Offseason Outlook: Seattle Sounders
/By Ian L (@ahandleforian)
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" - The Red Queen
If I were a General Manager in Major League Soccer (and if my writing for this site has made anything clear, it’s that I definitely should not and will not be), I’d have that quote hanging above my door. Not only was Lewis Carroll the Bill James of the literary nonsense genre, but it’s a good reminder that in the world of professional sports even the king of the mountain needs to keep climbing if they want to stay on top. Yes. Seattle are entering the offseason as champions, but if they want to defend that title, they’ve got a lot of work to do between now and opening day
Defense
Seattle’s number one objective this offseason is identifying at least one center back and possibly as many as three! Roman Torres is gone and that opens up a lot of TAM/Cap space to work with. While Seattle have expressed interest in bringing Kim Kee Hee back, his signature hasn’t been finalized and so Xavier Arreaga is the only starting caliber CB on the roster. Assuming Kee Hee returns, it creates an interesting dilemma about whether to pursue a center back that will be above or below Arreaga and/or Kee Hee on the depth chart. Seattle’s mid to late season defensive wobbles seemed to occur when Kee Hee and Arreaga were partnered up, but the two managed to put together Seattle’s best defensive showing of the entire season in the conference finals against LAFC. Despite that, Torres was Brian Schmetzer’s preferred choice as soon as he returned from suspension. Seattle’s staff will have a better idea as to whether or not Arreaga is ready to lead Seattle’s back line, either way I wouldn’t be surprised to see them crack open the TAM vault to bring somebody in.
The best case scenario is that Kee-Hee returns while Seattle go out and grab a TAM level guy from the international market. That gives you three solid CB options which they COULD get by with if need be, if they’re comfortable using Gustav Svennson back there in a pinch, but ideally they fill that fourth slot either by bringing someone up from Tacoma (Atencio? Rogers?) or find an available MLS player like Auston Trusty or Axel Sjoberg (both of whom would have been good pickups) to round out that position.
Seattle’s fullback situation is a little more stable. Joevin Jones and Nouhou Tolo are both capable of playing on the left and Kelvin Leerdam should have the starting right back spot locked down. Brad Smith’s departure gives Nouhou an opportunity to evolve from meme to reliable starter, but you could see another left back signed if Seattle still see Jones as more of a midfield option. There doesn’t seem to be a backup to Leerdam outside of Cristian Roldan who has been used in that role sparingly, so that’s something else on the shopping list this year. An elegant solution would be finding a guy who can play on either side. Say, is Nick Lima still persona non grata to Matias Almeyda? That would fill out the depth chart quite nicely.
Mercifully, there isn’t any instability around Seattle’s goalkeeping corps. Stefan Frei will be the #1 with Trey Muse backing him up. Bryan Meredith’s surprise selection in the expansion draft means that a third GK will need to be acquired possibly via Superdraft.
Midfield
Victor Rodriguez is the other high profile departure this offseason. The MLS Cup MVP had an up and down tenure with Seattle (the downs mostly being related to his spotty injury record and not his on field contributions which were generally quite good). Rodriguez wasn’t a cheap player, and with the cap room his departure has created, you can probably expect this to be a place Seattle look to fill out with at least TAM. General Manager Garth Lagerwey expressed that Roldan could be deployed out wide in Victor’s stead, and I actually think he’s a decent option out there, but I’d still be surprised if there weren’t a “big” acquisition here. Otherwise, Seattle’s midfield stable is returning. Nicolas Lodeiro will continue to be Seattle’s best and most important player while Jordan Morris who improved by leaps and bounds in the second half of last season, is the second or third name on the team sheet. Roldan can be used centrally or out wide. Joevin Jones can play on the left wing. Svennson’s return is good news for Seattle fans, and Jordy Delem can and will continue to be one of the first guys off the bench.
I would have bet a not insignificant sum of money that Kelyn Rowe would be a Sounder next season, but things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for the Federal Way native, and in a surprising move, he’s returned to New England. This will certainly give Seattle more of an impetus to find a way to bring Harry Shipp back. (Editor’s Note - Sounder at Heart is now reporting that Shipp has been signed.)
The other curious situation is that of Emmanuel Cecchini. The Argentine was brought in on loan last season and did not impress anybody suitably enough to stake a place in the team. I wasn’t totally sure what the goal with his signing was, as at that time Seattle probably could have used those resources for a more immediate need, but I suppose it all worked out fine in the end. The club has said that they are “exploring options” for Cecchini, and I think it’s a very safe bet that he won’t be around next season.
Attack
It is good that Seattle have a lot of players that are positionally flexible, but as you can see there is a LOT of work that needs to be done this offseason.
Raul Ruidiaz is great and he will be back. Will Bruin is also great and will be back. Justin Dhillion is, you know, fine as a third or fourth option and will be back. Although Jordan Morris is now without a doubt a winger first and a forward second, he can be plugged in up top in a pinch. Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez has a very bright future, and the teenager will continue his development, but will not likely play meaningful minutes in 2020. This is an area where Seattle do not need to do much if anything.
The DP Question
With Rodriguez gone, Arreaga is very likely to be bought down from his DP slot and that gives Seattle bait for a big fish. This will either be used to bring in a winger or a central, defensively minded midfielder. It’s an interesting decision to make, as those roles are generally well stocked already, but this is an area where that quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the intro applies. If you’ve got the ability to improve your team, you’ve got to do it. There are obviously way more factors than I’m about to go into here when making this kind of decision but let’s just simplify it for the sake of brevity here. These are more or less Seattle’s options.
Sign a DP CM, play him next Svennson and send Roldan to the wing.
Sign a DP CM, play him next to Roldan and move Svennson to the bench or center back.
Sign a DP Winger, move Joevin Jones to left back or the bench.
Sign either and do some totally different kind of formation.
Wait until the summer window and see what needs are most pressing.
Historically, I’d say that #5 is the most likely as Lagerwey has made it very clear that he prefers the summer market, BUT, he’s also made it clear that his big ambition for the Sounders is to win CCL. That could see Seattle dip into the market earlier.
Parting Thoughts
Seattle need to sign some defenders. That’s probably not ideal going into CCL, as this is a positional group that you want as settled as possible before competitive matches, but this is one of those personnel decisions that can make your season if you get it right, and totally kneecap it out of the gate if you get it wrong. Historically, I think Lagerwey and the recruitment team have done a pretty decent job identifying and acquiring defensive talent, so I don’t think this should cause Seattle fans any sleepless nights between now and February, but it’s definitely the biggest thing to keep an eye on. Whether Seattle splash on a DP now or in Summer probably has a lot more to do with the specific target they have in mind than anything else. Much to the chagrin of many a fan, Garth has wisely chosen DPs based on the player and not their availability. This has been fine in season’s past, but if he’s serious about Seattle grabbing that last CCL brass ring, those priorities may need to be re-examined. There’s never a dull offseason in MLS, even if you’re the defending champions. Expect January to be a busy month in Seattle.