Over the last few months, the Seattle Sounders have proven beyond doubt that they are capable of beating very good teams in massive games. They’ve done this when missing some of their best players and playing a brand of soccer that is as entertaining as it is successful. Any honest analyst recognizes that they are among the top contenders to win MLS Cup.
But they are not perfect – not even close.
We were reminded of that on Saturday. Facing the Wooden Spoon-leading and very short-handed LA Galaxy at home, the Sounders jumped out to a very early 1-0 lead, continued to create chances and ultimately got a second goal shortly before halftime.
Under most circumstances, that should have been enough. Seeing out a 2-0 lead at home against a bad team is not a particularly tough ask.
Unfortunately, the Sounders gave up a goal almost immediately after scoring their second, wasted a bunch of good opportunities to add a third, and then conceded a particularly naive goal in the 87th minute to cost themselves two very important points while being forced to settle for a 2-2 tie.
“That’s a terrible, terrible, terrible goal to give up,” a very clearly agitated Brian Schmetzer said in the postgame press conference, also making sure to spread the blame. “The attacking guys weren’t immune from some of my words after the game. They have to make plays.”
What’s particularly frustrating is how this result fits rather neatly into the Sounders’ performance throughout the year, especially in MLS play. If the Sounders’ nearly flawless Leagues Cup run showed us how good they can be, their play in the 10 MLS games since the Club World Cup have reminded us of their fallibility.
"There’s part of me that wants to give some leeway," Schmetzer said, alluding to the Leagues Cup win almost two weeks prior. "It was an emotional victory. They’re on a high, the first game back is always going to be tricky. This was a trap game from the very beginning.
"But I’m not going to sit there and let them get away with some of the sloppy touches, some of the mistakes that we made to not build the possession."
While I don't doubt there's some truth to the "Leagues Cup hangover" theory, I also think it's probably a little convenient. The reality is that the Sounders have played 10 league games since Club World Cup and have gone gone a perfectly respectable 5-1-4. Their 1.9 points per game is fourth best and their 25 goals scored lead MLS over that period.
But there's an undeniable sense that they've left points on the table.
In three of those ties, the Sounders have led in the second half. In two of them, they held multi-goal leads at home and in the other they scored the apparent game-winner in second-half stoppage time only to allow an even later equalizer. Combined with the late equalizer they allowed to Charlotte FC in the opener – another home game – and those eight points are the difference between sitting third in the West with a viable shot at the Supporters' Shield and sitting fourth in the West, but just three points up on seventh-place Austin FC.
In each of those four matches where the Sounders have seemingly had three points all but locked up, there's been a theme, at least in the three home games, of being lulled into a sense that the game was almost too easy. They were dominating possession and creating chances, but couldn't find the dagger goal that would have put the game truly to bed.
The equalizer in this one felt particularly naive as it came off a throw-in, which itself came off a poor pass by goalkeeper Stefan Frei. For some reason, virtually the entire Sounders defense was over-committed to the ball side of the field, leaving them extremely exposed on the weak side. That ended up leaving Alex Roldan on an island when the ball got worked to his side of the field. Roldan surely could have done better on his tackle, and Yeimar could have been a bit quicker to step, but the problem was a defensive posture that looked nothing like what you'd expect from a team protecting a one-goal lead late in a game.
The Sounders have done an impressive job improving an offense that was, at best, middling a year ago into one that is now among the best in MLS. Games are more entertaining and there's ample reason to believe that their current setup is better suited to win big games than the conservative approach they had a year ago.
It's not coming cost-free, though. The Sounders often seem far more focused on finding the next goal than on preventing the next one. If they're to turn this into a truly historic season – no MLS team has won an international trophy the same year they won MLS Cup – they'll need to find an even better balance.
