Postgame pontifications: Almost again

Following a pretty abysmal first half performance against Atlanta United, the Seattle Sounders were able to get themselves back in a position to claim what would have been a fantastic win thanks to an emphatic 54th minute goal by Pedro de la Vega and a could-be-winner in the 5th minute of stoppage time from Osaze De Rosario. The second half performance was almost enough to claim the result, but only almost, as that first half performance meant that the margins were thin and the team got caught sleeping on a throw-in allowed Aleksey Miranchuk to drive in an equalizer from range in the 9th minute of stoppage time.

This was the latest in a series of almosts, nearlies, and not-quites. There have been plenty of mitigating and contributing factors – and we’ll get to some of them – but as we stand looking into August the Sounders have come up short against Cruz Azul in the Round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup, started MLS play with a frustrating home draw with Charlotte FC, Tacoma Defiance nearly knocked the Portland Timbers out of the U.S. Open Cup but fell at the final hurdle, and the Sounders put up a good fight in the Club World Cup and played their opponents fairly tight but still couldn’t claim a single result in the tournament.

The run in league play since returning from the CWC has certainly been much more good than bad, but it’s hard to look at their 3-0-3, +4 run in those matches and not think of what could have been. They’ve played without Stefan Frei for the last 4 matches after the goalkeeper took a head injury from a collision at the end of their 1-1 draw with the Columbus Crew; Andrew Thomas has mostly played well, but it’s easy to imagine the team keeping a few of the 9 goals they’ve allowed out of the back of the net with Frei between the posts.

It’s not so much that Thomas has been at fault for an undue number of goals, but Frei’s experience and ability to organize his defense puts the team in a better position to prevent some of the opportunities they’ve given up. Atlanta’s opening goal was a bit of a fluke as Yeimar attempted to block a cross from Emmanuel Latte Lath in the 7th minute, but instead his touch only served to created a diabolical deflection that floated the ball over Thomas. Maybe Frei gets the team a little more settled for that play to avoid the deflection, or he keeps the team more engaged in second half stoppage time and Miranchuk gets picked up earlier, never finding the space to get his shot off to equalize in the 90+9th minute.

There’s not much value in hypotheticals and what-ifs, because what happened really did happen, and it would be a shocking waste of time travel or some other form of chronomancy to go back and change them, but this season has lent itself to a lot of wondering what could have been.

It’s not only been individual plays or games. The team has been hugely hampered by injuries in 2025. Paul Arriola only played 74 MLS minutes and made 6 appearances across all competitions before his knee injury against Cruz Azul landed him on the season ending injury list. Jordan Morris has only been able to play 408 minutes in league play as injuries have kept him off the field for long stretches. He’s been pretty fantastic during those minutes, scoring 4 goals, but it’s another season in which a newly minted Designated Player has struggled to stay healthy. Jackson Ragen and Yeimar have both been limited this season, playing 15 and 17 games respectively, but their absences are made even starker when looking at how little Seattle’s first-choice centerback pairing have been on the field together.

The Sounders have only had both Ragen and Yeimar available from the start of the match for 8 of their 24 MLS games so far this season. Twice in those 8 games one of the two has only been able to play the first 45 minutes, as Ragen came out at halftime in Seattle’s 1-0 road win against FC Dallas on April 12 with an injury that would keep him out for nearly 2 months, and Yeimar only played the first half against the Colorado Rapids on July 16 as he worked back to full fitness. Oddly enough, the team’s league record when both players start isn’t particularly great this season, going 2-1-5, +1, although all 3 of Colorado’s goals came after Yeimar subbed off.

It’s easy to imagine better results from numerous games – especially in the CWC – with a fully healthy team. The host of red cards throughout the season, and general yellow card trouble, have left no breathing room in many fixtures as well. Those aspects weren’t necessarily at play in this match, but some of the knock-on effects may have been such as the continued accumulation of minutes on the clocks of the players who have been available, leaving the Sounders increasingly less able to maintain control of matches as the second half wears on.

There are positives to take from this match, of course; it’s not all doom and gloom. Pedro de la Vega continues to flex the skills that brought him to Seattle in the first place as he’s getting a run not only starting but playing on the left wing, now having scored in consecutive games and logging 2 goals and 1 assist in his last 165 minutes. Osaze De Rosario opened his MLS account, scoring his first club goal since the Open Cup match against the Timbers on May 3. They’re both potentially good signs for the players and the club as the team heads into Leagues Cup action starting with another chance at Cruz Azul on Thursday, July 31.

The Sounders have 10 league games left waiting for them after they finish with Leagues Cup. They sit in 4th place in the West, although on a points-per-game basis they’re just slightly behind LAFC in 5th, as LAFC sit 2 points behind with 2 games in hand, with a decidedly closable gap between them and securing home field advantage at least to start their potential playoff run. If Seattle can get themselves together, find consistency and make a strong run for the home stretch, thee’s plenty of reason to think they could be well positioned to carry that on and put together a real playoff run. But it’s increasingly hard to shake the feeling that this theme of “almost” isn’t going anywhere if they haven’t been able to do anything about it at this point.

Seattle can put “almost” behind them, but they’ve only got a limited amount of time to do so. It’s up to them to clean things up, close games out, and make this last-minute 2-2 draw against an Atlanta team that had nothing but pride to play for simply a bump in the road. It could be a turning point if they want it to be, but they’ve actually got to make the turn.