SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders ran through their final paces at Lumen Field on Friday morning ahead of what could be the final game of the season for them against LAFC on Saturday. Following a 5-1 loss on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend, it would be fair to expect a sour mood around training. Instead, spirits seemed high as players warmed up and ran through drills.
With the season on the line, players and staff deserve some credit for not imploding or turning on each other. After a decision early in the week by head coach Brian Schmetzer and his coaching staff to augment their training plan for the week, players were able to provide feedback – to each other as well as to the coaches – on what they saw as ways to improve, and focus on working together towards getting the win they need this weekend.
“We’re not changing the whole way we operate, we just wanted to add to it,” Schmetzer explained following training. Getting input from the players, “it was another component, trying to think outside of the box, cover all the bases.”
Schmetzer noted that allowing the players to provide input for the game plan and preparation for LAFC gives them ownership and increased buy-in. “It’s not just my expectations that they have to meet. It’s actually their expectations ... and if it’s not going well, I’m going to say, ‘look, you guys, this is what you guys committed to’, and if you’re not doing it well, then the next guy’s going to step on the field and he’s going to do it.”
Cristian Roldan provided a bit of player perspective, saying, “This week we trained harder, we were all about duels and intensity,” noting that part of the failure against Vancouver was the lack of intensity and losing the duels battle. “I think we’re all ready for this game to get started so we can show a good response.”
That increased intensity throughout the week allowed for the seemingly brighter spirits on Friday. “We’ve challenged ourselves,” Roldan said. “We had long meetings and challenged ourselves to prepare well for this game, and I think the response has been good from the top guy to the bottom guy. I think everybody’s pushing, and at the end of the day we’re all pushing in the right direction and in the same direction.”
The task ahead is clear: win, and they have a decent chance of at minimum getting into the play-in game. The Sounders will need a little help elsewhere, as they currently sit in 10th behind the Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers, with whom they’re tied on 43 points, and the LA Galaxy on 44 points. All three of those teams are on the road, and if Seattle can claim all 3 points against LAFC and any one of those three teams ahead of them fail to win, the Sounders will have at least another game still to play.
And so the players and staff are focused on what they can control. “We’ve got to focus on our game,” Roldan said. “We’ve got to do everything to defend well against a strong side, and look, LAFC is struggling too. They’re going to want to win this game ... so I think it’s really important to just focus on ourselves, because at the end of the day we’re the ones that got us in this mess and ... the same people that got us in the mess need to get us out."
The plan against LAFC is simple to explain, but a lot harder to execute. “Just don’t concede to a Bouanga-Son transition moment,” Schmetzer described. Having conceded twice early against Vancouver, he emphasized the need to be tight at the back while taking initiative from the opening whistle. He pointed to the need for the Sounders to be “a bit more proactive in trying to score the first goal, taking a few more risks ... when we win the ball back against LAFC, [the] first look has to be forward.”
He indicated that the togetherness of training this week will need to carry into the match, “we’re gonna press ... but as always, when we make the decision to press, all 10 guys have to be on the same page.”
Apart from the game plan and mood around training, Schmetzer also addressed some personnel-related matters to the gathered media. While he didn’t reveal the starting lineup, he did reveal that Alex Roldan had picked up an injury in training and wouldn’t be starting. As a result, it’s likely we’ll see Kalani Kossa-Rienzi starting again at right back with one of Kim Kee-hee, who looked sharp in training, or Stuart Hawkins alongside Jackson Ragen at centerback.
In better news, he also confirmed that Albert Rusnák has been called up to represent Slovakia for their upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against the Faroe Islands on Nov. 13 and Kazakhstan on Nov. 16. This marks the first time in four years that Rusnák has been called up, and he could make his first appearance since June 13, 2022. Schmetzer also indicated that other players had been called up by their national teams, but didn’t share names. Other first team players who have been confirmed to have received a call-up of some sort so far are Snyder Brunell and Sebastian Gomez, who have both been called up by the USMNT U23 team.
