By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Sounders looking for playmakers to snap three game league winless streak

The Sounders will enter Saturday Night’s match with expansion side  San Diego  FC thirsting for a victory. The Sounders are winless in their last four games, with two draws and two losses. In their last three league matches, the Sounders 0 2-1.  A 4-1 defeat at  Cruz Azul in the  CONCACAF Champions League Cup was followed by a  1-0 loss at St. Louis, which was followed by a goalless draw with the Houston Dynamo at Lumen Field, and the winless streak continued after a 1-1 draw at San Jose last week.

NEED SOMEONE TO STEP UP

In their last three games, the Sounders have allowed just two goals, which is good; the bad is that the team has scored half that number.  The one goal was scored by Albert Rusnák at  San Jose. With the trauma of a failed Champions Cup run and injuries behind them, it is time for the players to step up and make some plays.  Against the San Jose Earthquakes, the Sounders followed a listless first half with a dominant, creative, free-flowing style that produced the Rusnák goal.  More times than not a single goal will not win you many goals in the MLS.  The  Sounders two times the Sounders have scored at least two goals in a game has resulted in a  2-2 draw with Charlotte and a convincing 5-2 win over  LAFC.  The Sounder’s eight goals have them tied for 12th with five other teams. That number 12 is exactly where the Sounders find themselves in the Western Conference.

THE FINAL THIRD

What is missing in the Sounders attack is in the final third.  Against San Jose, halftime sub-Danny Musovski came in and created space for Rusnák, Jesus Ferreira, Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan, and Georgi Minoungou by running behind the Earthquakes defenders.  His courageousness rubbed off on the aforementioned players as the Sounders peppered the Earthquakes from every angle in the goal box. Missing was the final execution by the players. To score in soccer, you have to get in the right place, have a belief that you will score, and have the courage to follow through on that belief.  In the second half against San Jose, the Sounders were in the right place but lacked the belief and courage to score. Yes, the players wanted to score, but lacking was the conviction to score.

QUICK NOTES


Pedro de la Vega will travel with the team to San Diego, which is a positive sign. On the other end of the spectrum is the news that Musoviski is listed as doubtful for the game.

GAME NOTES

• The Rave Green are coming off a 0-0 draw with Houston Dynamo FC on

March 22 at Lumen Field, while the Earthquakes most recently lost 4-1 to

Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium, also on March 22.

• Sounders FC currently sits in 12th place in the Western Conference with five

points. San Jose is in 10th place in the West with six points.

• Seattle has played San Jose 40 times in the regular season and playoffs,

tied with Vancouver fifth-most played opponent since joining the league in

2009. LA Galaxy is Seattle’s most-played opponent with 46 matchups since

2009.

• The Bay Area side won the season series with Seattle in 2024, winning 3-2 in

San Jose on March 23 and drawing 2-2 on September 18 at Lumen Field for a

1-0-1 record.

• Saturday marks first match of the 2025 Heritage Cup, a competition

played between Seattle and San Jose that honors the two teams that kept

their original names dating back to the North American Soccer League.

• Defender Nouhou and midfielder Obed Vargas returned to the team after

being called up to Cameroon and the Mexico U-20s, respectively, during the

March FIFA window.

• Sounders FC midfielder Paul Arriola underwent successful left knee surgery

on March 24 for a torn ACL. He was placed on the Season-Ending Injury List

and will miss the remainder of the 2025 season.

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