RENTON — It’s probably at least a little unfair to say that the Seattle Sounders’ ceiling is defined by one player. It would be especially unfair to put that kind of pressure on a 23-year-old who has yet to start two consecutive games or play as many as 65 minutes in a match.
This team is mostly built around a group of proven winners who have come through in big moments throughout their careers; surely their collective whole is greater than one individual.
Still, I can’t shake the feeling that for the Sounders to enter the realm of the elite in MLS – at least this year – they’re going to need someone to lift them. The obvious candidate is Pedro de la Vega.
I call de la Vega the obvious candidate because I think we have plenty of evidence about what this team is without him, or at least without someone like him. The last time the Sounders had someone playing like an elite playmaker was during their Concacaf Champions League title run in 2022, when Nicolás Lodeiro was summoning the version of himself that also carried them to two MLS Cups.
