Well That Wasn’t Very Nice

Well, that certainly did not go to plan, did it? The Seattle Sounders continued their away-day adventures, this time in LA to take on an in-form LAFC side that has not lost in its last five matches. The Sounders had a similar streak, but that came to a fiery, screeching halt as they stumbled to a 0-4 loss while recording only three shots on goal, only one of which was actually goal-threatening.

The Sounders play three games over a week, so naturally, there would be some rotation on the side. What we didn’t expect was for EIGHT players to be rotated in and for those eight to perform as poorly as they did.

Things started rough as the Sounders backline did their very best to give LAFC a goal, but despite that, the Sounders had a couple of decent enough chances. Danny Leyva had a few set pieces that could have been put away with better positioning, and Osaze De Rosario got his first shot off as he tried Hugo Lloris from range in the 23rd minute. None of those chances were very threatening, and LAFC punished the Sounders for not putting the ball in the net. In the 26th minute, Cengiz Ünder smashed a recycled corner right into Andrew Thomas, who did a poor job handling the shot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

LAFC got out to a quick start in the second half. Jeremy Ebobisse made it 2-0 within six minutes after Jon Bell couldn’t manage a pretty simple ball over the top. Ebobisse got on the ball and set Bell down in the box before finishing to the far post. It was painfully apparent that LAFC found the Sounders’ weakest link in the defense.

The Sounders started making changes early in the second half, bringing on Danny Musovski and Albert Rusnák to replace Osaze De Rosario and Jesus Ferreira in the 57th minute and Ryan Kent for Pedro De La Vega in the 71st. Still, they did not make any significant impact. The new group managed to add only three shots, none of which were all that challenging for Hugo Lloris.

Denis Bouanga finally got his goal in the 80th minute. Bouanga received a pass on the left, and the ball deflected off a Kim Kee-hee tackle right back to Bouanga, who slotted it home to make it 3-0. Yaw Yeboah gave the dagger one final push in the 86th minute as LAFC continued to crush an already battered Sounders side. Yeboah received a layoff from Olivier Giroud inside the box, cut the ball inside, sent debutante Stuart Hawkins flying, and buried it to finish the game 4-0.

KKR masterclass

It’s been well documented that I’m an Alex Roldan hater. But even I must admit that he’s been fairly decent this year. His attacking output has fallen slightly, but his defensive work has improved significantly. Despite all that, it still feels that there is no one who can challenge him for that RB spot. I thought it would be Cody Baker, but he’s essentially frozen out of the first team now that Kossa Kalani Rienzi has entered the fold.

Admittedly, I didn’t know much about KKR since we don’t cover the Defiance here at Cascadia FC, but the kid is legit. In both LAFC matches, he was the standout and even scored in the first one. Despite receiving a beating on Wednesday, KKR was dominant defensively and blocked a shot early in the second half. For the most part, he kept both Denis Bouanga and Cengiz Ünder in check.

Stats via FotMob

There’s a good chance that if the Sounders can hold on to him in the future, KKR could be the heir, or if he keeps this up, he could even push Alex Roldan out of the starting eleven.

Rotation is good, but not if it kills momentum

Making changes and rotating the starting eleven makes sense considering how many games the Sounders play this week. You don’t want tired legs heading into the first Cascadia Derby of the season. And I’m not upset by that. But what gets me is the fact that all the momentum the Sounders were building leading up to this match came tumbling down faster than when I fell after my ACL surgery.

This Sounders side has incredible depth, but you can afford to play some of the regular starters and some subs in a game like this. Making eight changes was just simply excessive and, honestly, kind of unnecessary. The worst bit was leaving Danny Musovski out of the starting XI. You have a player on a historic scoring run and the most in-form scorer we have, and yet, you opt to start a kid who has only played twelve first-team minutes instead of bringing him off the bench and intentionally kill Musovski’s streak. If the Sounders win in Portland on Saturday, you can’t get too upset with this one. But if we don’t get a result against the rags? Then what was the fucking point?

All focus is on the derby

Based on how the team lined up against LAFC, it’s clear this was meant to be a throwaway game. The focus has always been, and for good reason, on the derby on Saturday. Despite what every national pundit says, this is the greatest rivalry in American soccer history. Hell is Real, what? El Tráfico, WHO?! Nothing compares to the glory and history of the Sounders vs Timbers Cascadia Derby. We’re in for a good one this weekend with both teams vying for a top-three spot in the West behind Cascadian rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps. This will be the 41st meeting in the MLS era between these two and the 123rd dating back to 1975. In their last nine meetings in the previous four years, the Sounders have only won once, and that was last year in a 2-1 win in Portland.

Let’s build a fucking bonfire tomorrow.