By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Sounders FC wrap up Spain preseason with a pair of draws.

The Sounders wrapped up their three-week preseason training in Marbella, Spain, with a pair of draws Wednesday afternoon. It was a fitting end to a grueling,  experimental, and bonding preseason. The Rave Green will return stateside and host  Lousiville  City FC on Wednesday, February 12th, to close the preseason. Seattle’s 2025 season will officially start on  Wednesday, February 19th, when the team travels to Guatemala to face  Antigua  FC in round one of the Concacaf Champions League.

CREATING SYNERGY

Head coach Brian Schmetzer’s goal going into the preseason was to construct a dynamic and creative offense that would complement the best defense in MLS. Midfielder Paul Arriola and forward  Jesus Ferreira were signed to infuse diversity into the Sounders’ attack, and former midfielder Josh Atencio was moved to center back. In addition, the team re-signed midfielders  Albert Rusnáck and Joao Paulo, as well as center-back and South Korean center-back Kim Kee-hee.                                                  

FRUITFUL PRESEASON

The Sounders finished the Marbella preseason with two wins and two draws. While winning is essential, head coach Brian Schmetzer said before the trip that the goal was to get players fit, understand the new systems of play, and get familiar with each other.  In addition to implementing a creative and dynamic attacking style,  Schmezter and his staff tinkered with playing a back line of three defenders permanently.

GOALS AND  MORE GOALS

It is always tricky when using preseason statistics to predict how the team will fare when the season starts. While it is true, numbers don’t lie. One has to be careful not to make gross generalizations.  The Sounders scored 12 goals and conceded eight goals in their four preseason games. The encouraging sign for Schmetzer and his team was that  Ferreira had two goals: Jordan Morris had a goal and an assist, while Rusnáck,  Paulo, Obed  Vargas, and  Paul Rothrock all recorded a goal. More impressively was the team’s movement from defending to attacking, with several players in the attacking third.                                                                         

SHORE UP DEFENSE

While he was pleased with the 12 goals scored the ever-defensive-minded Schmetzer was midly concerned with the eight goals given up.

“ We’ll just have to make sure we fix the defending mistakes, but it’s a process ,” said Schmetzer I mean, we’re pleased with the last two games they were  very competitive. Our guys came through and, you know, drew late in the first game or in the second half, and then, you know, we could have closed this game out two to one, we could’ve scored three, three one, four one, but that’s  what you gotta do”

The Sounders last two games in Spain were drawn with  a pair of  Swedish sides. In the morning, the  Rave Green drew  3-3 with    Norrköping; in the afternoon, it was a   2-2  draw with Harmaby.

UP NEXT REST RECOVERY

According to Schmetzer, the Sounders’ next step is to rest, recover, and make more tactical preparations for the upcoming season.

“Just trying to push everything together, making sure that we get the physical part right because it’ll take us a while to get over this trip. We’ve worked hard and a little bit of recovery, final tactics, and then the season starts,” said Schmetzer.

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