With an honorable nod to Bruce Arena's quote about Clint Dempsey, Defiance are in the tries ish phase of their season. Always experimenting with formations and personnel, you'll never see the same lineup twice. Their attacking patterns are all over the place.
What you will see is players who know their only way to make an MLS roster, especially on offense, is showing not just goals – but magic.
Regular readers know about the failures to adapt from strong Defiance player to MLS play. Brau, Sam, Sam, Justin, etc. all struggled. The struggle is to be expected.
Many of the past attacking successes from Defiance are strong one-note songs.
This year Defiance is a bit different. Hard to lock down into Plan A or B, Defiance's fundamental difference from past seasons is an attacking trio unwilling to be contained.
Osaze de Rosario is the leading scorer in the league. His fundamentals are huge. Get into the details in the Jer&Niko weekly special. He's also fun. Dude balls hard. In his last nine matches, all comps/teams, he went scoreless once. He’s scored 13 goals in that stretch. His strengths are finding space, shooting and scoring. He doesn't have the speed of Jordan, but the rest of his profile is similar (to include the lesser left foot).
What's wild about Defiance, a thing that hasn't been as true in previous seasons, is that they're more than O de Ro.
Yu Tsukanome is a 9 or a 10 or a winger. It doesn't matter. He's second in the league for scoring. He's also top 5 in assists (with Peter Kingston ahead of him and Edson Carli just behind, mostly because Carli was playing down for a bit). Yu is 7th for xG+xA and 1st for actual G+A.
Tsukanome can score from angles, tight, and distance. He's a bit more two footed on shots, and is efficient at putting the ball on target with 10 of 17 being on goal. He's also one of the better attackers at defending from the front – in the top 15 for Interrupting G+, he has two Defiance attackers ahead of him.
That's part of why Defiance is fun.
They defend well from the front. O de Ro, Yu, Gomez all defend well. They win that ball deep and then unleash top shooters (Carli and Minoungou join Yu and O de Ro in the top 20 for shooters).
If the Sounders are known for a stout defense that's conservative in possession, Defiance are team willing to give up a goal because they know they're going to score three.
They are rarely wrong.
An MLS team that profiles similar to Defiance may be the Timbers – all attack, no possession.
Get ready for chaos ball in the Open Cup, where the free flying Defiance will be the sharp point ready to fell timber. Because they can't lose in the morale contest.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here's what you missed on the site this week.
Sounders
Next match: Saturday, May 3 vs. St. Louis CITY SC | 7:30 pm PT | MLS Season Pass
- Everything you need to know about Sounders-St. Louis City
- Stefan Frei reflects on 400 games with Sounders
- Realio’s Ratings: Take what you can get
- Is Danny Musovski the real deal?
Reign
Next match: Sunday, May 11 vs. Houston Dash | 5 pm PT | NWSL+ / Fox13+
- Reign shut out Kansas City Current 1-0
- Reign vs. Current: Highlights, stats, quotes
- Select Reign matches to be broadcast on Fox 13+
- Valkyratings: A bit of a mess, but scrappy as heck
Defiance
Next match: Tuesday, May 6 vs Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup | 7 pm PT | Paramount+
Timbers lost three of their last four Open Cup matches, with all of those losses being against MLS sides. They are on a four-match winning streak against lower division teams stretching back to 2013. Tuesday will be their first road match against a lower division side since moving up to MLS.
Defiance have won 9 of their last 10 with five being by multiple goals.
- Key performers in Defiance’s 2-1 win over Ventura County
- Tacoma Defiance selling tickets to U.S. Open Cup match
Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
Help Tom Biro with his Hit-and-Run Recovery. My friend could use your help. You may remember us frequently co-hosting SonarFeed with Erin, Mark, Lee, and others.
NWSL fan groups launch trans support campaign after FA ban (Pro Soccer Wire)
NWSL Weekend Take-Off: NC Courage find their groove, Esther keeps cooking (Pro Soccer Wire)
Press' manager jumps into Angel City's comments to complain about playing time (Pro Soccer Wire)
What “Where Goals Come From” Says about Your Team after MLS 2025 Week 10: Western Conference Edition (American Soccer Analysis)
MLS Data Power Rankings: Week 10 (651)
Sounder at Heart's Jeremiah Oshan joins the pod (Scuffed)
Relevent-USSF settlement: Foreign leagues coming to America? (ESPN)
How Sounders’ Georgi Minoungou exudes joy, even in the face of adversity (Seattle Times)
The stadium myth: new grounds won’t rescue your club – or your city (The Guardian)
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