Rave Green’s last chance at 2024 trophy
Seattle Sounders MLS Cup Playoffs preview
The Seattle Sounders finished the 2024 regular season in fourth place in the Western Conference, good enough for a home playoff game (but not for a Champions League appearance in 2025…)
The MLS Cup playoffs are Seattle’s final opportunity for a trophy in 2024 – the Sounders lost to LAFC in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals, got bounced out by LAFC in the US Open Cup semifinals, and dropped the Cascadia Cup to Portland on Decision Day.
Bracket
With Seattle’s fourth-place finish, they have a 3-game series against the fifth seed team in the West, the Houston Dynamo. Seattle recently took care of business against Houston on September 28, though the Dynamo were without striker Ezequiel Ponce or midfielder Héctor Herrera.
The series will begin with a home match on October 28th before going on the road for game 2 on November 3rd. If need be, a third game will be played on November 10th at Lumen Field.
If they win that series, they will play in the conference semifinals against either LAFC or Vancouver, though after LAFC’s 2-1 win in the first matchup of that series (and given LAFC’s standing as the much stronger team and Vancouver’s own 2024 woes), it would likely be LAFC.
Keys to the playoffs
In order to have a chance at a deep run or a cup, the Sounders need to manage the two recurring issues that have dogged them in 2024.
Finishing chances: the Sounders have been bothered by this for the past two years. Despite being fourth overall in the Western Conference, Seattle is tied for ninth in goals scored. The reason for this is inconsistency up top, and this is likely not going to be really “solved” in the playoffs, as the team doesn’t have the firepower to create that consistency. It’s going to be a matter of hot and cold.
Closing out games: Early in the year, Seattle was chronically unable to put teams away when leading – and these demons haven’t been exorcised, if the Decision Day disaster is anything to go by. This issue is downstream from the first issue: when the offense can’t finish consistently, the opponent has more opportunity to find a crack in the defensive shield. The good news is that this is a team with a still-excellent keeper in Stefan Frei who is protected by a strong back four in Nouhou, Yeimar, Ragen, and Alex – but they can’t be expected to be perfect.
In addition, there’s a strong likelihood that Seattle will stare down another of its demons – LAFC.
Not LAFC again
The Sounders’ immediate concern is Houston. Any prep for facing LAFC is irrelevant if the Sounders get knocked out by the Dynamo. But given Seattle’s recent history, the prospect of facing LAFC is not a promising one.
To say LAFC has had Seattle’s number is an understatement: this is a side that has beat the Sounders for the past six straight competitions, and by a combined score of 11-1. To further make matters difficult, if LAFC and the Sounders both make it to the conference semifinals, the game will be played in Los Angeles due to LA’s higher seeding.
Suffice it to say I would prefer it if Vancouver managed to win their next two games and knock LAFC out of this thing. Seattle recently gave the Caps a 3-0 beating in their own stadium, and a Whitecaps-Sounders semifinal would take place in Lumen Field.
Past that
Of course, Minnesota and Colorado are preferable opponents to RSL and LA Galaxy, but conference championship matchups are too far away to spend time examining, given that Seattle probably won’t punch a ticket to the conference finals, all things considered. But it isn’t impossible until the final whistle blows on an elimination loss.
