+/- Ratings: Sounders vs Vancouver

The Sounders picked up their second win of the season to advance to the knockout round of the MLS Is Back Tournament. The win was also Seattle's largest margin of victory since March 2, 2019, in the season opener against Cincinnati. I also thought the Sounders had one of their best two performances of the season, and clearly deserved the result. In the first half, they did well to win the ball in good spots and break quickly against a weak Vancouver side, and apart from a few set piece defense issues (which is becoming a bit of a trend unfortunately), kept Vancouver completely out of the match. In the second half, Seattle nearly made up a 34-66% possession gap as they were content to conserve their energy and wear Vancouver down by keeping the ball in both halves of the pitch, outpossessing Vancouver 62-38%. Due to lack of time on my end, I can't do a full write-up for this game, but I will list all of the numbers and put out a paragraph for a few players who stood out in some way.

If you don't know this system, this is how it works.

#16: Alex Roldan (-3)

In Poss: -3

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 7

Alex Roldan was active in his appearance of the bench, though not always in a good way. Vancouver looked to attack him and he wasn't always up to the task. Ultimately, he did okay defensively, but he wasn't very secure in possession and had some bad turnovers, as well as 2 fouls in dangerous areas.

#15: Josh Atencio (-1)

In Poss: -1

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 1

It's not a bad thing when your subs are your lowest rated players, because it means none of your starters had a nightmare. Atencio actually looked well within his depth, though it was against a Whitecaps side that had mostly given up. He had one bad giveaway, though it was in the opposition half, but otherwise looked calm and secure.

#13(T): Danny Leyva (-1)

In Poss: -2

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: 1

Transition D: 0

Events: 2

#13(T): Shandon Hopeau (-1)

In Poss: 0

Out of Poss: -1

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 1

#12: Stefan Frei (0)

1st Half: 2

2nd Half: -2

In Poss: -1

Out of Poss: 1

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 4

Frei had a great pass to Leerdam in the 25th minute, but also had two shaky moments late in the game. One was a loose touch under pressure in the 82nd minute, another was an underhit pass/clearance in the 84th.

#11: Handwalla Bwana (0)

1st Half: 0

2nd Half: 0

In Poss: -1

Out of Poss: 1

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 8

#10: Jordy Delem (2)

In Poss: 1

Out of Poss: 1

Transition O: 0

Transition D: 0

Events: 2

#9: Cristian Roldan (3)

1st Half: -2

2nd Half: 5

In Poss: 0

Out of Poss: 2

Transition O: -1

Transition D: 2

Events: 16

Roldan had a poor first half rating, largely due to a bad turnover in the 19th minute which put the team in a bad spot. He was very good in the second half, however, only making 2 mistakes and making an impact in all phases of the game, filling in wherever needed. If Svensson has to play CB against LAFC, we're going to need Roldan to pick out similar passes to the ones he found in the second half, and also be able to resist LAFC's press.

#8: Shane O'Neill (4)

1st Half: 1

2nd Half: 3

In Poss: 1

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: -1

Transition D: 4

Events: 8

#7: Gustav Svensson (4)

1st Half: 2

2nd Half: 2

In Poss: -1

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: 1

Transition D: 4

Events: 13

While Svensson wasn't brilliant on the ball, he has, and showed, and excellent ability to recognize where the ball is going to bounce after a 50/50, and to anticipate how the opposition will react to a Seattle turnover. Goose is a nice player who bails the team out of bad defensive spots more than any other field player.

#6: Xavier Arreaga (4)

1st Half: 3

2nd Half: 1

In Poss: 0

Out of Poss: 3

Transition O: 1

Transition D: 0

Events: 4

Xavier bounced back nicely from a very rough outing against Chicago by picking up zero negative events on the day. He wasn't challenged often, but did the requisite job when asked.

#5: Nouhou (5)

1st Half: 4

2nd Half: 1

In Poss: 1

Out of Poss: 2

Transition O: 1

Transition D: 1

Events: 14

#4: Kelvin Leerdam (5)

1st Half: 6

2nd Half: -1

In Poss: 3

Out of Poss: 0

Transition O: 2

Transition D: 0

Events: 10

Leerdam was one of the most creative players on the day along with Morris and Lodeiro. Somewhat surprisingly, he has also been one of the most creative players for Seattle this season. He's tied for the team lead for chances created with 10, along with Morris and Joao Paulo.

#3: Raul Ruidiaz (7)

1st Half: 5

2nd Half: 2

In Poss: 2

Out of Poss: 2

Transition O: 3

Transition D: 0

Events: 10

#2: Nico Lodeiro (13)

1st Half: 14

2nd Half: -1

In Poss: 6

Out of Poss: 3

Transition O: 4

Transition D: 0

Events: 18

Nico's first half was one of the best 45 minute performances from a Sounder all season. His +14 first half score is only behind Svensson's first half against Columbus (+16). He faded a bit in the second half however.

#1: Jordan Morris (15)

1st Half: 9

2nd Half: 6

In Poss: 10

Out of Poss: 1

Transition O: 4

Transition D: 0

Events: 16

Jordan Morris gets his first team-leading score of the season, though he was the highest per 90 in both matches against Chicago. 2pts is almost certainly within the margin of error in this system, so if you think Lodeiro was MotM I wouldn't argue with you. It's been fun watching him prove me wrong a few times.

Match Stats:

Total Score: 56 (2nd out of 7 games)

1st Half: 44 (1st)

2nd Half: 12 (6th)

In Poss: 15 (T 2nd)

Out of Poss: 15 (2nd)

Transition O: 15 (2nd)

Transition D: 11 (4th)

Events: 134 (7th)