The Seattle Sounders deserve plenty of credit for arresting their slide and turning around their fortunes.
Following a brutal 13-game winless skid, which included a franchise-worst eight straight losses, they ignited their season with a nine-match unbeaten streak highlighted by four consecutive victories, before their momentum was halted by a 1–0 defeat to FC Dallas on Wednesday.
Now firmly back in the playoff picture in a wide-open Western Conference, the focus has shifted from surviving to asking how high they can climb.
While the Sounders haven’t always been flawless or fully convincing in this resurgence, they’ve rediscovered an ability to fight back and swing matches in their favor when facing adversity. During their miserable run, they often looked fragile whenever setbacks arrived, but now they appear far more resilient and capable of grinding out results.
There’s no doubt Brian Schmetzer deserves enormous appreciation for overseeing the turnaround. Faced with a severe injury crisis throughout much of the crusade, the veteran coach has done his best despite being without many of his key difference-makers for extended periods. Injuries to heavy hitters such as Cristian Roldan, Jordan Morris, Jesús Ferreira, Pedro de la Vega, Paul Rothrock, Yeimar Gomez Andrade and Jackson Ragen severely limited Seattle's capacity, while the constant disruption made it difficult to establish any sort of consistency and continuity.
In spite of those challenges, Schmetzer needs to be praised for keeping the group united and ensuring standards didn’t slip. Moreover, his willingness to make bold in-game decisions has proven influential. Whether tweaking things or introducing impactful substitutes, Schmetzer has shown a readiness to act when games require a spark.
Experienced leaders stepping up and setting the tone, in the form of Cristian Roldan, Albert Rusnák, Nouhou, Paul Arriola, and Morris, have been integral in helping drag the team through demanding spells and to turn losses into draws and draws into victories.
The arrivals and returns within the squad have been equally significant, none more than Dejan Joveljić, who has injected some much-needed positivity and firepower into the Rave Green at a time when confidence was at rock bottom.
The Serbian ace has certainly settled impressively into Schmetzer’s base 4–2–3–1, quickly firing home four goals in six appearances, as he’s been a brilliant focal point in attack. His movement, penalty-box prowess, fearlessness, and finishing quality have offered Seattle a dimension they desperately lacked during their poor run.
Joveljić has also provided Seattle with a crucial alternative when opponents look to disrupt their build-up, serving as a reliable reference and target to contest long balls and secure second balls in advanced zones. In addition, his ability to hold up possession, link play, and supply teammates facing forward has been particularly valuable, especially within Seattle's compact attacking structure, where the nominal wingers regularly invert to operate in close proximity to him and Rusnák.
Nearby, Morris has recaptured his form, as the pair have dovetailed superbly and been a real handful for opponents to contain. It’s been a major boost to see Morris using his physicality, intensity, movement, heading class, and pace to terrorize adversaries, in transition and open play sequences, to great effect.
The combination of Morris and Joveljić has created fresh problems for opposing defenses, with their different, complementary profiles and shrewd positional rotations making Seattle considerably more dangerous. Together, they give the Sounders a dependable means of escaping the press, in the air and on the carpet, and generally amplify the Sounders’ offensive forays.
Morris edging infield and acting as a target for long balls out from the back can work well for the Sounders, like here, where he drifts inside, wins the knockdown and then gets the return pass to create a chance. Rusnak's positioning was top in case the 2nd ball fell his way too.
— edwardstratmann.bsky.social (@edwardstratmann.bsky.social) September 7, 2026 at 6:01 PM
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Morris’ influence has been felt in deeper locations as well, like against the LA Galaxy when he frequently dropped into build-up to help manufacture overloads and expose weaknesses in the opposition's defensive shape. This has nicely accompanied his work out wide, surging into depth, between the lines and, most importantly, in tandem with Joveljić.
Rusnák's clever movement and outstanding positional awareness also warrants praise to supplement Joveljić and Morris. A master at finding space, he continually drops deeper to connect passes, drifts into wide areas through slick rotations, and consistently offers teammates an option between the lines. The Slovak's ability to create, dictate tempo, destabilize rearguards, and keep Seattle's attacking play flowing has been pivotal in elevating their threat while providing an extra layer of control and composure in possession.
Another huge positive has been the emergence of Sebastian Gomez, establishing himself as a real force when starting matches or making an impact from the bench, while bringing essential energy and unpredictability. Especially notable has been his capacity to beat trackers in 1v1 situations, which has given Seattle something they don’t possess in abundance elsewhere in the squad, as the livewire's final third quality has definitely added another dimension to their offense.
Adam Race
The continued contribution of other youngsters such as Snyder Brunell and Stuart Hawkins has also breathed new life into the squad, with their adaptability and comfort at the level helping combat the staleness that had crept into Seattle's play during the toughest moment of the campaign.
Dialling in his existing tactics to maximize the strengths of the players has been another important aspect of Schmetzer getting the Sounders rolling. A nice example has been Brunell's and Hassani Dotson's runs in behind and down the channels, which have been instrumental in boosting the Sounders' attacking threat. Their willingness to stretch defenses adds a dangerous dimension and creates additional marking dilemmas for opponents, something they've showcased repeatedly in recent matches.
Another serious weapon in Seattle's arsenal is their intelligent rotations. With forwards, midfielders, and fullbacks all comfortable interchanging, the Sounders can continually alter pictures for defenders to inject variety and deception into their attacks. Their typically narrow attacking structure is particularly well suited to these fluid movements to generate confusion among markers, manipulate defensive shapes, and open exploitable gaps. The build-up to Seattle's second goal against Chicago served as an excellent illustration, as Brunell and Gomez combined seamlessly to disorganize the Fire's defensive coverage before creating the decisive opening.
The crisp rotation between Brunell and Gomez was key ahead of the Sounders’ second goal against Chicago, helping unbalance their opponents and open the free space.
— edwardstratmann.bsky.social (@edwardstratmann.bsky.social) August 31, 2026 at 6:10 PM
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Seattle's compact offensive formation further enhances the success of their setup. By maintaining close connections between players, they place themselves in strong positions to counter-press immediately after losing possession, enabling them to regain the ball high up the pitch to launch attacks and prevent opposition transitions from developing.
Having displayed many smart build-up solutions, such as in the example below where Seattle exploited the Red Bull New York's wingers pressing narrowly onto the centerbacks before accessing the vacated spaces on the flank, there has been much to admire about how they've continued to refine their possession play. Complementing this with some crisp third-man combinations and up-back-through sequences, this has increased their threat to help them bypass pressure and progress the ball efficiently into advanced areas.
The dynamism and heightened output of Seattle's fullbacks has been vital to their resurgence, too. Be it inverting into midfield or bursting forward on overlapping and underlapping runs, they've added another element to the Sounders' attack. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Nouhou's varied movement has not only increased Seattle's impetus in wide areas but also injected unpredictability into their possession play, creating additional decision-making conundrums for opposing defenses.
Quality sequence from Seattle as Nouhou switches play to Gomez, who'd rotated with Kossa-Rienzi and formed a 2v1. That movement allowed Kossa-Rienzi to underlap into the space, receive the ball and fire in a cross that almost exploits the 2v1 at the back post as LA shifted across.
— edwardstratmann.bsky.social (@edwardstratmann.bsky.social) September 15, 2026 at 12:14 PM
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Seattle benefited from Nouhou inverting against RBNY, using his positioning to create overloads and find space between the lines to progress attacks.
— edwardstratmann.bsky.social (@edwardstratmann.bsky.social) September 10, 2026 at 6:34 PM
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Just as important has been the improvement on the defensive end, which has seen the Rave Green only let in three goals in the last five matches. After conceding avoidable goals and suffering costly defensive lapses earlier in the season, Seattle has regained a ton of their defensive solidity. The uptick led by Ragen, in alliance with the reliability of Andrew Thomas in goal and support by Nouhou, Hawkins, and the freshly returned Yeimar, have helped reduce mistakes and provide the platform needed for their recent results.
Comfortable sitting in a mid or deep block to nullify foes, Seattle's pressing structure from their nominal 4-4-2 has borne plenty of fruit. They intelligently angle their pressure to block passing lanes with their cover shadows, restrict access into central areas, and funnel opponents towards the touchline, effectively using it as an extra defender. Their collective shifting has been coherent too, with the far-side winger regularly tucking inside to maintain compactness and close off potential switches.
There’s still plenty of work to do, and the Sounders know they can’t rest on their laurels if they're to sustain this purple patch. However, considering where they stood only a few weeks ago, their revival has been remarkable.
With key players returning, confidence growing, their tactical framework developing, and the attacking pieces clicking at the perfect time with the playoffs fast approaching, the Sounders have every reason to believe their upward trajectory can continue.
