There’s a few ways that the Seattle Sounders can look at their scoreless draw in Dallas.
There’s the positive angle — part of the angle that head coach Brian Schmetzer took postgame when he said, “Sometimes, a point is a good point.” It’s a second-consecutive clean sheet for a defense that has struggled to get back to its previous dominance, and it’s points once again for a team that has been nearly allergic to them early. 0.93 expected goals maybe should’ve provided something more, but a point on the road is acceptable, and it’ll get better once the injured stars are fully back.
Then there’s the growing voice: this point isn’t good enough. There’s still too many issues with finishing, this voice says. The Sounders should be expecting wins on the road (this is the right mentality, but the wrong complaint), and regardless of who’s available, it can always be better. That’s part of the voice in Schmetzer’s head, too.
“Right now, emotionally, it feels like we left some points on the table,” he said.
That voice doesn’t have it all right — despite some valid arguments — and after the Sounders’ split the points against an FC Dallas team missing even more of its stars than the visitors (Paxton Pomykal and Alan Velasco, amongst others), it’ll be a building block rather than a knockdown headed into a Cascadia Cup matchup at home next weekend.
Seattle wasn’t lacking opportunities: two “big chances” (per FotMob) came the Sounders way, and they missed both. One was a Cristian Roldan opportunity that came from an excellent ball played in, only for the ironman to turn it wide just before the halftime break. “If he redirects it with his left, it goes in,” Schmetzer said whilst going down the list of chances.
The build-up play that was the highlight of a 5-0 win over CF Montréal last week showed again in bursts — that’s something that the Sounders will look to keep as they push for a strong homestand. The starting midfield pairing of Obed Vargas and Josh Atencio was behind a few of the chances that Seattle generated, especially in the first half.
“We’re going to have to build on it,” Schmetzer said, “because they’re still going to have to play a lot of minutes here. I thought the kids were okay — there’s a couple of giveaways that I didn’t like, but that’s normal for younger players.”
It was, of course, another defensive shutout for a unit that has begun to recover from a disappointing start to the season. Last year’s joint-best defense (in terms of goals allowed) let in just one in the past three games after leaking six in their first four.
“[We’re] definitely very happy with the clean sheet,” defender Jackson Ragen said postgame. “I still think we have to clean some stuff up, but overall, we’re trending in the right direction.”
Schmetzer corroborated his player’s statement — he said, “If you get clean sheets on the road in MLS, you’re going to collect your fair share of points [and] that just means you’ve got to win your home games.”
There’s a few questions over who should be in that back line — both Ragen and Nouhou have eager replacements looking over their shoulder in the form of Xavier Arreaga and Cody Baker, respectively. Neither of the latter two saw time tonight after successful outings at home, and another clean sheet will (ostensibly) leave the defense as-is next week.
Ragen and Nouhou both had questionable moments tonight to go alongside actions that prove why Schmetzer still trusts them. Ragen’s 6’6’’ frame is a strong aerial presence on set pieces, and his partnership with Yeimar Gomez Andrade is far more developed than Arreaga’s; the two spent most of last year alongside one another.
Nouhou’s strength has never been going forwards, but with a defensive-minded option like Baker next in line, it’s been on the Cameroonian to lock up shop. He only won half of his duels on Saturday night, though, and committed two fouls.
The Sounders welcome top-of-the-West (as of writing) Vancouver to Lumen Field next week — a test that they’ll have to be ready for. It’s Seattle’s first Cascadia Cup matchup of the year, and with the Whitecaps coming off a high-profile matchup against the LA Galaxy, it’ll be a real measure of how well this team can get up for a big game. That one is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 local time, next Saturday in Seattle.
Feature photo by Zach Del Bello/Sounders FC Communications