RENTON — The Seattle Sounders’ “road show” has finally entered its final stages as they departed for Houston on Thursday and won’t get back until they finish up Leg 1 of their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal against Tigres UANL on Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean the challenge ahead is any less than the first six consecutive games that were played away from Lumen Field.
Awaiting the Sounders first is a Houston Dynamo team that has scored three goals in each of its past two games and is looking much more potent offensively behind a revamped front line.
“They signed some pretty good attackers,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said following training. “Their front three are really good.”
The biggest new acquisition is Brazilian Guilherme, who already has four goals and three assists this year. Fellow new signing Mateusz Bogusz hasn’t started quite as fast — he has a goal and an assist — but has repeatedly given the Sounders fits, racking up a 7-2-1 record and scoring three goals.
“They play a good style where they try to play through and get the ball to their dangerous players,” Sounders centerback Jackson Ragen said. “I think it will be good.
“We’ve been playing a lot of teams like that already so it’s nothing new, but it’s another tough opponent where we’ll need to bring our A game.”
Defensive solidity
Key to the Sounders’ strong play during this stretch of games away from Lumen Field has been their defense, which has allowed just three goals in six games and only one over their last five. Although Andrew Thomas gets credit for three of those shutouts, it has been a collective effort with players defending all over the pitch. The Sounders also are tied for the third most blocks, illustrating their willingness to sacrifice their bodies.
“It just shows how hard work has paid off for this group,” Ragen said. “It’s not just the backline, the whole team being a compact block and not giving the backline too much to do has been great.”
Support for Academy
With both the U15s and U16s advancing to the GA Cup semifinals, Schmetzer was happy to hold them up as examples of how the Sounders prioritize winning throughout the organization.
“The winning matters,” he said. “The kids get it down at the academy level, when they come up to the Defiance level, and the first team. It’s already in their DNA and when you come up here, it’s about winning.”
Internationals return
- Snyder Brunell (USA U19s) and Osaze De Rosario (Guyana) were back from international duty and full participants in training.
- Danny Musovski (North Macedonia) and Cristian Roldan (USA) will meet the Sounders in Houston.
