https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/seattle-sounders-fc-what-we-learned-in-2024-what-comes-next

Good read this.

I enjoy Matts analysis. I don't agree with all of his takes but there always seems to be solid logic & reasoning behind them. I am largely aligned with his takes here. One key attacker (as in best player on the team level) & upgrades at full back would be my priorities this offseason, along with locking Georgi & Rothrock down for a few years.

The Red Sox had the “Curse of the Bambino” after trading Babe Ruth, and it haunted them for 86 years. Now imagine if the Sounders let go of Raul Ruidíaz—Seattle might end up with the “Curse of the Peruvianito.” Decades without an MLS Cup, haunted by memories of Ruidíaz’s clutch goals. Go ahead, Sounders, roll the dice… but don’t say we didn’t warn you when the trophy case starts gathering dust!

1-0 to the galaxy was heartbreaking but given where we were in May of this season, I think this is a relatively successful year. I agree with Brian in that we should be striving for cups, but given the age of our squad, lack of investment, and lack of turnover, I think the club (Especially Brian) deserve a lot of credit.

Now to the hard off season, and yet another season of changes needed. Here is the roster as it stands and what I project will happen. Please feel free to call me stupid or disagree below.

Goalkeepers:

Stefan Frei (c) – GK - $600,000

Andrew Thomas – GK – $150,000

Jacob Castro – GK - $89,716

This group feels pretty locked in.

I could see the changing of the guard happening next season with Andy T taking on full duties, but I fully expect Stef to come out at the start of this year saying this is his last year, given that his contract runs out in 2025.

Castro is here for the vibes.

Defenders:

Nathan – DF - $550,000

Nouhou Tolo – DF - $550,000

Jonathan Bell – DF - $100,444

Alex Roldán – RB – $465,000

Reed Baker-Whiting – M/DF - $100,000

Jackson Ragen – DF - $98,261

Yeimar Gómez Andrade – DF - $750,000

Cody Baker – DF – $89,716

Stuart Hawkins – DF - $71,401

I would love to see Nathan and Jon Bell back (ideally a little trim for Nathan), but I would be okay with one of two.

Yeimar should have his option picked up and Ragen is under contract, which secures the CB’s.

Cody Baker and Stewart Hawkins will be back as young depth/are already under contract.

Nouhou and Alex are also under contract, and I would expect us to pick up RBW’s option as well (unless he is sold).

Not a lot of movement here, not a lot of flexibility.

Midfielders:

João Paulo – MF – $1,400,000

Cristian Roldan – MF – $1,420,000

Josh Atencio – MF – $350,000

Albert Rusnák – MF - $2,150,000

Obed Vargas – MF - $89,716

Danny Leyva – MF - $235,000

Sota Kitahara – MF - $71,401

Now THIS is where things get interesting.

JP is most likely gone

I would be surprised if Danny Leyva is seen as a long-term option (he is under contract).

Sota Kitahara is probably gone.

Vargas is either a superstar or sold for big bucks.

Rusnak is the big question mark. If you give him two years as a DP or three as Max TAM, that would be OK, but I think you absolutely MSUT have an option to backfill for him as a 10 coming in (TAM or better).

Forwards:

Raúl Ruidíaz – F - $2,000,000

Pedro de la Vega – RW - $785,000

Jordan Morris – 9 - $1,683,750

Paul Rothrock – LW – $89,716

Danny Musovski – FW – $359,091

Léo Chú – LW - $550,000

Braudílio Rodrigues – LW – $89,716 

Georgi Minoungou – RW - $89,716

Dylan Teves – FW – $89,716

Yikes. I included wingers in this as well, but this where we all expect the harshest change to come. Rui is out, Leo and Musovski SHOULD be out.

I would expect the emergence of Rothrock and Minoungou (expect both their options to be picked up) to signal the end for Dylan Teves.

Braudilio is a complete unknown given he didn’t play a minute.

Jordan is a 9, and PDLV will never be Nico Lodeiro, stop trying to make that happen.

This is the DP spot, 100%. Backfill for Rui, get cheaper depth than the garbage that Musovski offered, and give the young kids some competition out wide (TAM or better).

If all this happens as I projected, which it won’t, then that would give us almost 4.5 million in salary to work with to fill the holes of 7 players. That is a lot of flexibility, even given the talent within MLS. I am interested to see how things will progress. Please forgive rambling, spelling and grammar errors, and general idiocy.

May be paywalled

"LA Galaxy midfielder Riqui Puig will miss the MLS Cup after he suffered a torn left ACL during their 1-0 Western Conference final victory over the Seattle Sounders, the team announced Sunday.

The Galaxy will host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The club said a date for Puig’s procedure has yet to be determined.

LA said Puig suffered the knee injury during the second half of Saturday’s conference final at Dignity Health Sports Park. Puig continued to play for over 30 minutes with his torn ACL, a stretch that included his match-winning assist in the 85th minute."

I already had a ton of respect for his game and work rate, but wow. Sucks that they'll be without their most consequential player in the final.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5961466/2024/12/01/riqui-puig-injury-mls-cup-galaxy?source=user-shared-article

ETA: not to be crass, I hope Puig has a speedy and complete recovery, but realistically, the competition for a new #10 just got a lot fiercer. sigh...

Edit: added paragraphs

I’ve seen a few posts after the Galaxy game demanding that we have a complete squad overhaul this offseason. Not only is this overly reactionary, but I think it’s also somewhat disrespectful to the players we have now. Despite our loss to the Galaxy, I would argue that we were the better team that game, and it didn’t even feel like all of our players had their best performance. Our defense and midfield are immense; in fact, they’re probably one of the best, if not the best, in the entire league.

Ragen and Yeimar are an elite duo; ‘nuff said. Having defenders on our bench like Bell and Nathan— the latter being a former defender of the year candidate— is a luxury that not many other MLS teams have. In fact, I’m confident that other teams would gladly take those two as their starting center-backs. With that being said, I think it’s fair to say that our defense is not the issue. Our midfield isn’t either. Roldan and Obed (if we can hold onto him) have transformed into an elite midfield pairing this playoffs. Their ability on the ball is as much as you could hope for in a double pivot, and I’m sure that Obed will only continue to grow.

With Joao Paulo aging and visibly deteriorating, it’s unsure if we’ll bring him back in a reduced role. I’d personally love it if we could, but I don’t think it would be the end of the world either. We have Atencio, who I think many forget earned a USMNT call-up at the start of the season and had a breakout year in 2023. Although he struggled to find that form this season— whether it be through injury or form issues— he’s still on the younger side and provides quality off the bench. Further down in the pecking order, I think our midfield looks weaker. It seems like Leyva will never have a future in Seattle, and players like Kitahara are nowhere near ready for serious minutes. If JP does leave, Waibel will need to go shopping for more players.

Personally, I would love to bring in Oliver Sorensen from Midtjylland in Denmark. He’s a young midfielder who has versatility, able to play as a box-to-box midfielder, CDM, and at right wing. He would provide more than depth and could seriously challenge for a starting position in a number of spots. At 22 years old, he stands at six feet tall, and I reckon we could bring him in on a U22 deal for no more than $4 million. Whether Waibel and Co. will be willing to spend that kind of money is probably unlikely, but after watching Sorensen, I believe he would be the perfect fit for our system. With that being said, I’m not too worried about our midfield. While we may need to make some changes, I’d say the foundations of our midfield and defense are set and will only need minor tweaks.

Now, let’s address the topic of discussion that everyone is focusing on: the attack. Straight to the point, some outgoings will be necessary to free up some space. Leo Chu will surely be the first out the door this winter, and I’m guessing we could recoup the fee we paid for him if a team from Brazil comes knocking. As sad as it is, Rui’s time is up. Father Time has been at the doorstep for a while now, and I’d be shocked if we bring him back in any capacity. Other outgoings could involve Teves, Musovski, and maybe even Braudillo. With the expansion draft coming, I doubt we protect any of those players. That leaves us with a smaller attacking pool.

However, I could see even more players leaving. Rusnak is coming off by far his best year in rave green, yet people are still calling for his head. At first, this seems bizarre, but there’s a real argument to be made about his possible departure. Albert often went hot and cold— that fact is undeniable. His influence was never consistent, and he often went missing in big games. Taking up a DP spot, you’d expect more. He seems to have a recurring injury and won’t be in his prime much longer at the age of 30. With Rusnak’s contract expiring, I think whether we renew his contract will be very telling about our front office’s future ambitions. Renewing Rusnak is the cheap and easy option, but looking for a new star attacking midfielder would show ambition. The latter is something that Sounders fans have been calling for a long time.

If we do let Rusnak go, we’ll need a replacement lined up— one that will be a considerable upgrade. There’s one player that might be the perfect fit: Sem Steijn, an attacking midfielder who plays for FC Twente in the Netherlands. Valued at $10 million, Sem is an absolute steal. He’s topping the scoring charts in the Eredivisie this year, tied with a name that many of you may be familiar with: Ricardo Pepi. As an attacking midfielder, Steijn’s attacking output is remarkable. He has 10 goals and 3 assists in 19 games this season, building off of an impressive 19 goals and 3 assists the year prior.

If the Sounders wanted to make a statement signing, Steijn is that exactly. He’s powering an underdog Twente team, matched up against giants such as Ajax and PSV, into 5th place, only 4 points off of Ajax, who are in 2nd. A beast in chances created and goals scored, Steijn has the makings to be an elite MLS player. Oh, and did I forget to mention that he’s only 23 years old? You may be wondering if this transfer is even realistically possible, but I believe it is. He hasn’t garnered much interest from big European teams yet, and we’ve seen young talents ripping it up in smaller European leagues— such as Kevin Denkey— recently turn down offers from top 5 European leagues to come to MLS.

Now, compare what I’ve just told you to Rusnak. Who would you want? I think the answer is clear. However, the big question mark over this is Waibel’s and the owner’s ambitions for the future. As of now, they seem bleak, but signings like Steijn could flip that narrative on its head. Hypothetically, with Raul and Rusnak gone and Steijn in (or another AM DP), we would be left with one more open DP spot. How we want to spend that is up in the air. Realistically, it would be used on a winger or a striker. In my opinion, I would prefer we go out and sign an elite striker and bring in one or two U22/TAM-level winger(s). This would leave us with Pedro, Rothrock, Georgi, and new arrivals.

Keep in mind, someone like Morris can always fill in at wing if needed. Then, we would have Morris and a new DP as our options at striker. A few players I have my eye on for that striker spot include Josh Maja, a 25-year-old Nigerian striker playing for West Brom, who’s having a breakout season in the Championship at the moment. Pacy, clinical, and physical, I think he fits our skill set perfectly. There are plenty of options to pick from, and the players I’ve stated are just some of my favorites.

Realistically, it seems unlikely that our front office will make any huge statement moves. However, I believe that if some money is put into our transfer budget, we could make moves that could transform our team into serious title contenders. All we really need to do is offload some deadwood and reinforce the squad, mainly in the attack.

Let’s begin the rebuild this offseason in earnest. Thank you, Ruidiaz and Rusnak. You don’t have to stop playing, but you can’t stay here. Goodbye Leo Chu. Schmetzer couldn’t figure out how to use you. Good luck.

Welcome back Joao Paulo @$683,750/year, or thank you for your service. Welcome back 24 y/o senior DP you’re officially in the clock. If you don’t produce we sell back to Argentina at a 50% discount. !!!Welcome homegrown, u22 star Obed Vargas (people need to stop saying sell and build around this guy).

Welcome two new senior DP’s and two young DP’s aka our new 10, 9, wing and CDM.

I doubt Craig Waibel‘s ability to build an attack, so the community needs to be vocal. I’m bookmarking fbref and signing up for fubo.tv for Christmas.

This is going to be a wild ride.

You clearly held nothing back against LAG. You gave everything you had. I'm proud to be a Sounders fan and proud of your effort. You made it to the conference finals, which is not a small thing. Thanks for going so hard last night. Morris right up in the danger zone. Minoungou scaring the shit out of LAG. Frei being an absolute wall.

Eternal Blue, Forever Green! Sounders til I die!

Nobody expected us to beat LAFC, let alone get to the Conference Final. This really was a comeback season for us. Lastly, FUCK LA, and I hope New York shits on them and gets their first MLS Cup. Nice season Sounders.

Georgi is the last person who should be apologizing imo.

End of message.

Sounders did AMAZING this season. it was fun! every game had me at the edge of my seat!

sure its dissapointing, and thats okay

but we were here for the run! and we cheered them on still!

great season yall!! we'll get it next year!

Congratulations to your club and supporters on a fantastic season, it was a hard fought conference championship and I wouldn’t have wanted to see any other club across from the Galaxy. Thank you for beating the Clippers of MLS, and I hope we see you guys in the conference championship again next year. May the rivalry live on 💙🤝🏻💚

Ruidiaz and who else?

Sad loss but they did their best tonight!

Sounders lose 0 - 1

If the ref doesn't start calling fouls on LA

Sound on and there's space!

Any free streams to watch the match?:)

#FT: LA Galaxy 1-0 Seattle Sounders FC

Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park

Auto-refreshing reddit comments link

LINE-UPS

LA Galaxy

John McCarthy, Maya Yoshida, Carlos Garcés, John Nelson, Miki Yamane, Edwin Cerrillo, Ricard Puig, Marco Reus (Marky Delgado), Dejan Joveljic (Gastón Brugman), Joseph Paintsil (Diego Fagundez), Gabriel Pec .

Subs: Miguel Berry, Jalen Neal, Eriq Zavaleta, Julian Aude, Novak Micovic, Maruicio Cuevas.

^____________________________

Seattle Sounders FC

Stefan Frei, Jackson Ragen, Nathan Cardoso (Joshua Atencio), Nouhou Tolo, Alex Roldan (Léo Chú ), Albert Rusnák (João Paulo ), Cristian Roldan, Obed Vargas, Jordan Morris, Georgi Minoungou, Pedro de la Vega (Raúl Ruidíaz).

Subs: Daniel Leyva, Jon Bell, Yeimar Gómez, Andy Thomas, Cody Baker.

MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN

45' Substitution, LA Galaxy. Mark Delgado replaces Marco Reus.

55' Pedro de la Vega (Seattle Sounders FC) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

61' Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

70' Substitution, Seattle Sounders FC. João Paulo replaces Albert Rusnák because of an injury.

74' Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders FC) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

82' Substitution, Seattle Sounders FC. Raúl Ruidíaz replaces Pedro de la Vega.

85' Goal! LA Galaxy 1, Seattle Sounders FC 0. Dejan Joveljic (LA Galaxy) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Riqui Puig with a through ball.

88' Substitution, Seattle Sounders FC. Léo Chú replaces Alex Roldan.

88' Substitution, LA Galaxy. Gastón Brugman replaces Dejan Joveljic.

90'+2' Substitution, LA Galaxy. Diego Fagúndez replaces Joseph Paintsil.

90'+5' Substitution, Seattle Sounders FC. Josh Atencio replaces Nathan because of an injury.

90'+6' Jackson Ragen (Seattle Sounders FC) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

^(Don't see a thread for a match you're watching?) ^(Click here) ^(to learn how to request a match thread from this bot.)

Put on NICOOOO!

We’ve been parking at the Coast Guard all season but the walk is getting really hard on the husband. Any idea how much the North Lot pass is for the year? Any difference in price for accessibility parking? (Only thing the website states is that you have to have a placard and to contact your rep for questions). We didn’t win the lottery on reps and I really don’t want to contact them until we have to lol.

Anyone know of any good, dedicated to showing Sounders, but also family friendly establishments in these areas for tonight?