Another Day Another Draw

Well, at least today's draw was entertaining to watch. A 3-3 back and forth match was enjoyable to watch, despite lacking quality in key moments. Both teams will question their defensive efforts and at the same time celebrate some well taken goals.

To be honest, I'm not too sure about how to analyze the game. It was an uncharacteristic performance and I'm still undecided whether that's a positive or not.

When lineups were announced, I was most excited to see Albert Rusnak in the #10 role in place of the injured captain Nico Lodeiro. Spicy Sounders has questioned whether Rusnak is a good fit in the #8 role he has been playing (check out the fantastic blog post by Denny Birdkamp!) and I was curious to see him in his more natural attacking role.

In the first half, Rusnak looked sharp going forward and the play through the attacking middle was more fluid than we've seen in months. On the other hand, the counterpressing suffered and there were several opportunities for Rusnak to make tackles but he allowed Charlotte to play out instead. Rotating Rusnak with an injury-prone Nico struggling for form really makes sense right now. Whether he is the best player to replace Lodeiro long term, remains to be seen.

Joao Paolo is a classy, high caliber midfielder and was the Sounders best player today. His partner in the middle, Obed Vargas struggled to integrate back into the team after being away with U-20 international duty. There was a lot of negative talk about him online and while I don't think he was as bad as people were claiming, it certainly won't be a game he will look back on too fondly.

*Side note* Sounders fans are often too hard on young players and too soft on veterans, but I will leave Sounder culture commentary for another post.

RAUUUUL Ruidiaz is a genuine top striker and keeping those hamstrings of his happy and healthy may be one of the most important tasks of this season. Heber flubbing a clear chance (he was offsides anyway, I know) only further highlighted how clinical Raul is around the box. Likewise, stick a rugby helmet on Cristian Roldan and let him fly. His industry, fire and leadership were sorely missed during his concussion absence and it was good to see him rewarded with a fine goal delivered from a stunning free-kick by Jackson Ragen.

I'm willing to give the defense a break given their overall form this year, but letting in three goals in any game will make winning a difficult proposition. I'm not going to get into the blame game for any of the goals but the usually stout defense looked porous today. The second half changes put further pressure on a defensive unit that was prone to being pulled apart.

Outside of JP, Ruidiaz and CRoldan, no one else really stood out. Leo Chu couldn't really get on the ball and overall did not look sharp. The second half substitutions were ineffective or anonymous with the exception of Cody Baker who put in a strong shift.

Once again, Schmetzer's substitutions were poor and questions really need to be asked about his in-game management. This has been an issue stretching back to last season and today it cost 2 points on the road. In many ways it reminded me of the first Portland defeat where the change in personnel and shape invited the opponents to attack and get back into the game. Failure to adjust to opposing tactics within a game seems to be a weakness of the coaching staff that needs to be addressed immediately.

On the bright side, the Sounder have a nice long break, not playing again until the 21st, giving them plenty of time to get healthy and put in some work on the training pitch. When they return they play LAFC, a team who has slumped to a draw and a loss after finishing as runners up in the Champions League. It will be fascinating the see how LAFC respond to the disappointment and whether they can pick themselves back up to fight for a top spot in the Western Conference.

As for the Sounders 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses in the last 10 games is not the end of the world but their form certainly needs to improve as they look to secure a playoff spot this season. St. Louis has taken top spot in the West and LAFC, Dallas and San Jose are only two points behind the Sounders and all have games in hand. It's a long season but the Sounders need to start finding a way to turn draws into wins.