Seattle Sounders - Three Approaches on Three

Before we get into it, let me preface this article with a personal note - I’m a mechanical engineer by trade. I enjoy writing, I enjoy soccer and I don’t often have an outlet to do both. This substack will serve as an outlet to allow me to post some thoughts and ideas on games I found particularly interesting, or teams that I happen to like in the moment. I don’t expect anyone to subscribe or even find this - it’s a personal outlet for me, and if others enjoy it then that’s all the better. Without further ado…

Two games down, one to go. Lets get into it.

The Seattle Sounders were able to force a final game in a first-to-two series against Minnesota United late Monday night. In front of a smaller crowd than normal due to a late 7:55pm weeknight kickoff, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer revealed a set of smart tactical changes to put Minnesota on the back foot and cruise to Seattle’s first playoff win of 2025 by a scoreline of 4-2.

Looking towards the end of Game 1, the lineup had one meaningful change - removing Paul Rothrock from the XI in favor of having Danny Musovski next to Jordan Morris. Though the lineup graphic showed a 4-4-2, this was once again a general misconception. The Sounders have been known to list slight variations to their traditional 4-2-3-1, but almost exclusively have still remained in defense, and off-balance 3-4-3/3-5-2 on the ball.

This game was no different, with Jordan Morris tending to be out on the wing in an attempt to gain isolation and force Minnesota’s staunch defense to adjust while freeing up space for Danny Musovski. He occasionally drifted centrally on the same line as Musovski, though he was never truly central - more of a wider center forward staying at the near or far post, but rarely right in front of goal. It was just as effective as in the dying minutes of Game 1, and led to a near-perfect half until a couple of absentminded lapses in judgement let the Loons pick the ball off the foot of a Sounder and nearly drew the game level with two goals in stoppage time. The second half led to a more professional performance - don’t foul, don’t give the ball up in silly spots, and kill the game off. Obed Vargas did the latter in the 86th minute.

Anyway - now that we’ve established how the Sounders were able to overcome Eric Ramsey’s Loons for the first time ever, lets take a look at three approaches Brian Schmetzer and Co may try to win Game 3.

1. Run it Back

Much like in Game 2, this means running with a “2” striker setup, keeping Musovski on the field. It proved incredibly effective across this most recent game and for a bit of the first. With Morris providing devastating pace, Ferreira and Rusnak picking locks, Musovski’s central runs committing defenders away from more skilled players and the double-pivot of Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas winning nearly every duel they got in, the Sounders clearly had a good strategy. Why change if it ain’t broke?

Eric Ramsey’s not a slouch. He’s not going to come into this next game without a plan to neutralize Seattle’s attack. Even within the last game, there were adjustments. Leading into first half stoppage time, Markanich and Triantis were released from defensive duties to help initiate pressure, helping the Loons pour numbers forward and force Seattle into a couple of brain-farts. They’re not known for their open play goals, but they certainly are for hard-hitting set pieces and transition moments, of which they took full advantage of - neither goal taking more than 10 seconds from turnover to grabbing the ball out of the net to run it back to the midfield line. In the second half, he continued to make further adjustments - bringing in talisman Kelvin Yeboah and crossing specialist Julian Gressel to find some verve. Their line of confrontation moved forward from within 25 yards of their own goal to actually meet Seattle in their own midfield with an eye towards salvaging a result. Rolling out the same way could neutralize Seattle and force them into a situation that makes penalties a high possibility - not something they want to risk.

2. Kirkland de la Vega

Alright - that’s not exactly respectful towards Georgi Minoungou, though the crew from Scuffed would tell you it’s a positive term. When’s the last time you had a Kirkland product that wasn’t worth the cost of purchase? Anyway - Georgi Minoungou provides about as close a comp as you can get to what the Master Lock-Picker Supreme - Pedro de la Vega - (who went out with a patella injury in the final game of the regular season) gave the team. When teams bunkered hard against the Sounders, they often looked to their energizer bunny in attack - sidestepping, taking guys on (and winning those duels) and creating danger-generating gravity that sucks in opposing defenders who should’ve been focusing on someone else.

Georgi’s got the sauce for it, and there’s stats to back it up. Here’s a couple really, really important ones; sourced from FBRef.

Successful Take-ons Leading to a Shot: Georgi leads the team in all comps with 10 across the year. de La Vega is second with 8.

Shot Creating Actions Per 90: Leads the team for players with 90+ minutes at 5.71.

Shot Creating Actions: 46 total in about 730 minutes. Tied with Pedro, who has ~1170 minutes this season.

Goal-Creating Actions Per 90: 0.62, only behind other small-ish sample size guys Danny Leyva (0.64) and Ryan Kent (0.83).

Look, all of that should make you feel pretty good about Georgi. He pops off the screen when watching him, he wins over opposing fans when they see him up close. He rarely loses a duel and always looks dangerous, especially since adding some spicy end product this year.

I know - If I heard all this, I’d be asking what the catch is, too. And that answer is two-fold. Adding Georgi means taking another good player off the field - that means no Rothrock, or no Ferreira, or no Musovski. Rothrock is an engine that you wouldn’t want off the field, but there’s arguments for it - mainly in that when he’s tasked with coming in as a sub, his own workrate and speed can be so many levels above anyone else on the field its stifling - just like we saw in Game 2. Ferreira is the connective tissue - if Rusnak isn’t hitting, he certainly is, threading through ball after through ball between the lines and being a valve to ease opposing pressure off when needed. Musovski proved his usefulness on Monday night as a poacher, but he’s certainly the easiest to bench as Morris is simply a better, more rounded soccer player.

The other drawback is that Georgi simply doesn’t start often. That’s no fault of his own - this team has crazy depth on the wings. He often shows signs of dropping off by the 60th or 70th minute. But you know what? That could be ok if the game is managed in such a way where the Sounders’ work is already done by the time he comes off.

3. Back to Basics, with a twist

The Sounders tried the same strategy 3 separate times earlier this year - bending Minnesota to the limit on some occasions, but just couldn’t get them to break to get a win. Even with Pedro de la Vega, the Loons’ staunch defense led by MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair and Defender of the Year Finalist Michael Boxall just didn’t give up enough clear chances for the Sounders to pull one from them. But each time, they were close.

In Game 1 of the series, Seattle only managed to force penalties, where the previously mentioned Dayne St. Clair got into Alex Roldan’s head to save an effort down the middle and bad luck had Danny Leyva and Cristian Roldan miss some oh-so-close efforts for the win. In August, only a cross-turned-shot fluke goal by Joaquin Pereyra got past ‘keeper Stefan Frei. And in the team’s first meeting this year, Seattle managed to blow a 2-0 lead deep in the second half due to individual breakdowns, settling for a draw.

So maybe Game 4 is where the same strategy is enough? Maybe Albert Rusnak or Jesus Ferreira have a moment of magic and generate a chance too golden to miss? Or maybe a minor plot twist like swapping a more offensively adept Reed Baker-Whiting in for Nouhou would be enough to overwhelm Minnesota with pure passing ability on the ball? Or maybe Leagues Cup hero Andrew Thomas gets the nod in the XI, capitalizing with his cat-like reflexes and penalty shootout swagger to combat St. Clair’s edge - though at the expense of Stefan Frei’s in-game calm and superior positioning.

There’s a lot of options. I’m not a betting man, but I do know Brian Schmetzer rides his guys and sticks with what works. Look to see him go with Option 1, and sue me if he doesn’t. We can only wait, and hope to not look like this guy at the end of the series.