Five things we saw from Sounders’ boring draw with Timbers
It’s been six years since Seattle has beaten Portland at Lumen Field.
The Seattle Sounders drew 0-0 with the Portland Timbers in a very boring affair. Sounders fans are anxious and worried about what this could mean for the rest of the season. Let’s talk about five things we saw from this match.
Cody Baker’s improvement
Probably the surprise of the season so far, at least in a positive sense, is the arrival and rapid development of Cody Baker as a legitimate option at either fullback position for the Sounders. We’ve seen him play well at left back in recent weeks, which all told is not his natural position, so it’s no surprise that he looked at home playing at right back against Portland.
Baker reminds me of a younger Cristian Roldan, even though they play different positions. He focuses on the fundamentals and is always tactically aware of what’s happening, even when he makes mistakes. Sounders fans have had the privilege of seeing a couple of really good young fullbacks develop and play at Lumen Field in DeAndre Yedlin and Nouhou. Those two were tactically unaware at young ages but relied on physical gifts, using their speed and strength to bail them out of situations. Baker has physical gifts, particularly his speed, but he doesn’t rely on them as much.
It also doesn’t hurt that he’s apparently willing to mix it up with Portland players too.
Not good enough at home
The Sounders end a three-match week at home with just four points. Actually, if you include the previous two home matches that’s just four points from five matches at Lumen Field. What’s even more bizarre is that the five home matches before that the Sounders picked up 13 points thanks to four wins and a draw.
1.7 points per game at home isn’t going to cut it if the Sounders have aspirations of being an elite team. To make matters worse, they’ve already played over half their home games. There’s just seven home matches remaining between now and the end of the season.
Rancid attack
We started the year seeing the Sounders play some of the most exciting attacking soccer they’ve ever played. Since the 3-0 win against St. Louis City on April 8, Seattle hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game. That’s 10 straight league matches. If you include that STL game, the Sounders have now gone 10 of their last 11 matches without scoring a first-half goal.
Overall, I do think the Sounders have good underlying numbers, but they have to start making their own luck sooner rather than later. They did no such thing against Portland.
Pity in Seattle
On May 27, 2017 the Sounders beat the Timbers at Lumen Field 1-0 thanks to a 4th-minute goal by Cristian Roldan. Since then Portland has been the road team in Seattle on eight occasions in the regular season and they haven’t suffered a defeat (5W, 3D). Even if you include the playoffs, the Sounders “technically” won the return leg in the 2018 playoffs but the Timbers won on penalties. Actually, Gio Savarese has never lost in Seattle.
A turning point needs to come soon
I try to remain as objective as possible when I’m analyzing and writing about the Sounders, which is often why this piece routinely comes out a day or two after a match. Even while trying to be as objective as possible, it seems like the Sounders are at a bit of a sliding doors moment in their season.
There have been a lot of excuses up to this point why the last two months of the season hasn’t gone well. Most of those excuses even make sense: they’ve been unlucky in front of net and with injuries. However, Brian Schmetzer and the team stand at a moment where only they can define what happens next. Is this another year where injuries and bad luck define an otherwise promising season? Or is this a season where things didn’t go as expected but they were able to dig deep within themselves to provide a truly memorable year?
By definition, fans aren’t rational and they don’t have to think about process and tactics and all that. Fans want to see results and the Sounders need to start delivering them soon.