Sounders tease attacking flair in preseason as club prepares for massive start to 2025

Preseason results rarely indicate future success, but how a team plays in those matches often does.

The Seattle Sounders finished their 2025 preseason slate undefeated in six matches (4-0-2) against teams from Hungary, Denmark, Sweden and a pair of 90-minute friendlies against USL Championship side Louisville City. The Sounders scored 19 goals across those six fixtures in what has been proof of concept of the type of attacking soccer they wish to play more of this year.

“Our whole preseason has been about scoring more goals,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “They’re committed to improvement because the sting of last year hasn’t worn off. We were close in multiple competitions but couldn’t push through. I sense a renewed commitment to win something this upcoming year.

“It’s a very committed group, and when I use the word ‘committed,’ they are committed to each other,” he added. “The locker room is really, really tight.”

The Sounders were the best defensive team in Major League Soccer in 2024, allowing a league-low 35 goals, but were 17th in goals scored with just 51. Part of the struggles were health-related with attackers like Young Designated Player Pedro de la Vega seeing just over 650 minutes while battling multiple injuries. The other side of it was more tactical, in how the team lined up and attacked as a group.

“That’s a big [emphasis], committing numbers forward,” said forward Jordan Morris. “Last year, sometimes we struggled to get numbers in the box. It’s tough to score that way.”

Morris, though, was a bright spot offensively for the Sounders last year, as he recorded a career-high 13 goals and added five assists. Now with de la Vega back healthy, the re-signing of Albert Rusnák and the offseason additions of Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola, Seattle is spoiled for choice with attacking talent that will, in turn, alleviate some of the defensive pressure the team has been under.

“We’ve scored a lot of goals in preseason, but now it’s about doing it in [Concacaf] Champions Cup and also in the league,” said midfielder Cristian Roldan. “We don’t want to be defending the entire game. Obviously, it’s nice to be the best defensive team in the league, but at the same time, as a team you kind of suffer. As the goals don’t come, you put a lot of pressure on your defense. The best part about playing soccer is scoring goals, so if we can do that and keep enjoying the sport that we’re playing, it gives us the best chance to win trophies this year.”

The Sounders do not ease into their 2025 campaign. They will play a Concacaf Champions Cup First Round home-and-home series with Guatemala’s Antigua GFC on Feb. 19 and 26 with their MLS season-opener at Lumen Field on Feb. 22 against Charlotte FC (7:30 p.m. PT; Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | TICKETS) sandwiched in between.

Another home-and-home with Mexico’s Cruz Azul awaits Seattle if it advances past Antigua, with the first Cruz Azul fixture coming in between league matches against Real Salt Lake and LAFC.

Seattle knows it will need its full cavalry of players to begin the year and beyond, especially as Leagues Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup arrive this summer, and the club will need to lean into its depth immediately. It’s something in which the team is not only confident but also upon which it prides itself.

“We have a lot of good players everywhere,” said midfielder Obed Vargas. “Every position has competition…It’s going to push the team to get better.”