Tenth Time Was Not The Charm...

Starfire Stadium has fallen. Much like the Krak des Chevaliers in Syria in 1271, the one thought impenetrable fortress has fallen to a much stronger opposition. The Seattle Sounders lost 0-1 to LAFC after a seemingly controversial penalty call in the 83rd minute. Not only is this the fourth time LAFC beat the Sounders this season, but it also marked the third competition that LAFC knocked out the Sounders in the last 12 months. This loss also makes the Sounders winless in 10 against the Black and Gold, with their previous win coming in the playoffs in 2020. 

The Sounders did a solid job keeping LAFC quiet for most of the match. They even looked like the more dangerous side through the first 45 minutes. The Brothers Roldan pretty effectively limited what danger Bouanga was able to create, and despite a shift in possession in favor of LAFC, that possession did not end in any real threat. The most significant chance for either side in the first half fell to Father Time, Kei Kamara, on a volley following a set piece (this looked too familiar). This time, instead of a goal, his rocket met the giant head of Jackson Ragen, who managed to clear the ball on the goal line to preserve the 0-0 scoreline in the 40th minute.

After a solid first half and a relatively poor second half, the Sounders thought they finally had their chance to get theirs over LAFC. Despite the forward line providing nothing all game, the Sounders thought the magic of Starfire could put them through. Starfire always gave them that extra push.

And it nearly did!

That was until THAT call was made.

LAFC substitute Mateusz Bogusz hit a strike that was hurling toward the back of the net. Still, Pedro de la Vega and Alex Roldan perfectly read the shot, stepped up to block, and stopped the young Polish international from scoring! However, a handball was called on Pepo and Roldan, with the ball initially coming off the arm of the young Argentine. Now, referees around the world have given a penalty for much less, so I’m not going to go THAT deep into it, but there are still one or two angles that were not shown on the Apple TV broadcast that could have proven there was enough to give a penalty. Regardless of the angles shown and if both players’ arms were tucked in, there was still a handball in the box, which almost always leads to a penalty.

Very soon after this, it looked like Jordan Morris had finally broken his goal-scoring drought against LAFC, and the magic of Starfire nearly brought the Sounders to extra time. But unfortunately, the Sounders striking talisman was offside. Despite what other people will try to tell you, HE WAS OFFSIDE. It hurts to admit, but he was a solid step offside, and the line on the turf gave us the perfect view. 

After another excruciating six minutes of added time, the ref finally blew his whistle, sending LAFC to the US Open Cup final against Sporting Kansas City.

Tactical Shift

After seeing the starting XI, you’d expect Brian Schmetzer to not only throw out the same players who got dumped on by LAFC twice but also to use the same boring tactics to try and get a result. However, Brian gave us something a little different. He knew that LAFC would struggle with the size of the pitch, and instead of keeping possession and trying to break down the LAFC defense, the Sounders seceded possession and played more quick/direct counters. While it was different and exciting, it was wildly ineffective, as the Sounders only registered one shot on target and did not look like they were playing for the win.

The entire match was incredibly even and entertaining for both fans and neutrals. You could tell from the get-go that both teams wanted this win, and the changes in tactics and midgame adjustments showed that. But LAFC is simply better than the Sounders.

“We dropped our lines a little bit,” Schmetzer said, “tried to be a little bit more direct, just like we said in the game plan. It worked okay — it wasn’t great.”

Jordan can’t play against LAFC

I think it’s evident to the entire world that I’m not the biggest fan of Jordan Morris as a 9. I’ve made my feelings very clear for years, and I don’t need to go down that route again. However, I will admit, since taking over for Raul Ruidiaz back in May, he has gone on a bit of a heater. He scored nine goals in thirteen and added a couple of assists as well. He tends to go on heaters like this but then drop off HARD, so let’s hope his form does not drop.

Despite being in fantastic form, Jordan Morris against LAFC has been virtually useless. The last time he had a single-goal contribution was 2020, when he scored a brace in a 3-1 regular season victory and a goal and assisted in the playoffs that same year. The LAFC defense has him figured out and, on average, has only allowed him to get less than 25 touches a game and one shot since then. I’m not trying to say that Jordan is bad; he’s been great in the second half of this season. But it shows that he is slightly one-dimensional, and once teams figure out how to defend against his speed and strength, the offense will look even more dire than it did the other night.

Another trophyless season

The US Open Cup was realistically the Sounders’ best chance at bringing home ANY silverware and qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions League this season. There is a literal zero chance of fighting for the Supporter’s Shield; if they want the MLS Cup, they will most certainly have to face LAFC again, the best team in MLS history, the Columbus Crew, or Messi and Friends in Miami. As we advance, the best thing for the Sounders is to focus on the last eight games, secure a playoff spot, and get results against their Cascadia Cup rivals. They play the Timbers two more times, once on Saturday and the other on the final day of the regular season. They play the Whitecaps once more in Vancouver on October 2nd.

After the match, Schmetz was asked a ridiculous question if this game represented some level of progress, and a straight-face Brian was very blunt:

“No. No. No progress,” he said. “We haven’t won.”