Commitment and Intensity

Hello all! It's been awhile since my last post and I have a litany of excuses lined up. I could go into details on why I haven't been writing but it's mostly irrelevant. And despite my reasonable and unreasonable reasons for not blogging the truth of the matter is I have struggled with what I want to say about the Sounders and the organization off the pitch. A lot has happened since I wrote last so let's get into it.

Upon returning to MLS play after a disappointing Leagues Cup run, the Sounders lost to Atlanta on August 20th. Over two months later and the Sounders haven't lost since. Four wins and five draws later the Sounders finished second in the Western Conference, comfortably beating first place St Louis on the final day of the regular season. This is really good right? Right. Except a lot of the matches were really dull and fairly boring to watch. The same problems continued, a lack of offense, struggling to adapt or change strategies within games, and an ever changing lineup that somehow always looked the same. The scapegoating of Nico Lodeiro for offensive woes and stripping him of the captaincy made me physically ill. The messaging from the front office has been clumsy at times and I am really concerned about what's in store this offseason. Finally, I found the whole rebrand and conversation around it aggressively bland and uninteresting.

Just in time, THANK PELE ,MARADONA, and the HOLY GOAL for the the PLAYOFFS! The 2-0 win over Dallas was the best overall performance I've seen this year from the Sounders. The Roldan Brothers super smashed their way through the Dallas defense and lead the team with an intensity I have sorely missed. JP and Atencio were so strong as a midfield pairing both defensively and going forward. Nouhou was a man on a mission and showed the haters he can deliver in the final third. Yeimar and Regan are the best centerback pair in the league and played a smart, physical game.

Overall it was a really good performance and another shutout for Frei and the continually underrated defense. Did they ride their luck at times? Yes, Ferreira probably should have scored, but he didn't, and Seattle were generally the better team on the day. The much maligned (online at least) LEGENDS Nico Lodeiro and Ruidiaz both came on as substitutes and looked sharp and brought a much needed boost to the second half proceedings. It was great to see the support from the crowd when they entered the game. Those two deserve a ton of respect for their time in Seattle and their ability to still contribute meaningful minutes despite injuries and other issues.

I am excited to watch the Sounders again! The performance wasn't perfect and I think this team has much more to offer, but a playoff push is the perfect time to start showing what this team is really made of. I hope to see the same passion and intensity in the second leg in Dallas. Regardless of results, I will always love watching a team put in a committed, passionate and hard-working performance and if the Sounders keep it up we are headed deep into the playoffs.

For our regularly readers, thanks for sticking with us and being patient. Here's to some delicious Playoff Special Teriyaki for the rest of the year!