TUKWILA, Wash. – For the Seattle Sounders, Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park was nothing short of cathartic.
It had been a tough month of August, but the derby provided Seattle with a golden opportunity to hit the reset button and make a statement that they’re still a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference playoff race. They got it thanks to goals from Cristian Roldan and Raúl Ruidíaz and a gutsy defensive effort that kept the Cascadia Cup in Seattle for a second straight season.
As the Sounders got back to the training ground at Starfire Sports Complex on Monday, the general sense of relief afforded by the victory was palpable.
“The bus ride back was pretty fun, the guys were all in good spirits,” Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said. “Even today, still, guys are still feeling a little bit of mental relief, a little bit of satisfaction I would say at beating our arch-rival. Lots of emotions, it was an emotional game.”
A Rivalry Week victory is always good for morale, but at least part of the reason for the improved performance comes down to simple health. Left back Brad Smith made his first appearance since July 27 after missing four games with adductor pain, while stalwart defensive mid Gustav Svensson has now featured in three straight fixtures after a three-game absence due to a hamstring injury.
Friday’s match also saw the debut of newly signed Argentine midfielder Emanuel Cecchini, who flashed some his versatile two-way skillset.
“You guys always talk about what’s [Cecchini’s] best position, is he a six or an eight?” Schmetzer said. “I think there’s a bit of both there. I think he can defend as needed, the energy he brought to his defending, he showed he can forward and press higher up the field and connect some passes, so we’ll see how we fit him into the squad.”
As the club gears up for Sunday afternoon’s home matchup with the LA Galaxy, Schmetzer said continuing to fine-tune the defense is a point of emphasis.
The back line, particularly center backs Xavier Arreaga and Kim Kee-hee, put in their most complete performance yet against the Timbers. But with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who said earlier this season he plans on playing on artificial turf) and the star-studded Galaxy attack coming to town, the unit will have another big test.
“There were still some things we showed on film today though that we’re going to clean up,” said Schmetzer. “Look, that was a massive game for a lot of reasons but we want to make sure that defensively we are solid and try to head into the playoffs with a solid defensive scheme and make sure we cover all our bases. A lot of it at this time of the year is just reminders.
“[Jordy] Delem and Gustav had massive games,” he continued. “But we always preach active defending, so I showed them one play where I wanted them to active defend a little more, a little higher up the field, let’s make sure we take these opportunities to really squeeze teams and hold them in their half of the field. So just because we won, it wasn’t like we’re going to stop coaching and stop making our players concentrate for those 90 minutes.”
