Derby Day Disaster

“This is the lowest moment I’ve seen with this team.”

I couldn’t agree more, Brian.

Well, that was a disaster. The Sounders hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps in their first Cascadia Cup match of the season, which went as well as you can expect. With two red cards, two goals, and a half-empty stadium later, the Sounders ended up losing at home to the Whitecaps for the first time since 2016.

From kickoff, the Sounders came out hot and played like a derby match. Both teams had their fair share of chances in the first half, but disaster struck as Jackson Ragen had to be sent off minutes before the break. Initially given as a yellow became a straight ref following a nearly five-minute review for a push and step on Ryan Gauld’s calf. After Seattle went down to ten, Raúl Ruidíaz was subbed off to make room for Xavier Arreaga as Schmetz decided to play for a draw, at home, in a derby. Yeah.

It didn’t take long for the Whitecaps to capitalize as they opened the scoring after a stupid giveaway from Yeimar at the top of the box. Yeimar tried to thread a pass to the midfield but didn’t see Andreas Cubas, so he played the ball right to him. Within seconds, Ryan Gauld put the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0 for the Canadians. In the 71st, Vancouver doubled their lead on yet another error from the Sounders backline. This time, it was Arreaga who got caught attempting to dribble out of pressure from three players but lost the ball to Brian White, who smashed home.

Three minutes later, catastrophe struck yet again when Alex Roldan was shown a straight red card for not even going for the ball and kicking into the back of Ali Ahmed. Seattle had their moments, including some good saves from Frei and a decent look for Josh Atencio, but once the first goal went in, the team seemed to self-implode and showed no signs of returning.

The Seattle Sounders are nearly off to their worst start in club history of this embarrassing loss. If they don’t get at least two more points from the next two matches, it’ll officially be the worst start in the modern MLS era. I wouldn’t doubt if it was the worst since 1974, either.

Yes, it was a red card, just stop

There has been plenty of talk surrounding Jackson Ragen’s red card in the first half on Saturday. I’ll admit, my initial thoughts while sitting in the press box were how harsh it was or the ref and VAR are looking for too much. Now, I understand that I was so wrong. And so is everyone who thinks it wasn’t worthy of a red card. If you go back and rewatch the slowed-down version of the replay, you will see that Gauld’s leg is twisted after getting pushed by Ragen, and Ragen’s momentum carries him over Gauld, and he ends up stomping on his already twisted calf. While it was entirely accidental, that is still considered a hazardous play and could have resulted in a severe injury. Ragen is a big boy, but he’s a professional footballer; he should have controlled his body better in that situation. Should it have taken the ref and VAR nearly four minutes to figure that out? No, not in the slightest. But in the end, they made the correct decision. 

Time to drop underperforming players

I have to commend Brian Schmetzer on his loyalty to HIS guys. He really wants to put them out there and get the best out of them. However, when 60% of the starters are underperforming, his stubbornness gets in the way, and he refuses to drop them from the starting eleven. I’m talking about Alex Roldan, Jordan Morris, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou (maybe), and yes, even Cristian Roldan. All have been average at best this season, and that’s not nearly good enough.

Alex Roldan and Nouhou

Alex Roldan has been having a rough season leading up to that idiotic red card and has no reason to start over Cody Baker. Nouhou has taken a lot of flak, but he’s still our best option at LB until we sign a new one. But the young Baker can easily slot in if need be. Baker has shown he’s ready to be a starter, but Brian won’t drop his guys.

Jordan Morris

I’ve said what I’ve needed to say about Jordan Morris in the past couple of seasons, and it’s time for Leo Chu to take that spot. Leo Chu is more dynamic, much quicker, and willing to take on a player one-on-one than Jordan ever will be.

Jackson Ragen

Red card aside, I have never gotten the hype around Jackson Ragen. His incredible passing range sets him apart, but he’s rough around the edges when it comes to defending. The Sounders kept Arreaga and signed two other center backs not to play them? It’s time Nathan or Arreaga get their shot.

Cristian Roldan

For years, Cristian has been one of the most influential players on this team. Whenever he was out, the Sounders were in shambles. This has not been his season. He has looked like a shadow of himself and is only good for a few good crosses in a game. He’s lucky that Pedro de la Vega is injured again cause I’m sure he won’t see the field as a starter once the kid is healthy.

Taking off your striker is idiotic

Making tactical shifts after losing a center back to a red card is totally understandable. What I don’t understand is taking off your striker, pushing someone who clearly can’t play that position, and expecting something to happen. You do not take off your striker when it’s barely the 43rd minute and still 0-0 in a derby. I don't know how many times I have to say this: Jordan Morris is not a striker. I get that he’s Schmetz’s favorite player, but Morris has done fuck-all this season. In the post-match presser, Schmetz said that his reasoning for taking off Raul was that he thought that Jordan had more pace to get in behind, maybe. You take off the one player scoring goals because of a maybe? That mindset just blows my mind and shows that the manager's tactical prowess just isn’t there anymore.

Coffee and Football

Despite sitting in an extra hour of traffic and riding on a scooter in the wind and rain, I still made it to a new coffee shop just a block from Pike Place Market! Before the match, I made the trek to Baxter & Frost, a new spot that just opened in February! They specialize in pastries and other delectables, but they just recently started brewing coffee! I did not know that going into it, so I’m going to feel bad for saying what I’m about to say…

The coffee was not that great. It tasted like something I could make at home. They had the standard flavors: vanilla, caramel, salted caramel, mocha, and hazelnut. They also only had one alternative milk and whole milk. I think they will improve as they start incorporating signature flavors and adding other milks. However, despite having only okay coffee, they had incredible pastries. They had a wide assortment of in-house-made pastries and other little treats. I had a cinnamon roll, which was easily one of the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had. It had incredible flavor and was caramelized at the bottom to give it an added texture that made it much better.

This is the place to go if you’re a pastry and sweets person. Once their coffee situation is sorted, it might become one of my favorite spots in Seattle.

Photo Credit: Leroy Freeman