RENTON — The Seattle Sounders hit the road for their Decision Day meeting with New York City FC with what may seem like little to play for. The Sounders are locked into a 5th place finish in the West, and no result against NYCFC will change their positioning or who they meet in the first round of the playoffs.
Beyond Seattle’s own positioning, the team will also be working several players on relatively short rest back into the team and rhythm after time away on international duty. Against an NYCFC team that could move up into 4th place and home field advantage with a combination of results that sees them take more points than Charlotte FC, or potentially drop to 7th, playing on a converted baseball field, there’s certainly an argument for another game featuring a rotated lineup in an effort to preserve the team’s legs and keep key players healthy headed into the playoffs. But that doesn’t seem to be the attitude within the club.
“I think this club plays for every game, so we’re gonna go out to New York and play for all 3 points,” explained Jesus Ferreira following training on Tuesday. "We have to go out there and show what we can do.”
Somewhat surprisingly, there’s not much correlation between how the Sounders have finished the regular season and their playoff performances. There’s also not a ton that a single regular season game can change, barring injuries or other detrimental events, and even the four-game stretch to end the regular season starting with the draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps is a pretty small sample to try to judge or predict future outcomes based on. But a good performance this weekend could still prove valuable.
For starters, Seattle are going to have to do some serious work on the road in the playoffs due to their 5th place finish. While the Sounders have been very good at home – their 36 points from 17 home games (10-1-6, +18 GD) is currently the best in the West and could only be topped by Vancouver, who are currently on 34 points with a home game still to play – they’ve been much less impressive on the road. With a road record of 4-8-4, -9 GD and a paltry 16 points out of 16 road games, a road win against a good NYCFC team who need a win would help to show that this team is capable of making a playoff run without the benefit of their home field advantage. In fact, a win on Saturday would be the first road win for the Sounders against a playoff team since they beat FC Dallas – currently in 8th place – 1-0 on April 12.
In addition to taking a positive step regarding their road performances, Seattle’s post-Leagues Cup hangover still looms in the near past. While the team’s run through that tournament showed the heights they’re capable of reaching, the three games that immediately followed demonstrated the other side of the coin with the team’s approach. If everyone isn’t locked in from start to finish, if execution in front of goal on both ends of the field isn’t clean, things can turn ugly. Another good result would help to firmly place those three games behind the team.
Beyond building confidence in the team and the fan base more broadly, there’s also plenty of value to gain from getting some key players rolling and seeing what the club has in players further down the roster.
Most notably, Jordan Morris has been able to work his way back to starting and played 80 minutes against RSL after missing nearly 2 months with a shoulder injury, putting in good performances and making the Sounders more dangerous. But in 260 minutes across 6 appearances he’s only provided a pair of assists, one of which was a secondary assist on Paul Rothrock’s goal against RSL, and hasn’t scored a goal himself yet. While he’s creating chances and opening up space for other players to be more dangerous, the Sounders are going to have a greater chance of making a run in the playoffs if Morris is scoring goals.
At the other end of the pitch, it’s unclear when exactly either of Kim Kee-hee or Yeimar will be able to return to a starting spot. This match against NYCFC could provide an opportunity for Stuart Hawkins to step into a more prominent role. After playing 30 minutes last weekend, if Hawkins can play a strong half at center back, that would be a huge win for him, the Sounders development pipeline, and the team’s ability to bring those more experienced CBs more cautiously.
“It’s getting to that point in the year where you’re going to have to take some risks,” head coach Brian Schmetzer said regarding players managing injuries after training.
But being able to lean on Hawkins for serious minutes in the back could significantly reduce the need to risk rushing someone back.
All together, there is still a lot to play for this weekend, even if positioning isn’t one of them.
International updates
Of the six players who were away for international duty, only Obed Vargas has returned with the others expected back on Wednesday or Thursday.
Nouhou helped Cameroon earn a draw on Monday and ended up playing 180 minutes while away; Georgi Minoungou played 37 minutes while making two appearances off the bench for Burkina Faso; Reed Baker-Whiting played 120 minutes over four matches for the USA U20s; Snyder Brunell was with the USA U19s at a training camp in Spain; and Cristian Roldan is set to play Australia tonight after playing 17 minutes against Ecuador.
Injury updates
- Ryan Kent has resumed limited training and participated in some on-field drills for the first time since suffering his injury in August. “He might not be done this year. He’s actually looked really good,” Schmetzer said, while noting the earliest Kent would return is during the playoffs.
- The Sounders still aren’t quite sure what’s wrong with Kim and are trying to get him seen by a specialist in the hopes to get a better action plan for the “mass” in his calf that has been causing issues.
