The Sounders Monday were pleased at finally being rewarded for a sustained offensive attack, having scored three times in a win Sunday over the Los Angeles Galaxy
The Sounders returned to the practice pitch Monday bolstered and buoyed by their best offensive showing on the road to date.
Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy was a rare match this season in which the team was rewarded for sustained offensive pressure by having multiple goals enter the net. Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer admitted to feeling a tad nervous early on when his squad failed to score despite sustained possession and chances in the early going.
But then, Clint Dempsey found the back of the net in the 29th minute and the team appeared to collectively exhale. They scored again six minutes later courtesy of an own-goal and then Jordan Morris added a third just before the half to put the game away.
“After the first 15 minutes we were on top of them,” he said. “We could all clearly see that we were on top of them and we didn’t score. So, there were those little subtle moments of deja vu about the Vancouver game…so yeah, there was a little bit of relief from my perspective.”
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Schmetzer added that his team was very “determined” heading in and may not have felt the same relief that he did.
But midfielder Osvaldo Alonso said it was a relief to see the Sounders play the same way on the road that they typically do when winning at home. In other words, that they took the game to the Galaxy and didn’t hang back.
“Before the game we said ‘We have to play our game, go out there like we do at home’,” he said. “Get the ball and try to keep the other team down. Get the rhythm. Get Clint (Dempsey) and Nico (Loderio) and Jordan (Morris) with the final touch.”
Dempsey scored his team-leading third goal and Morris his second after a lineup switch that saw veteran Will Bruin inserted in the striker position. Morris had played up top all season, but this time seemed comfortable out on the left wing.
Schmetzer said he deliberately had Bruin play as far up as possible to free up space for Morris, Dempsey and Lodeiro to get more creative with the ball. The ploy seemed to work, as the Sounders looked as good all game as they had in their only other sustained offensive showing in a 3-1 win against the New York Red Bulls in their home opener last month.
Morris didn’t always seem comfortable in the striker position last season and had missed on several scoring chances the first six games while Bruin had a pair of goals in his limited playing time off the bench. Schmetzer said he wanted to give the team’s championship players from last year first crack at holding down their spots, but felt the time had arrived to turn Bruin — acquired in an off-season trade — loose in a starting role.
Schmetzer felt the attack had been doing everything else well and that a couple of tweaks miught be enough to put everybody over the top.
The Sounders’ attack took pressure off the backline, which was missing veteran center backs Chad Marshall and Roman Torres and right back Oniel Fisher. For the second time this season, a makeshift defensive corps held an opponent scoreless as Tony Alfaro, Gustav Svensson and Jordy Delem filled in admirably.
“We knew, based on our recent form, that we are too good of a team not to start scoring goals,” Schmetzer said. “So, if we played a zero, we knew that the attackers were going to do their thing and they did.”
Torres should be back for Saturday’s home game against New England. Right back Brad Evans is also close to being ready to go after being sidelined since February with a calf muscle issue. As for Marshall, who didn’t practice Monday, his back stiffness is remains a day-to-day issue and its uncertain whether he’ll play Saturday.