The Last Cascadia Derby of the Year Ends in a Draw

It was a beautiful day in Seattle, and to cap it all off, the Stefan Frei and the Sounders defense got it done with a 0-0 draw against their Cascadia rivals from the Great White North.

The night sky was clear, Lumen was bumpin’, and the Sounders looked pretty damn good. I can’t ask for much more.

Well, that’s a lie. Getting a win at home would have made it that much better.

I’m going to be honest, I had a whole ass article written up on the Sunday after the match. I thought you guys would have loved! However, because I’m an idiot, I never actually posted it even though I thought I did.

SO, since it’s been well over a week since the Vancouver match, I’m going to just give ya’ll my first thoughts after the game!

Post Match Thoughts

What was up with Jordan Morris?

In the last few matches, we’ve seen Jordan Morris make fantastic runs behind and get in front of his defender with ease. This was especially the case in the LA Galaxy game, where he was starting to look like the Jordan Morris of old. However, against the Whitecaps, it looked like he couldn’t be arsed to make an effort and was constantly one or even two seconds late on his runs. I’m going to chalk this up to being tired since his wife just gave birth to baby Theo, and I’m sure he’s tired from helping, but still. This is not what we want to see as we get closer to the playoffs.

With Raul consistently on the injury list, the last thing we need is the Jordan Morris we’ve seen for most of the season. 

Josh Atencio continues to impress

Everyone in the world knows how big of a fan I am of Josh Atencio. Minus JP, he’s our best midfielder. And don’t get me wrong, I love baby boy Vargas. His potential is limitless, but Atencio brings so much balance to the midfield whenever he’s on the pitch. He looks so calm and composed on the ball, and he makes things look so easy. As big as he is, I’m surprised he can move as well as he does. He is the perfect complement to JP in the Sounders midfield.

His contract is up at the end of the season, and the Sounders NEED to make his resigning a priority. We don’t need another Sam Adeniran situation on our hands.

Nico’s farewell?

This is the last thing I think that any Sounders fan wants to talk about. But after the match, all signs point to this being Nico’s last run with the Sounders. 

For those who hadn't picked up any context clues throughout the year– he's out of contract at the end of the year, and no one seems to be talking about him coming back; he stepped down from captaincy, and the video he did with the club a few months ago seemed very telling.

There were also a few signs during Saturday’s game that hinted at his departure:

The first “subtle” sign from this game came when ECS unveiled a tifo featuring Lodeiro and the words "Eternal Blue, Forever Green."

Instant tears.

The next came when Nico was substituted. Rather than casually acknowledging the crowd, he gave plenty of two-handed waves that felt far more like "goodbye" than "thank you for the ovation."

The last came when Schmetzer was asked about it after the game,

"He’s out of contract. Tonight was an emotional night. But come playoff time, he’s going to be ready, and so will the team."

That doesn't sound like a player that is going to come back, but you know, anything can happen.

Playoff bound baby!

The nightmare is over. The Sounders punched their playoff ticket on Wednesday night thanks to the last-minute winner from Mr. Sounder himself, Cristian Roldan. They would've qualified anyway on Wednesday, given other results around the league, but it is essential they did it themselves. Last season really sucked, you know, missing the playoffs for the first time. Despite our shit form this season, I’ll take a playoff spot any day. 

However, now, it's time to be rational. You have permission to believe that extraordinary things can happen, and in reality, there's no better club in MLS for creating special moments. But the reality is, we have not been good after the first quarter of the season. I’m a lifelong Sounders fan, so while I believe we can do great things in the playoffs, I don’t think we’ll make it past the first round. Until we get our attack firing, there is no reason to believe they’ll make a run for the MLS Cup.

I hope the Sounders can prove me wrong. In fact, I look forward to it. But until we start seeing more cohesion in the final third, I’m going to stay wary as we head into the playoffs.