Realio’s Ratings: Holding on

After a lengthy break to deal with illness, I’m finally writing about the Sounders’ underwhelming victory against the Houston Dynamo and will offer a more measured take on the match. In this second leg on the road, the result was the same, a draw, this one 1-1, and a win via penalty kicks, 7-6. Seattle rode an excellent performance from their goalkeeper, forced some big mistakes from the opponent, and made almost none of their own. Starting the match without Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnák, their two most important attackers, this was never going to be a pretty offensive performance, but Seattle persevered, continued to apply physical and mental pressure on the Dynamo, and eventually forced a mistake in the form of another red card for the opponent. Up a man and after some tactical switches, Seattle put overwhelming impetus forward and an unlikely combination earned them a late lead. Unfortunately, they turtled immediately thereafter, gave up an own goal, and were once again forced to rely on their perfect penalty conversion rate thus far in the playoffs, earning them an extra matchday off. 

Measured take: Defense wins championships, and Seattle shows the kind of defense needed to make a long run. The Sounders didn’t look great on offense, but they never looked like they were going to lose this match. 

Goalkeeper

Stefan Frei – 8 (MOTM) | Community – 7.8 (MOTM)

For long stretches of time, Seattle had the better of play and did everything they could to sabotage their own chances of scoring. During the rest of the game, Houston created the biggest opportunities of the match only to run into fantastic play by Frei. In the first half, it was a 41st minute bigfoot save, stretching out to kick away a chance. Even bigger was Stef’s 53rd minute save, a massive game-defining play that saved Seattle from a negative game state and directly led to their resurgence over the next 20 minutes. Making himself as big as possible, he dragged his back foot to deny the attempt back across the goal. Frei did miss an important catch in traffic in the 92nd minute and was slow on the eventual tying goal, but made two huge saves in the shootout, ensuring that a perfect Sounders performance from the spot would push his team through. 

Measured take: Frei doesn’t have to make the big acrobatic plays of other goalies due to the elite defensive work ahead of him that not only prevents many chances, but makes the moments he does need to step up more predictable. So far in the playoffs he’s been at the top of his game, by consistently forcing the opponent to be perfect to beat him. Houston wasn’t. 

Defense

Nouhou – 7 | Community – 7.1

Nouhou had a balanced match, contributing on both sides of the ball and bringing essential play up and down the left side. His passing was nearly perfect, a 98 percent completion rate that meant important possession and limited opportunities for Houston to take advantage of errors. 

The Sounders’ biggest play of the match came in the 87th minute, created by an unlikely pairing of Nouhou and Danny Leyva. With the left back charging through after finding Danny at the edge of the box, a nifty lay off give-and-go earned Nouhou the ball in the area with space. He deftly touched to the open area before dropping a perfect diagonal pass near the spot where Cristian Roldan did the rest. 

Measured take: You can’t expect Nouhou to have another pass that perfect, but you should expect him to be better on the defensive end, especially at winning duels, which he uncharacteristically struggled with against Houston. 

Jackson Ragen – 6 | Community – 7.1

Ragen was a solid defensive presence, stepping up and helping the midfield at times, which was needed due to some gaps in the defense and distribution. Jackson had the second most touches on the team, and a sparkling completion rate, but was pulled out of central position on a number of vital occasions. One such moment came in the 53rd, as Ragen whiffed defensively, necessitating a sneaky Nouhou pull and a Frei kick save to prevent Seattle going down. On the Houston equalizer, Ragen again dove forward and missed, allowing a dangerous attack down the defensive left behind him. As is customary, he was again perfect from the spot. 

Measured take: Ragen was a deserved DPOY finalist, and while there are some moments when his defensive aggressiveness gets exposed, his consistent positioning and distribution is some of the best in the league from the defensive end. 

Yeimar – 6 | Community – 7.2

Yeimar was part of another near-shutout, having the most active and most impressive defensive outing on the back line. He had three clearances, two tackles, and nine won duels, but the biggest stat was his amazing seven headers won as part of a dominant aerial display. It wasn’t all great, as Yeimar was dribbled around a number of times, and he completely missed a runner in behind in the 41st minute which left him flat footed at the top of the box. 

Measured take: Yeimar, not Ragen, was the best defender for Seattle this season, and rightfully won that honor from the team. His consistent play and ability to support allowed other players around him to shine. 

Alex Roldan – 6 | Community – 6.5

Alex had an up-and-down match, starting with a miss in the 5th minute that could have completely altered the match. Much of his defending was high quality, and he combined eight recoveries with some creativity, ending with two key passes. He was in the right place to clear a dangerous moment in the 18th and followed that up with a crucial 27th minute recovery. These important plays in search of a shutout were overshadowed by his complete absence in the 88th minute, starting too wide and doing nothing but watching as his brother recovered to where he should have been. 

Measured take: Alex plays differently depending on the other personnel. He’s become a valuable central possession connector rather than an assist creator on the wing. His calm penalty takes are fantastic. 

Defensive Midfield

João Paulo – 6 | Community – 5.9 (off 63’ for Leyva)

JP got a rare start due to some lineup shuffling and was excellent at what he does: connect passes. With a 92 percent completion rate, he was a central facilitator who added a shot and a key pass in a professional and controlled outing. He was especially effective in moving the ball quicker through the midfield, finding Rothrock multiple times with long, first time switches, showing essential understanding of the need for quicker transition. His defensive work rate was aggressive but did leave some gaps behind, and he clearly showed some fatigue before being subbed out midway through the second half. 

Measured take: Once an integral part of any successful Sounders performance, JP came into this match and showed he can offer consistent play. He lacked the big highlights he might have produced before, but also showed a veteran’s ability to provide consistency and leadership in the middle, which was essential in this road environment. 

Obed Vargas – 6 | Community – 6.3

Obed paired with JP and adjusted his movement to be less central and more wide, allowing Cristian to start defensive pressure from in front of him. This only worked in spurts, as the spacing in the middle got muddled without the creative movement of the missing attackers. One thing lacking was vertical progression, and Obed had only a single successful dribble centrally. He was excellent defensively, covering across the pitch and contributed a wonderful tackle on Héctor Herrera in the 22nd minute. He looked very nervous taking his penalty kick, and it wasn’t great but luckily trickled in and ended up being the game-winner. 

Measured take: Vargas showed a lot of maturity in combination with JP. He understood that his role in the middle meant more physicality and coverage, but he still lacked that little something necessary to be a ball-dominant player regardless of pairing.

Attacking Midfield

Paul Rothrock – 5 | Community – 5.9 (off 72’ for Minoungou)

Rothrock, now a customary starter, brought energy to the match but was unable to crack the stout Houston defense and faded late, being subbed out in the second half. Perhaps things would have been different if his 5th minute cut inside and shot had been on frame, a big chance for Seattle in a game where those opportunities were severely limited. Alas, he missed, and whiffed another big moment in the 56th, failing to trap with a chance to get in on goal. With chances being so rare, Rothrock (and Seattle) have to take advantage and create more big chances.

Measured take: Although he offers some 1-v-1 trickery at times, Paul shines when he’s a vertical threat alongside other attacking pieces. Without those in this match, his opportunities were limited. 

Cristian Roldan – 7 | Community – 7.1

Cristian started out at the central attacking midfielder position and frankly struggled to get involved. His defensive presence was excellent and the pressing he did from the front helped support the center of the park, but it was readily apparent how much the Sounders missed the verticality and movement of Jordan Morris to create space for the center-out attack, which was lacking in this match. Roldan didn’t show the dynamic motion or creativity that Seattle needed from the role, but brought his own brand of control and pressure centrally. He was awesome when moved back after Leyva came in, as the game flipped and Cristian was more effective creating and impacting the match from a deeper position. His ability to read the play and get into good spots without the ball paid off in the 87th minute, as he scored a fantastic first-time shot to give Seattle what should have been a game-winning goal. He put a near-perfect penalty away when called upon in the shootout. 

Measured take: It’s clear that Cristian is a masterful central controlling midfielder who can impact the game from deep due to his range and tenacity, while still popping up in the box to finish clean when the opportunity presents. As a pure attacking option, he is limited. 

Pedro de la Vega – 6 | Community – 5.6 (off 91’ for RBW)

The underlying stats liked a lot of what Pedro did against Houston, but again he was missing the final product. He had three shots, five touches in the Houston area, and an excellent five successful dribbles. As has been his pattern, Pedro was a dynamic vertical player who just can’t seem to connect with players wearing the same jersey, and especially without Seattle’s usual firepower, he was often left on an island. He showed some inspired play late in the first half with a beautiful cross in the 33rd and a “wow” moment of dribbling with a fancy turn two minutes later. When this didn’t add up to success, Pedro started to press at unfortunate times, reverting to dribbling first, which meant better passing options were ignored in the 23rd and 46th minutes. It was great to see him play a full 90, but unfortunate that he was subbed off late, so he didn’t get a chance to take a PK which might have helped his confidence going forward. 

Measured take: After a frankly awful performance in the first playoff match, PDLV received a vote of confidence from coach Schmetzer with another start and rewarded him with a quietly effective, improved outing. Seattle needs more from him if they want to go further. 

Forward

Raúl Ruidíaz – 5 | Community – 4.9

Raúl got a playoff start in Houston and it was about what you would expect had you watched any of the 2024 MLS regular season. He did the same things he’s been doing, which meant few touches, a couple speculative shots, and a fantastic penalty kick. Expectations aside, with only 27 touches, it was obvious that Seattle didn’t have a great way to get Raúl the ball, especially in the box where he only had three touches. He didn’t do himself many favors, failing to hold the ball up effectively in the 48th minute and starting a big Houston chance in the 53rd minute with an awful pass. Seattle didn’t do him any favors, crossing repeatedly to the 4’-2” Peruvian striker, and ultimately it was the defense and midfield that combined to score after Raúl made a run behind three defenders and stood there. 

Measured take: Raúl is not a great forward at this point in his career, but he didn’t harm the team and when given a chance from the spot, he calmly put it home. Salary and history aside, that is an okay result from a backup player. Would we love more? Sure. Did he create for himself and others? Nope. Did he go 90+ and score the big chance he was given? Yeap. 

Substitutes

Danny Leyva – 7 | Community – 6.4 (on 63’ for JP)

Leyva was the offensive catalyst Charlie Caldwell knew the Sounders needed, and after Herrera was shipped for stupidly spitting at the referee, 75 was the number coach Schmetzer called. Leyva responded with a fantastic shift, completely switching the Seattle offense from defunct to defiant. He immediately drew a yellow card with his dribbling in the 63rd minute and did it again in the 79th. Houston suddenly had to deal with a dynamic central attacker who moved all over the field, combined with the wings, and passed vertically to create chances. Leyva finished with two shots and a key pass, a secondary assist on the game-winner, four touches in the Houston box, and cleanly finished one of Seattle’s penalty tries during the shootout. Outside of a poor corner and miss-hit free kick chance, Danny was excellent. 

Measured take: Having a 10 on the field made a huge difference for Seattle’s offense, and Leyva showed he can be a legitimate 10. His vision, movement, and connection brought the Sounders to more success in his time on the field than almost any minute prior, showing a maturity and evolution of his skills that reminds us he's only 21. 

Georgi Minoungou – 6 | Community – 6.3 (on 72’ for Rothrock)

Minoungou came on as a super sub and was all over the place. As usual, he was a dynamic creator, including a beautiful 74th minute run and a 95th minute cross that almost won the game late for Seattle. Those two key passes in a short time were a burst of energy that the Sounders desperately needed. Unfortunately, he again was unable to connect his dangerous play to teammates in goalscoring areas, and an 82nd minute turnover in the box was an example of all his good moves being overshadowed by a mistake at the end. (We call this “doing a PDLV.”) Georgi wasn’t an expected penalty taker but he stepped up confidently and slammed his opportunity home. 

Measured take: Georgi is an incredible 1-v-1 threat and a fantastic change of pace player who currently looks best deployed as a sub who can come in and offer a different look. He needs to get more of his general skills elevated but already has an elite MLS skill. 

Reed Baker-Whiting – 5 | Community – 5.2 (on 91’ for PDLV)

Reed came on late in what may have been a time-wasting sub that also brought on an extra defensive player. In a vacuum, the move seems to have worked: he had a key pass, a won tackle, and completed all his attempts from five total touches. Unfortunately, he also ran into Frei, creating a fumble in the 92nd minute and was chasing the ball aimlessly a minute later when Houston was scoring the equalizer. 

Measured take: Reed is 19 and going through some growing pains this season. Without a set role or position, he gets late minutes but hasn’t shown consistent quality. The moments are there, though, but he needs to take a step forward into more consistent play. 

Referee

Armando Villarreal – 7 | Community – 6.3

Villarreal had a tough, sweaty match to ref and did a quality job of keeping control. While the foul numbers were even, Houston earned four yellow cards to the Sounders one, and deservedly so. He set the tone by ignoring a dive in the box in the first 10 minutes, and from there was pretty good in keeping the play moving. There were a number of fouls behind the play, with JP being hammered once and a ridiculous moment in the 41st when Obed was destroyed after the ball was gone that should have drawn a card. In the 65th minute, Villarreal correctly called Herrera for a card on a bad foul versus Ragen. He then listened to a VAR call which sent Herrera off for spitting at him. He also got the VAR correct in the shootout, with Frei being clearly off his line during a save. 

Measured take: When your team gets the advantage of a red card against the opponent, you tend to think the referee did a good job, but this was a quality performance that displayed some calm refereeing and control of a game, which muted some of the potential playoff intensity after the fracas in the previous match. 

Houston Dynamo MOTM

Griffin Dorsey caused trouble early and late in this one. A dangerous cross in the 18th minute drew one of several saves from Frei. Then, down a man and a goal in the 93rd, it was Dorsey’s cross along the deck into traffic that Cristian unfortunately turned in to send the match to penalties.

Upcoming: At some point the boogeyman is just a man, and a boogey … well, I could be gross and refer to my recent illness, but no. I’ve turned it around – Sounders, why don’t you turn the trend around and just flush them!