On Sunday night, the Seattle Sounders defeated Western Conference rival LAFC 3-1 (again) at CenturyLink Field. With so much action on the pitch, it’s easy to miss some of the building blocks that led to this massive win.
Let’s break it down. Here are five things you may have missed.
Tactical Versatility
Against Portland, Seattle faced a team that likes to sit deep, absorb pressure and hit quickly in transition. The Timbers were no match for the Sounders, with Seattle posting three goals and securing the win. On Sunday, they played an LAFC team that has the opposite identity, as the Black & Gold want to dominate possession and counter-press as soon as they lose the ball. Two diametrically opposed styles in back-to-back weeks with the same outcome for Seattle: three goals and a win.
Two Thumbs Up for Bruin
João Paulo and Jordan Morris will get most of the plaudits for Seattle’s third goal. But that play isn’t possible without the clever play of Will Bruin, who continued his streak of contributing to goals off the bench. Straight off the kickoff, João Paulo intercepted a pass to Jose Cifuentes, pushing the ball to Bruin, who drew the LAFC center back out of position before playing a no-look, flicked pass to JP in space. That deft touch completely unlocked the opponent’s defense, putting the match out of reach just five minutes into the second half.
João Paulo is Unreal
Seattle’s Brazilian midfielder is the type of player that likes to fly under the radar while quietly controlling the shape and tempo of the game on both sides of the ball. Against LAFC, he was critical to clogging the middle, along with Gustav Svensson, and forcing possession out wide. Whenever the visitors tried to get out quickly in transition, he slowed them up with intelligent positioning, denying dangerous spaces and coming up with several crucial interventions.
Schmetzer Wins the Tactical Battle
In the buildup to Sunday’s showdown, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer teased a tactical wrinkle to the team’s buildout play against a team that presses in a 4-3-3 shape. The Sounders steward had the center backs split wide in the box on goal kicks, drawing LAFC's two wingers toward them, with João Paulo stationed centrally right next to Stefan Frei, so that Seattle always had a 4-to-3 numerical advantage in the first phase of buildup. With the Brazilian capable of spraying passes all over the pitch, the Sounders routinely drew LAFC’s front three central, leaving a ton of space behind them, before going long to win the second ball in midfield or taking advantage of the space out wide to play through the press.
Attack is Firing on All Cylinders
This Sounders attack is capable of steamrolling any opponent. The last couple of matches are the attention-grabbing examples, with six goals from two games, but the Sounders have only been shutout once this season, notching 18 goals from 10 matches across all competitions. Additionally, the Rave Green sit third in the league, and first in the Western Conference, for expected goals with 13.17, according to American Soccer Analysis.
