SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders lined up in Head Coach Brian Schmetzer’s usual 4-2-3-1 formation on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps, but with a new wrinkle. Clint Dempsey lined up as the lone forward, Cristian Roldan in Dempsey’s usual role in center attacking midfield and Gustav Svensson at defensive midfield alongside Osvaldo Alonso.
With just four matches left in the season and riding a five-match winless streak, the Sounders needed a spark, and they found it in a new lineup.
“I think maybe we might have become a little predictable,” Schmetzer said. “In our 4-2-3-1, we didn’t change out of the formation, we just changed personnel in different positions. They all knew the roles and responsibilities of that position, they just played it with their own flair.”
Dempsey finished with seven shots, which tied his season high, and found the back of the net for the first time in six games. He pulled within one of tying Fredy Montero — he lined up opposite Dempsey for the Vancouver Whitecaps in his first game as an opponent at CenturyLink Field since leaving the Sounders in 2012 — as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Dempsey as a False 9 allowed him to sit between the two center backs and play off Nicolas Lodeiro and Victor Rodriguez on the wings. Rodriguez in particular had his best game with Seattle, opening his goalscoring and assist account and cleverly operating in space.
“We were able to get our attacking players in good spots and our fullbacks really high,” said Roldan. “[After] the first goal, we felt like the dam could break. It was partially due to just movement. It created a little bit of space.”
Said Schmetzer: “At halftime [our players] weren’t satisfied at 1-0. They were all saying, ‘Let’s go, we can’t stop playing, we need to keep pushing.’”
The result was Seattle’s best offensive performance since Aug. 5 at Minnesota and a newfound confidence heading into the final road match of the season on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Sounders are now within one point of first place in the Western Conference with the prospect of a first-round playoff bye still very much a possibility.
Seattle is now 5-2-3 following a loss under Schmetzer and looked far more menacing offensively than last weekend at Real Salt Lake, a defeat that snapped the Sounders’ club-record 13-match unbeaten streak. Although that run is over, Seattle is ready to start a new streak and head into the postseason in strong form.
“The team as a whole was getting a little irritated,” Schmetzer said. “That was a good streak. Thirteen games unbeaten is a great accomplishment but it also kind of wore on us a little bit as some of those draws were not the results we wanted and so this group was going to have a breakout game...We have three more games to solidify a playoff seed and that’s what we’re focused on.”
