers forward.

Still, St. Louis scored first when Yeimar Gomez-Andrade took a poor angle on a challenge and gave away a penalty.

But for one of the first times all year, conceding first didn’t seem to faze the Sounders. Just four minutes later, Paul Rothrock drew a penalty that allowed the Sounders to equalize.

They never looked back.

Even if they didn’t have the go-ahead goal to show for it, the Sounders outshot St. Louis City 8-1 from Albert Rusnák’s equalizing penalty until the end of the first half. When Ryan Kent replaced Paul Rothrock in the 57th minute, the pressure and entertainment factor increased significantly and it paid off almost immediately.

Only four minutes after Kent stepped onto the field, he worked a nice 1-2 with Obed Vargas near the top of the penalty area that resulted in the go-ahead goal. A few minutes after that, he dummied a ball near the sideline that contributed to another scoring chance.

Throughout his 30+ minutes on the pitch, Kent brought a swagger that was frankly unlike anyone else the Sounders have had since Clint Dempsey. Confidence just seemed to emanate from him and his teammates could hardly help but play off it.

For all the confidence they showed, the game was still resting on a knife’s edge until Danny Musovski effectively put it away with another well-taken goal (giving him a goal in four straight matches) in the 81st minute. But even then, the Sounders refused to sit on the lead. They continued to press for a fourth and in the process got a goal that gave the performance the exclamation point the match deserved.

Working another nice combination at the top of the box, this time with Cristian Roldan, Kent got the return pass and sort of dummied it to himself to get to the endline. Without seemingly picking up his head, Kent somehow cut it back perfectly through a sea of defenders to find Nouhou unmarked at the top of 6. Nouhou had a wide open goal to shoot out, but roofed it inside the near post.

The crowd erupted as if it could sense they had collectively just witnessed a potentially transcendent moment.

When asked if he actually saw Nouhou, Kent gave a sly smirk and said “of course.”

Much has been made over the past few years about how the atmosphere around Sounders games is not what it used to be. Some of that is off-field stuff. But it’s also true that there have been a lot of brutally efficient results, which aren’t always exciting.

Over the previous two seasons, the Sounders have played 44 matches at Lumen Field. They’ve only lost 10 of those games. But they’ve also only scored three or more goals five times. The Sounders have now played seven games at Lumen Field this season, have gone 4-0-3, and scored three or more goals four times. In league play, the Sounders have 14 goals in five home games. No team in the league is averaging more than their 2.8 goals per home game.

There are valid complaints about the Sounders’ willingness to spend money, the lack of concessions and all sorts of other off-field issues, but playing games like this is probably the best way to bring fans back.

“I think today we did a really good job in terms of harnessing those emotions and being proactive and productive about it,” Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei said. “Sometimes we get labeled as playing a bit stale. Today was the complete opposite and I think it comes down to how we harnessed our emotion, which is phenomenal.

“If we can build on that and repeat that, I think we’ll be a very tough team to play against.”