At this point, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers on June 16 has reached near mythic proportions in its impact on the two months that followed it.
Seattle finished the match with seven men, lost Obafemi Martins to a two-month-long injury and bid adieu to Clint Dempsey, who promptly joined the U.S. Men’s National Team for CONCACAF Gold Cup duty for the next six weeks. That was the first time Sounders FC had ever lost in U.S. Open Cup play at Starfire Stadium. Dempsey, who’s also nursed an injury since then, has played just 90 minutes for Sounders FC since.
That triggered a summer unlike any in Seattle’s MLS history. An endless litany of absences dropped Sounders FC from Supporters' Shield leaders through May to fighting for its playoff life. The team helped arrest the slide in a smashing 4-0 win over Orlando City two weeks ago, but they’ll need as many points as possible from their final four home games to assure a spot in the postseason.
And it all started with that Portland-Timbers match, which the Timbers reprised in a 4-1 win over shorthanded Seattle in Portland on June 28. On Sunday, Sounders FC has a crack at exacting a measure of vengeance when the Timbers visit CenturyLink Field for the last regular season meeting between the two. And it could be welcoming back the cavalry that rode out in June in the process.
An anticipated crowd in excess of 63,000 is expected for the match. Expect fireworks.
“Obviously it’s been a difficult situation because of that Open Cup game because of the injuries and people being gone at the Gold Cup and everything else,” Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid said. “It sort of started a bad trend, but it’s time for that to go the opposite direction, and this is that time.”
As to whether the team can make that a reality, Schmid offered no equivocation. Sounders FC will make its stand here.
“We are going to turn the page,” Schmid said, offering special emphasis on the second word. “It’s not going to be a thing where we’re going to think about it being a great day. It’s going to be a great day. We’re going to turn the page, we’re going to get after them and we’re going to play very well.”
Sounders FC probably isn’t at a point where it can field a full strength lineup yet, and the fact remains that Osvaldo Alonso, Dempsey and Martins haven’t stepped foot on a field together in a competitive league match since a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls on May 31. That win pushed Seattle to six wins in eight matches, a remnant of better, more injury-free days. That’s a tantalizing carrot dangling in front of this team if it can ever get healthy. When it can fan out all the cards in its deck in full array, there is perhaps no more talented team in MLS.
Martins is already back, and his partnership with recent signee Nelson Valdez is bourgeoning. As to whether Dempsey, Alonso or Chad Barrett, who’s also missed time, are ready to return to the field in time for the Timbers’ arrival, Schmid offered two words for each player.
“Don’t know.”
Welcome to rivalry week.
“[It’s the] ebbs and flows of the season with a poor performance down there and then the Open Cup,” said veteran Brad Evans, who’s played both centerback and central midfield this season. “I think we’re in, not desperation mode, but this is a do-or-die game for us. Judging by the practice this week, even though it was a split group, [it was] very intense, focused, and the reality is that we’ve got to pick up points now. Because if we don’t in these next two home games, we’re not making the playoffs.”
Seattle will undoubtedly attempt to replicate its blueprint against Orlando City, which led the team to its most rambunctious win of the season and a key bullet point that Seattle can play well under its current auspices. The key to that match, believe it or not, wasn’t a player who scored a goal. It was Erik Friberg.
Since the Swede was re-acquired by Sounders FC early this summer, he’s gradually become more and more indispensable to the orchestration of the attack. In an ideal world, Seattle can join him with Alonso in the middle and allow Alonso to be the anchor while Friberg picks out runners higher upfield. Friberg’s already begun doing that anyway, and the Orlando City match was the clearest indication yet that Sounders FC is very, very good when Friberg is interacting with his forwards. Here’s what I mean.
Here are two graphics. The first is Friberg’s pass map against Orlando City. The second is Martins’ touch map, which indicates where he initially touched the ball on each of his possessions. You can create an imaginary heat map in your mind from where these touches are most densely clustered.
These two overlapping spheres of influence were the most important key to unlocking Orlando City, and it’s an important illustration going forward. Friberg gives Seattle an added dimension out of a 4-4-2 that it didn’t have before. While Gonzalo Pineda is still one of the best withdrawn playmakers in MLS, he’s not up to running channels and pressing defensive midfielders. It’s not his game. When played next to another defensive midfielder, that can cause problems when either Martins or Dempsey, ideally, drop to collect the ball. Dropping too deep can be problematic.
What Friberg provides is a higher box-to-box outlet while still allowing Martins to fall into the shallow midfield and then run at defenders heads-up. Seattle is the best team in MLS at knitting together intricate back-and-forth passing sequences just outside the box to set up shots, and Friberg affords them this opportunity in spades. Whether it’s Alonso or Evans or someone else sitting deeper in the midfield, Friberg is a game-changer. Martins’ two goals were a product of the midfield’s careful dedication, and Valdez’s soaring header came off Friberg’s cross from a short corner. It was an imperious day for him.
These are the kinds of options a healthy roster provides. More players, more opportunity, more chances. With the Timbers coming to town to renew the most heated rivalry in MLS, Sounders FC is hoping to kickstart its late season push right now.
“They’ve had the better of those two games against us, and that hurt us dearly,” goalkeeper Stefan Frei said. “Those games always have a little extra to it, so I think now that we’re at home we really want to take it to them. Obviously the points are at stake as well and that’s a huge factor right now, but pride is on the line as well.”
