For the first 20 minutes of the Sounders versus Club Necaxa soccer match on Sunday, Seattle looked like world beaters. Walking through the defense for an early goal, and following it up with another brilliant finish from their big-name signing, there were the good vibes of a comfortable win. Instead, the entire match flipped as VAR dubiously removed the second goal and the shell-shocked Sounders reverted to their early-season woes. A familiar mental fragility took over the entire Seattle squad, and they quickly conceded an equalizer, before completely capitulating in the rest of the match, which ended 3-1 to the Mexican team. To add injury to insult, there were a few high-performing players in the match, but some were forced off hurt in an utterly demoralizing and depressing evening.
For these ratings I’ll focus on a rating for each player, brief comments, and what that player needs to show in Leagues Cup to make it worthwhile.
Goalkeeper
Andrew Thomas – 4
Thomas continues to get play in tournaments but didn’t cover himself in glory in this one. He missed a potentially savable ball in the 24th minute, and he was caught looking uncertain and flat footed right before halftime on the second. The third would have been more savable had he continued to pursue the shooter, but instead he inexplicably stopped and then tried to start again, passively conceding a third goal.
Show: That he can pick up the team when they struggle and be an assertive keeper, not the struggling guy he’s been lately.
Defense
Reed Baker-Whiting – 4 (off 62’ for Nouhou)
Reed continues to struggle with defensive structure, and the positioning and angles he takes leave a lot to be desired. Statistically, he usually racks up physical actions (not this match; he was credited with a single defensive action), but it’s off ball movement that he must improve on. Multiple times in this match he set himself up for difficult plays by not moving without the ball into advantageous areas. This mental ability to position himself off the ball will limit the need to rely on his physical advantages.
Show: Tangible results somewhere on the field.
Jackson Ragen – 5
Ragen returned to the starting role on the left defense and wasn’t a factor. That isn’t much of a compliment as the defense shipped three goals against and completely faltered in the final 70 minutes of the match. Jackson notably squandered a great 72nd minute corner kick header that might have given Seattle some purchase in a match that they had little control over for the entire second half.
Show: That he’s consistently better than Jon Bell, and can work with the less structured left side defense.
Yeimar – 5
Yeimar in the back was more of an adventure than usual, and that is concerning. Time and again, Necaxa put pressure on him and he responded by struggling to distribute through their lines. Seattle wasn’t immediately penalized by the opponent, but his passing was at times borderline awful. Some of the passes through Necaxa or weakly to teammates looked overly confident, and although his defense was very good, Yeimar’s distribution as the momentum changed was worrying.
Show: The connection he used to have with Alex on the right.
Alex Roldan – 6 (off 62’ for Chú)
When Seattle looked good, Alex was combining with his brother, fueling a right-sided offensive push that led to the first goal and domination from Seattle. When the team started to fade, he became just another guy. Still, this was a much improved performance for Roldan combining forward, as he was continually able to move and support the erratic angles of a rotating attacking three, and the more standard positioning from Rothrock in the second half.
Show: More glimpses of his old form and contributions, regaining that killer addition, especially in the offensive end.
Defensive Midfield
Danny Leyva – 4 (off 46’ for João Paulo)
Offensively, Leyva had some great ideas, pushing the ball forward and facilitating much of the quick forward play that led to two early goals for Seattle. As soon as it wasn’t one-way traffic, Danny was asked to defend a central area with Obed Vargas that they were ill-equipped to handle. Missing tackles, taking bad angles, extremely poor positioning, terrible passing: it was a sad mix of midfield struggles as Leyva was somehow both a traffic cone and out of position on a number of rough moments.
Show: He has more than just set piece skills at MLS level.
Obed Vargas – 6
Vargas got an opportunity to combine centrally and looked better in spurts, though his consistency remains in question. Early he was released to make dynamic forward runs and this paid off in the 8th minute, as he got on the end of a pretty Cristian Roldan pass in the box and calmly deposited it into the side net for an early lead. After this, however, he struggled to combine defensively with Leyva as the center of the Sounders defense was continually pillaged. The introduction of João Paulo helped, but this just stanched some of the bleeding, with Obed struggling to impact centrally for the last half of the match.
Show: The defensive positioning needed to combine with smart offensive movement.
Attacking Midfield
Pedro de la Vega – 6 (off 33’ for Rothrock)
As Seattle pushed forward and played a free-flowing, attacking brand of soccer, it was PDLV who popped up all over the field to show dynamic play. His movement was great, his cohesion with teammates was improved, and when he had an open look on goal he put a fantastic shot into the net. He did everything you want and looked to be the guy Seattle fans hoped he would be. And then he got hurt. Again. And it was notable how lost the Sounders looked after he subbed off.
Show: Any consistency of health and fitness. Sigh.
Albert Rusnák – 5
Rusnák supposedly played in this match, but that implies that he was on the field, and he was absent for long stretches of the game. In his full 90 he had 55 touches, but outside of some spectacular set piece delivery, he was a non-factor in the match. This was a bleak output from a guy who should run things centrally. When Seattle looked good, he was combining on the side with PDLV, making smart runs and creating space even without the ball. When Seattle was struggling, Albert was invisible. Had teammates done better with some of his dead ball passes, it could have changed the entire match, but leadership from his position was severely lacking.
Show: DP-level control of matches.
Cristian Roldan – 6 (MOTM)
Cristian got on the right wing and in the first 20 minutes was excellent, finding direct runs down the width, combining, and when the opportunity came, putting Obed directly into a dangerous area to score the early opener. He created two big chances, with Vargas finishing one. As Seattle faded in the first half and nearly all of the second, it was frustrating not to see Cristian show more as captain. The entire team had almost no fight or desire, and missing was Cristian’s own signature intensity.
Show: Leadership on a team desperately needing it.
Forward
Danny Musovski – 5 (off 46’ for Morris)
Musovski had another start and did fairly well, becoming a bit of a victim of the game state and only seeing a half of play. In his time, Danny did some good things. His early connectivity in buildup supported multiple dynamic attacks, and he consistently made impressive runs that created space for others. This didn’t amount to anything, however, as his control to win corners or runs that made space for others didn’t add up to goals, and he wasn’t directly goal dangerous himself, ending with a depressing zero shots.
Show: Any actual score-changing stats.
Substitutes
Paul Rothrock – 4 (on 33’ for PDLV)
Coming in for long relief was Paul Rothrock, and he struggled to have a positive impact on the match. A beautiful outside of the foot curving pass in the 76th was an excellent ball that set Seattle loose on the break, but otherwise he didn’t bring much. He made a number of poor defensive plays and bad passes and had only a single touch inside the Necaxa box. Missing was the offensive cohesion Seattle had seen from Rothrock, and outside of winning a few fouls, Paul was absent in this match.
Show: He can do stuff that isn’t dependent on others around him being great.
João Paulo – 6 (on 46’ for Leyva)
JP came in and was one of the best players for Seattle, correcting some defensive issues that had plagued the team in the last 20 minutes of the first half. He had a massive 87 touches in only a half of play, a surprising number that also indicates how stagnant and defensive Seattle’s possession was in his time on the field. João’s ability to play strong central defense prevented Necaxa from scoring more than they did. Replacing Leyva solidified the middle some, but JP was only able to do so much, and a number of bad crosses meant that he was only effective on the defensive side of the field.
Show: He’s okay from his likely concussion.
Jordan Morris – 5 (on 46’ for Musovski)
Jordan came in and tried to stretch the defense, but found a Necaxa team that had zero need to score and didn’t try overly hard. Instead, they sat back and compacted everything in a manner that flummoxed the impotent Seattle attack. Morris had a few high moments, forcing a foul in the 63rd minute and getting to a good spot in the 88th that forced some defensive play, but he was ultimately a lost and lonely wanderer who roamed around watching JP and the defense pass the ball around. He had a miserable 10 total touches in the half, although he did get two of them in the box.
Show: A tow truck for removing parked buses.
Léo Chú – 5 (on 62’ for A. Roldan)
Chú entered as an offensive player and tried hard, but was similarly stumped by the deep-lying defense that denied him any ability to get out on breakaways. He worked hard, won fouls, and had a beautiful 88th minute cross that nearly found Morris, but was denied by an excellent defensive action. Chú also had a lot of turnovers and loose play, struggling to find teammates, and when he did have a big breakout chance in the 76th his decision making was slow and ultimately wrong, wasting one of the few big opportunities that Seattle created in the second half.
Show: The right decision making. The chances are there.
Nouhou – 6 (on 62’ for RBW)
Nouhou was a surprising sub, as Coach Schmetzer used all of his substitutes early. Nouhou was excellent in his time on the field, defending well and shoring up the shape on the left, releasing teammates up the field to be more offensive, and even getting forward himself into the attack. When there, he made generally terrific decisions. A forward pass in the 65th released Jordan on one of the few breakouts he was afforded. Similarly, Chú got a great opportunity in the 76th, and Nouhou added a good cross in the 84th. He had an unsurprisingly bad shot attempt in the 86th.
Show: More of this and less of the crazy stuff.
Referee
Oshane Nation – 4
A new referee for Seattle, Oshane was part of an oddly refereed match. Necaxa came out and played very physically, bodying the Sounders and racking up fouls. This referee staff was content to let that happen, in fact Nexaca ended up with 20 called fouls and many more not called, with only two cards given. The first card of the match wasn’t given until the 63rd minute for delaying a restart. Seattle has never been good at these types of physical battles, reacting passively to rough play and unable to overcome this nature of refereeing. This was another example of few Sounders stepping up to the physicality of the match and no ability to take advantage of the set pieces afforded by all these fouls. Yes, Seattle would have benefitted from the persistent foul cards that should probably have been given. Yes, they got screwed by a close VAR call that ruined their momentum. No, they didn’t adjust and instead just capitulated, meekly being run off their own field.
Show: He’s not just another CONCACAF-y ref.
Upcoming: LA Galaxy.
Show: We can avoid getting blown out at home by a quality team. As for Leagues Cup, at this point I am torn between “just get us out” and “please, let’s look good.”
