Sounders vs. Aalborg BK, recap: Everybody gets a goal

The Seattle Sounders continued their preseason preparations with a game of three 45-minute “halves” against Danish first tier side Aalborg BK. The Sounders came out on top with goals in all three “halves” and just about everyone you’d hope to see on the scoresheet involved one way or another.

Despite initially falling behind in the 30th minute, Seattle responded with a goal in the 42nd minute. João Paulo drew a foul deep in Seattle’s half and quickly played it to Danny Leyva who found the run of Jordan Morris in behind the Aalborg back line. Morris squared the ball for Pedro de la Vega, who finished from close range into an empty net.

Albert Rusnák gave the Sounders their first lead shortly after the first intermission after pressing from the front line allowed de la Vega to pick up a loose ball and find Morris, who then played the ball to centrally JP setting up a pass through a gap for Rusnák to put away in the 54th minute.

A lineup change around the 65th minute saw the entire outfield switch, and 12 minutes later the Sounders added another tally to the board. The press once again created the chance, this time with Obed Vargas winning the ball at the top of the box and getting it to Jesús Ferreira, who laid it off for the finish from Snyder Brunell in the 77th minute.

Ferreira added a goal of his own in the 103rd minute when Cristian Roldan intercepted a wayward pass and quickly found him in a pocket of space near the edge of the box. Ferreira took a couple of touches before calmly placing his shot in the far bottom corner to make it 4-1.

A pair of Aalborg goals in the 122nd and 131st stemming from what seemed like initially a defensive miscue from Josh Atencio on the first, and an unsettled defense following a free kick at midfield on the second, made the game 4-3 going into the final minutes.

Obed Vargas was able to provide an insurance goal in the 134th minute after Josh Atencio got his head on a Brunell free kick at the back post, which fell to Vargas who took a touch to get around a pair of defenders before beating the goalkeeper at the nearest with a left-footed shot.

Lineups

First Group (3-4-2-1): Stefan Frei (Andrew Thomas); Yeimar, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; Alex Roldan, João Paulo, Danny Leyva, Paul Arriola; Pedro de la Vega, Albert Rusnák; Jordan Morris.

Second Half (3-4-2-1): Andrew Thomas (Jacob Castro); Josh Atencio, Stuart Hawkins, Jonathan Bell; Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas, Reed Baker-Whiting (Cody Baker); Georgi Minoungou, Snyder Brunell; Jesús Ferreira (Osaze de Rosario).

Highlights

Takeaways

Three-back, back-to-back: The Sounders continued with their work in the 3-4-2-1, again using the formation in both groups. The squad’s centerback group boasts several players who are able to distribute from the back line, carry the ball forward to break lines and disrupt opponents, and step up into midfield — and beyond in some circumstances — to provide a numerical advantage and help win the ball back. The tweak to the team’s shape is bearing fruit in preseason in terms of the press and chance and goal creation, as well, allowing attacking players to pop up in places opponents aren’t expecting, and the three CBs allow some additional cover for the midfielders to take more risks with their runs into the box. There are still growing pains, though, as all three of Aalborg’s goals appeared to come from some degree of miscommunication or misunderstanding of roles from the CBs. So far the good seems to outweigh the bad, and the bad should be mitigated by more familiarity, but we’ll see how the team sees it as preseason continues.

Jesús Ferreira has arrived: If the standout performance from the first preseason match was Pedro de la Vega’s goal and assist — which hopefully presages the kind of season we all expected from the player when he arrived last year — then Jesús Ferreira took that mantle against Aalborg. Having been unable to play in the opening game due to his fitness, Ferreira was the No. 9 with the second group and his experience was on full display beyond his direct goal contributions. He understands his role, and his comfort and understanding of pressing was a key factor on Brunell’s goal as he directed Georgi Minoungou into position to cover an outlet pass from the goal kick. That adjustment forced the pass that allowed Vargas to make a tackle that turned into a pass to the feet of Ferreira, who had taken up a good position as part of that press, and his calm pass to Brunell allowed for a fairly simple finish. His calm and composure on his own goal is exactly what you’d expect from a player with 53 MLS goals to his name.

Prospect watch: The two groups were still definitely “mixed groups” but apart from the double-pivot of Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas, and Ferreira up top, the second group was much heavier on depth players for Seattle. That clearly didn’t cause them much trouble in terms of competing — the first group outscored Aalborg 2-1, while the second group outscored them 3-2 — and it provided an opportunity to see a number of guys fighting for places in the first team together. Once again Snyder Brunell, Stuart Hawkins and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi stood out. Hawkins did well in the middle of a less experienced CB group than the one he was part of in the first group, taking up his spot between Josh Atencio and Jon Bell. KKR had a bit of a different task playing behind/on the same side as Minoungou, compared to providing width for PdlV, but his ability to pinch in and flex his defensive midfield chops along with his motor that allows him to cover the full length of the pitch continues to be an asset. Brunell continued to put in the kind of performance that has consistently drawn attention and praise, but was able to cap it off with a well-taken goal. Nothing is guaranteed, but those three are making strong cases for roles with the first team so far.