LUMEN FIELD - The Seattle Sounders could not keep their streak of form alive in the midweek matchday in a loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night in the Emerald City ahead of the weekend’s tie with the Portland Timbers. Despite a half-hour cameo from Raúl Ruidíaz and in excess of 2.9 goals worth of xG, Seattle failed to extend their fragile lead atop the Western Conference.
With that game in mind, the 11 men selected by Brian Schmetzer had Saturday’s rivalry matchup heavily in mind - an increasingly rare start for Josh Atencio in addition to the growing influence of Dylan Teves will theoretically provide the Sounders manager with an essentially-full choice squad in three days’ time.
The flair-laden reason for the mountain of xG that the Sounders compiled over the 90 minutes was the continually impressive Léo Chú, who showed himself in the absence of Jordan Morris to be a menace to defend against on the left wing. The Sounders’ U-22 Initiative signing, whose 2023 has proven to be one of rapid development, made chances happen for Seattle when they struggled to do much else in the first half.
Jane Gershovich / Sounders FC Communications
Assessing the Brazilian’s development over his three seasons in Seattle, Schmetzer told media that, “Léo is a good talent…what we have said to him the last two years - work hard, work smart, plenty of repetitions at training - we were actually going to take him off to try and save some legs, because he’s got to start against Portland, but he was effective so we made the decision not to take him out of the game and he almost delivered.”
The lone goal in the match came on a San Jose set piece: a well-delivered ball from Cristian Espinoza was flicked on by Rodrigues into an unmarked Ebobisse, who finished from the doorstep. Schmetzer told media postmatch that, “We didn’t really have time to train (free kicks) as much as I would have liked. We put (Dylan) Teves at the back post, it was a new position for the kid…it was a combination of things, but in our zone - how we set up - that space is always covered.”
Reed Baker-Whiting’s second-half appearance pushed Alex Roldan to the right wing, with the 18-year-old preferred at right back to the El Salvador international. Notably, Roldan picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 19th minute following a foul and dissent, which will see him suspended for Saturday’s match.
Jane Gershovich / Sounders FC Communications
In Schmetzer’s assessment of Baker-Whiting in the postmatch press conference, where he said that, “Reed’s improvement has been noticeable by the coaching staff and by everybody that watches him play; he’s another one that just needs a little more seasoning, a little more experience.” In reference to the Roldan suspension, he added that “...kid’s got a good chance of starting (against Portland).”
Jane Gershovich / Sounders FC Communications
On the other side of the back four, Nouhou returned to oft-thunderous applause from the home fans; a first-half nutmeg drew applause - a rarity throughout. Cody Baker ruled out with a potential concussion, started the prior three matches, but Nouhou will be the assumed first-choice player when at full fitness.
The return of Raúl Ruidíaz, while long-awaited, did not deliver the ice-cold finishing that Sounders fans have become accustomed to. Ruidíaz, returning after nine matches on the sideline with an injury, was on the end of two glorious opportunities in the second half after entering in the 57th minute. One, a first-time volley of a floated cutback from Baker-Whiting, could not be struck cleanly, while Chú found the Peruvian five yards from goal after a fine piece of interplay with Fredy Montero only for the ball to dribble wide of the net again.
Schmetzer acknowledged the struggles, saying that, “Raúl is going to score goals, Héber is going to score goals…sometimes goal scorers are streaky…but these types of games hurt, because we should have got more out of the game.”
In a period where Seattle has struggled to keep their form in the midst of injuries (they haven’t won consecutive league matches since their April 8 win over St. Louis CITY), the upcoming span of matches is vital to the inevitable goal of a playoff return. While they remain first in the Western Conference for the time being, both St. Louis and LAFC have matches in hand ahead of the sprint to the summer break.
Feature photo by Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications
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