The less said about last Tuesday night’s match, the better. Basically, the Sounders were ushered out of the Concacaf Champions Cup via a 4-1 loss to Cruz Azul due to poor play, individual mistakes, and devastating injuries. While also rueing the opportunities missed in the home leg, in this one Seattle conceded early and looked sluggish for much of the game, before giving up a devastating penalty. In response, a quick Sounders goal injected some needed energy, and as late as the 85th minute, the Sounders needed only a single goal to advance. They did create a number of opportunities that would have forced Cruz Azul to sweat a bit. But not finishing those opportunities, and then two late goals by the home team, and it ended 4-1 Cruz Azul.
CCC form: The injuries to key players were devastating. There is no moral victory that will make any of this feel better.
Goalkeeper
Stefan Frei – 5
Frei’s match wasn’t a good one, although he had a nice 78th minute save that for a few minutes kept Seattle in the hunt for advancement. Still, he and the defense conceded four and never looked close to putting pressure on the Mexican team. That 78th minute save was the only one credited. Stefan wasn’t an asset in possession as the Sounders consistently struggled to find breathing room. His lack of finesse passing was exposed.
CCC form: Frei gave up five goals in three CCC matches. Other than a few quality saves, he wasn’t great.
Defense
Nouhou – 6 (off 79’ for Minoungou)
Nouhou was fine in this match, doing his job. He tried to dribble out of trouble in the 22nd minute and lost possession, but made up for that with excellent recovery in the 36th minute, preventing an easy shot with great hustle after a terrible Cristian Roldan backpass. He wasn’t culpable on the first goal against and was in good defensive position when Paul Rothrock committed the silly penalty foul, then he was subbed off before the late capitulation. On a night when everyone struggled in a variety of ways, Nouhou was just kind of there, with no exceptional effort or remarkable play.
CCC form: Nouhou played well against the few transition moments, and was excellent in his individual matchups throughout the tournament.
Jackson Ragen – 5
Ragen, when not caught unaware by insane backpasses, was strong in the middle and did his best to create out of the back. Unfortunately, he didn’t complete many of those passes, with a low (for him) 80 percent completion rate. His 10 defensive actions included winning all of his duels, which helped keep Seattle in striking distance for much of the match. He had a back-post header in the 3rd minute that could have changed the entire match. On the multiple goals late in the match, he did what he needed to do defensively and was let down by others around him.
CCC form: Ragen’s distribution is key to Sounders success offensively, but it has been slow to show up as part of the lock down defense we expect.
Yeimar – 6
When the back group concedes four goals, it’s hard to grade anyone above average, but Yeimar was better than those around him from a defensive-only perspective. He continually fended off advances from Cruz Azul and supported others, especially a leaky midfield. He didn’t cover himself in glory on the first home team goal, steadfastly marking space where no opponents were, and his passing accuracy remains an adventure.
CCC form: Yeimar started badly, but has been steady ever since, looking like the quality defender he’s been for years.
Midfield
Paul Arriola – 5 (off injured 46’ for Rothrock)
Arriola had a similar match to his teammates in that it was good in some ways and a complete struggle in others. Early in the game, he had little success in attacking the Cruz Azul wing, repeatedly losing possession. He did have a crucial 45th minute sliding block on the back post that momentarily denied the home team a further lead. In first half extra time, Paul stepped wrong and suffered a brutal injury that will threaten his entire season.
CCC form: Paul started great in this tournament, scoring in the first five minutes, but then was just okay. Nothing about this tournament was worth losing him to an injury in that fashion.
Cristian Roldan – 4
This was a terrible outing from Cristian, about as poor a performance as he’s ever had. The most blatant struggle was his lack of control in the middle. Instead of the usual tight possession and connected passes, Roldan couldn’t handle the ball, which dominoed into poor back passes. These put enormous pressure on the defense in the 5th minute, and twice in the 36th minute, which were especially frustrating since he didn’t learn from his previous touch. After moving to left back late in the match, he scored the Sounders’ third own goal this season, essentially ending the match. Moments later a clearly exhausted Cristian nearly fell over on defense as Cruz Azul scored a fourth through him. Usually a consistently high performer in the tournament, this was a rough ending, and should have been over much earlier due to a rash challenge.
CCC form: Even having a poor night, Cristian almost put Jordan Morris through twice, and both were inches away from being game-changing breakaways. C-Rold had been the second-highest performer in CCC prior to this match.
Obed Vargas – 5
Central midfield was a complete sieve for much of the match, and neither Obed nor Cristian impressed with their midfield play. Vargas had a comedy of errors in the 33rd minute while bumbling around. He earned his first yellow in the 50th after yet another turnover was paired with an inglorious hack of the opponent. Obed had seven defensive actions, but none were particularly notable outside of an 18th minute steal that he turned into a free kick. He could have been sent off in the 58th after another bad decision, and only the referee’s leniency kept him on the field.
CCC form: Obed looked much more pedestrian against the Mexican team than the Guatemalan one, as did much of his team.
Alex Roldan – 5 (off 79’ for KKR)
It was hard to remember that Alex Roldan played in this match, and the vaunted overload of the middle with the right back didn’t deter Cruz Azul much, mostly because Seattle was busy passing to the other team. Roldan’s 65 percent passing showed a dreadful inability to connect most anywhere to his teammates. His normally stellar defending was a victim on the first goal, as Cruz Azul drove past him to the end line before crossing back for an open header goal. He was subbed out before the late game concessions.
CCC form: A-Rold was okay in this tournament. He was pulled late for more attacking players, which used to be his strength but has been absent for a while now.
Attacking Midfield
Albert Rusnák – 6
Rusnák was solid in this match, doing what he could with few touches in a midfield that for long periods was completely overwhelmed. This forced Albert to play more defense than he’s comfortable with, and that showed in a few rough moments. His ability to switch the attack gave Seattle some of their few successful first half moments. It was his key free kick service that eventually ended up in the net for Seattle’s lifeline in the second half.
CCC form: Rusnák was a top Sounders performer in this tournament.
Jesús Ferreira – 5 (off 64’ for Leyva)
Jesús started on the wing and displayed some slick control and a few nice passes. When Seattle dominated in the first 10 minutes, much of the play was through Ferreira: a 3rd minute through ball for Morris almost got him in behind, and a 6th minute pass was inspired. At times Jesús looked uninterested in moving at more than a trot, which was at odds with the needs of the match, and especially disappointing was his 58th minute shot. This was a massive (and rare) chance for Seattle to put pressure on Cruz Azul; clever interplay got Jesús a free shot from inside the box on a cutback and he put it into the stands. Getting only 27 total touches was rough.
CCC form: Jesús’ CCC was like his season so far: some great moments, but not enough consistency.
Forward
Jordan Morris – 6 (MOTM) (off injured 66’ for Musovski)
Morris started his 24th game in two weeks, running relentlessly at what seemed to be seven Cruz Azul defenders. He was instrumental in the first ten minutes, almost getting through twice, as Seattle took it to the home team. Jordan was almost released near halftime, constantly poking and prodding and giving the Sounders some moments in a slow-paced match where they lacked constructive possession. A poor holdup in the first 15 minutes luckily didn’t harm the Sounders. However, losing Morris for any significant time due to the injury he suffered in the 65th minute will hurt. Before that, Jordan was running all over the field, but he only touched the ball 15 times.
CCC form: CCC added more minutes, travel, and physical abuse to Morris, and his body paid the price.
Substitutes
Paul Rothrock – 5 (on 46’ for Arriola)
Paul had to replace the other Paul, who was forced off with a brutal injury. Rothrock was all over the place, and his play was mostly slow, uninspiring and low quality. He then had a great play in the 58th minute, setting up Jesús for a massive chance in a brief moment of Seattle hope. This was followed with a completely stupid foul in the 70th minute that gave Cruz Azul a PK and effectively killed the match. Later he had an excellent back-post header on the eventual Danny Musovski goal. Paul was all over the place both good and bad.
CCC form: Rothrock was one of Seattle’s lowest rated players in this tournament as he has been slow to grow into the season, yet he still had some highlight moments.
Danny Leyva – 5 (on 64’ for Ferreira)
Leyva entered to add a bit of energy and forward thrust to the middle of the field and had some impact. He had 14 touches and 11/12 passing, one of the few Sounders who was accurate with the ball. He was consistent and pushed the ball to teammates, opening up the middle, and was instrumental in their forward push for the last 30 minutes. Leyva was a non-factor on defense, and with a porous midfield he shares some of the blame for the late struggles in the middle.
CCC form: Danny showed he is an every-match option, and he looked up for the competition.
Danny Musovski – 6 (on 66’ for Morris)
Likely not scheduled to get on the field until later, Morris’ injury necessitated the entrance of Musovski. He showed exactly what you want from your backup forward, adding vertical runs and a target for crosses, which gave Seattle a new look and focus for attacks. When given an opportunity to change the match, the Moose pounced on a loose ball and brought Seattle right back into the tournament with a late goal.
CCC form: This tournament helped to define what we should expect from Musovski, but also what we shouldn’t.
Kalani Kossa-Rienzi – 4 (on 79’ for A. Roldan)
Newly-signed KKR came into the match with the necessary energy, but it wasn’t focused in the right directions with the needed control. His straightforward desire was evident, but trying to dribble through the midfield in the 84th minute and subsequent catastrophic turnover meant the end of the match for Seattle. Quickness on the ball will be a huge litmus test to see whether he truly deserves the contract he just inked.
CCC form: This was the type of role KKR was supposed to play, and the growing pains are real.
Georgi Minoungou – 5 (on 79’ for Nouhou)
Georgi came in with time to make a difference, and the scoreline was ripe for his attack against tired legs. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for Seattle, as Georgi had only seven touches, failed to complete forward passes or create on the dribble, and was a nonfactor. To his credit, he was wide open in the 84th minute and instead Kalani dribbled to the other team.
CCC form: The hype train for Minoungou is ready to go, but struggling to move down the tracks.
Referee
Oshane Nation – 5
The referee’s foul calls were consistent but rare, and well handled. He stopped the play immediately for an early Ragen head injury and in other injury moments. There were missed opportunities for calls, but generally the referee wasn’t the main story for large portions of this match. The lack of fouls called did lead to a messy match. With 13 total fouls called (only five on Seattle) it would have been harsh to send off multiple players. However, both Cristian Roldan (reckless endangerment) and Obed Vargas (clear second yellow card) were both red cards that I would hope to see enforced when my opponents make them.
CCC form: Concacaf refereeing: Except for that first match in Guatemala, it generally leaves no one happy at the end of matches.
Upcoming: MLS play minus hurt players. Time to see how that depth plays.
