Saturday night’s Western Conference Final between the Seattle Sounders and the LA Galaxy is a can’t-miss event.
The Galaxy boast the most prolific attack in the Western Conference, while the Sounders have allowed the fewest goals and collected the most shutouts in MLS.
“It's going to be a tough game,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer.
For two consecutive years, the Sounders have been at the top of the table when it comes to been the league’s premier defensive side. After closing out the 2023 regular season with a club record of 14 shutouts, the team came up with 13 this year.
The synergy from back to front has allowed Seattle to stand out defensively amongst the rest of the teams in MLS. The combination of pressure initiated in the offensive half, duels won in the middle and back end of the pitch, and goalkeeping heroics from Stefan Frei has put the Sounders with the least amount of goals against (35) to close out the regular season.
“This year we've had a lot of cohesion, and the squad has stuck together really, really well,” said Frei.
Seattle’s defensive prowess has remained true in this year’s postseaso. The team’s recent semifinal victory over LAFC proved exactly that.
“I think this last game against a potent offense, the little things that leaked through, I was able to take care of, but I think [my teammates] did a phenomenal job in terms of limiting that attack,” said Frei.
The Rave Green finished the 120 minutes with 16 tackles won, 13 interceptions, 6 blocks, 33 clearances and 9 saves from Frei.
Offensive weapons like Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnák are something to take into consideration as the team looks ahead to Saturday, but it will be the team’s defense that will ultimately be the deciding factor in Seattle’s playoff fate.
“If you don't get pressure on Riqui Puig, he's going to tear you apart. If you don't double-team [Gabriel] Pec and [Joseph] Paintsil, they'll tear you apart. So we understand pressure,” said Schmetzer. “And then as far as secondary defending, you know, always having a plus one, defensively, winning second balls, winning duels, all of those things are going to come into play.”
Puig, Pec and Paintsil, along with center forward Dejan Joveljic, shared a total of 14 goals and seven assists from their last three playoff matches. Of the Galaxy’s Western Conference leading 68 goals scored during the regular season, the four attackers scored 54 of them.
“Look, we've seen them. We know them. We'll try to be effective in our possession,” said Schmetzer. “If they don't have the ball, they can't score. We'll make sure we try and put them under pressure, because we can't just go back there and bunker. They're too good for that.”
Puig, specifically, is a player who the Sounders need to shut down from the opening whistle. The former Barcelona midfielder is arguably Galaxy’s most dangerous threat given his elite vision on the field to find open spaces and his teammates on the run.
“I think one of the keys is, can you starve service to them, especially when you know that it's quality service through Puig,” said Frei. “If we can really make him uncomfortable, pressure him, not let him find a way into just running the show, then it's going to be already the best thing, because then those other three guys will have to manufacture things themselves.”
The most notable matchups will likely come from Pec and Sounders lock-down defender Nouhou on the wing, Alex Roldan against Paintsil on the other side, Puig and midfielder Obed Vargas in the center of the pitch, and centerbacks Yeimar and Jackson Ragen head-to-head with Joveljic.
It will be an even matchup, especially with the two sides going 1-1-1 across all-competitions this season. Similar to Seattle’s recent win over LAFC, the team will need everyone on the matchday roster to put their best foot forward to solidify a 5th conference title and the opportunity to host an MLS Cup.
“We set a standard for ourselves,” said Schmetzer. “I think it relates a little bit to Stef [Frei] where he's not playing for the MVP, best goalkeeper in the league award, he's playing at his standard, his level…I set my coaching standard, and if I reach that and he reaches his standard, if all the other players reach their personal standards, that gives us the best chance as a collective to go through in games like this.”
