With the most tumultuous summer in Seattle Sounders history now in the rearview mirror, we can better appreciate some of the silver linings. Perhaps the most notable of them is the sudden emergence of Sebastian Gomez.
The homegrown midfielder bagged his first MLS goal against Sporting KC, a tidy finish to equalize six minutes after being introduced off the bench to awaken a sluggish Sounders attack through 45 minutes.
That’s been the theme over the past few weeks for Seattle. When Seba comes off the bench, he seems to inject energy, and the Sounders immediately look more goal-dangerous.
Even Brian Schmetzer has freely admitted that this kind of breakout was not necessarily expected of the 20-year-old, who is among a growing crop whose first connection to the club came through the Academy Futures Program, which he began . He is also the first Sounders’ player to matriculate from Seattle Celtic.
“At the beginning of the year he was kinda there, and he was a nice kid, and he was okay… But he’s really skyrocketed.” -Brian Schmetzer
When Gomez made his Sounders debut back on May 16 against the LA Galaxy as a 76th-minute sub, it wasn’t to much fanfare. It was his ninth time making the Sounders 18 in MLS play, and even then he only got his debut because the Sounders were awarded a 6th substitution after Danny Musovski left on concussion protocol.
Gomez had a chance to score in the 10 minutes after coming on, but floated the first shot of his MLS career wide. Sounder At Heart described his debut at the time as “fine, but largely forgettable.”
Gomez’s debut match was also a significant turning point for the Sounders for all the wrong reasons. The 2–0 loss snapped a 22-match unbeaten streak at Lumen field, and began what would eventually become a franchise-worst 13-match MLS winless run. Gomez was there to see the beginning of the stumble, but has also been a necessary piece of Seattle’s recent bounceback.
As that winless run slogged on, Gomez slowly but surely earned his way onto the field with regularity. After starting in 2 of 3 Leagues Cup matches and bagging his first Sounders goal against Queretaro, he became an everyday face in MLS play for the Rave Green.
Gomez has now appeared in 13 of the Sounders’ 14 MLS games since the World Cup break, establishing himself as perhaps Schmetzer’s favorite attacking super-sub. Gomez now has two goals and three assists in 786 minutes across all competitions, good for .57 goal-contributions per 90 minutes.
“Seba has been pushing for playing time not by his words… he’s actually done that by the work he does in training and what you see on the field.” -Brian Schmetzer
When Gomez first broke into the ranks, it wasn’t as the free-wheeling attacking-minded winger he has become during the Sounders' recent stretch of form. His debut came as a replacement in midfield for Snyder Brunell, and he wouldn’t get his first look on the wing until coming on as a first-half sub for an injured Jesús Ferreira during a 2–0 loss to Vancouver on August 16th.
Gomez started the year with Seattle as more of a midfielder, training primarily in the No. 10 position. Although he’s made a name for himself on the wing, the transition was not seamless.
In fact, his first shift on the wing against Vancouver was a disaster, as he only totalled 20 touches in 54 minutes, went 1/11 on duels, was dispossessed four times, and dribbled past twice. His following match wouldn’t be much better, as he made his first start on the left wing, but was subbed off at halftime as Seattle dropped their 8th straight match 1-0 at Austin FC.
But then something shifted, starting with an admirable 89-minute shift in a 1–1 draw against Cincinnati to end the losing streak. He followed that up with a pair of solid second-half substitute appearances against Red Bull New York and the LA Galaxy before truly finding his stride in Colorado.
Off the bench against the Rapids, Gomez looked confident, dangerous, and composed. He picked up his first MLS assist on Dejan Joveljić’s late strike as Seattle mounted a momentum-turning two-goal comeback to steal a point.
Since that match, Gomez has become must-see TV, and the results have followed. He’s collected two primary assists, a secondary assist and a goal over the last four matches, all of these as a second-half sub, as the Sounders have collected 10 of a possible 12 points. He also leads the Sounders with 1.4 successful dribbles per 90, and his 6.5 touches in the opposition box put him in the 86th percentile for the entire league.
In addition to his ability to take players off the dribble, his vision and willingness to involve the established cast of attackers around him have set him apart. Jordan Morris, who assisted Gomez’s first MLS goal against Kansas City, had high praise for the teenager post-match.
“He’s so tidy on the ball, so quick in his ability to break teams down off the dribble," Morris said. "He makes such smart decisions on the ball for such a young kid…He’s very mature for a (20-year-old) on the field… he’s a big part of this team.”
Gomez has begun to fill a role which has been a necessary part of successful Sounders teams in the 2020’s, the tenacious hard-running attacking winger that Schmetzer springs on heavy-legged defenders in the later stages of a match.
We’ve seen it before in players like Georgi Minoungou and Paul Rothrock, somewhat unheralded prospects making a name for themselves as Sounders super-subs. Gomez seems to be that next X-Factor, and this Sounders team does not go on an eight-match unbeaten run without him.
