This story was produced in partnership with the River City Journalism Fund.
St. Louis City SC defied all expectations by becoming one of the best teams in Major League Soccer in its inaugural season. But the Seattle Sounders have been a dominant force in MLS for over a decade, and that experience was on full display as City SC closed out its regular season on Saturday night.
Seattle’s 2-0 victory at Citypark denied City SC from equaling or breaking the record for most points by an expansion team. Los Angeles FC holds the record with 57 points, while City SC finished atop the Western Conference with 56 points — becoming the first MLS expansion team to finish first in its conference.
“To be sitting in this position, I have to give credit to the club, to the ownership group, to the fans. They stood by us through everything. They have given us a platform. They set a standard and we have followed suit,” head coach Bradley Carnell said at a post-match press conference.
Its victory also means Seattle is the only team to beat City SC twice in MLS play. The first match-up ended with a 3-0 Seattle victory on April 8.
Seattle Sounders: The Model MLS Club
Earlier in the season, City SC became the first expansion team to win its first five matches. But who were the previous record holders? The Seattle Sounders, with three consecutive wins in 2009.
Seattle has missed the playoffs just once in its 15 MLS seasons while claiming two MLS Cup titles out of four appearances in the final. In MLS, Seattle is the definition of consistency and success.
“We know what Seattle is capable of. We know that they are a great team and that they have been one of the best teams in the whole league for many years,” Eduard Löwen said.
Much of Seattle’s success can be attributed to its stability and regularity. Only two coaches have led Seattle in its 15-year history. Head coach Brian Schmetzer served as an assistant coach in Seattle’s inaugural season before taking the helm in 2016.
It’s not just Schmetzer; a handful of Seattle’s key players have been at the club for years. This continuity has allowed Schmetzer to implement a clear team identity — one that is the polar opposite of City SC’s. Seattle is renowned for its ability to start its attack from the back, retain possession and break its opponents’ press.
One of the many ways Seattle breaks a press is by drawing opposing defenders out of position. Seattle uses intricate passing combinations and movements to bait defenders out of position and open up space to exploit.
Seattle’s distinct style was on full display in its opening goal Saturday at Citypark. Midfielder João Paulo completed a long-pass from the left side of the pitch to the right side. Right-back Alex Roldan received the ball near the sideline as midfielder Joshua Atencio joined him to create an overload.
Atencio’s movement forced City SC’s left-back Anthony Markanich to mark him. This meant City SC’s center-back Joakim Nilson would have to mark Seattle’s right-winger Christian Roldan.
The riskiest component of City SC’s aggressive pressing style is that it often forces players to step out of position in an attempt to win the ball. Most teams fail to break this initial press from City SC and turnover possession, but Seattle isn’t most teams.
Once Christian Roldan realized Nilson was marking him, he moved toward his brother Alex Roldan to receive the ball and draw Nilson out of position.
Christian Roldan received the ball and immediately passed it to Atencio on the sideline. Seattle’s striker Jordan Morris proceeded to run into the open space Nilson had vacated. Atencio passed the ball to Morris and created an artificial transition where City scrambled to defend.
Morris laid the ball off to Christian Roldan who crossed it to a wide-open Albert Rusnák. Rusnák scored to give Seattle a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.
All professional athletes are prone to making mistakes, and soccer players are no different. One aspect that makes Seattle so formidable is its ability to punish its opponents for their mistakes while making relatively few of its own.
“We have to give Seattle a lot of credit tonight for the way they went about the game plan,” Carnell said at the press conference Saturday. “Against a team like this who don’t give much away, we have to take chances. We have to take the moments that are awarded to us and the opportunities given.”
City SC failed to capitalize on its opportunities earlier in the match, while Seattle proved to be ruthless. Seattle’s goalkeeper Stefan Frei sent a long ball that Nilson headed away. Löwen received the ball near midfield and attempted to pass it forward. But the pass was misplaced and Seattle’s Reed Baker-Whiting intercepted it. Baker-Whiting dribbled forward into open space and passed the ball wide to Léo Chú. Baker-Whiting continued to run forward and Chú passed the ball into the box.
Baker-Whiting crossed the ball and City SC’s Tim Parker slid to block it. But the ball deflected off Parker and went into the goal to put Seattle 2-0 up in the 38th minute.
The Game Within the Game
A pillar of City SC’s identity is its ability to create “organized chaos.” City SC thrives in chaotic situations and creates these moments with its aggressive press. City SC is successful when the match is fast-paced and transition based.
Seattle, on the other hand, succeeds in a slow-paced environment where it can calmly retain possession and dissect a defense. Once Seattle doubled its lead, it strategically began to slow the match down. “They know exactly the type of buttons we are trying to push and they work against it the totally opposite way,” Carnell said.
Much to the frustration of City SC, Seattle seemed to push the limits of time wasting during throw-ins and goal-kicks in an attempt to take time off the clock. “They stretched the laws and the rules of the game. It’s a savvy group,” Carnell said.
Löwen was overall happy with the officiating, but believes referee Jair Marrufo could’ve done more to prevent Seattle’s time-wasting. “Maybe at a certain point he has to give somebody a yellow card to get the game going.”
But City SC captain Roman Bürki had no complaints about the strategy.
“I would probably have done the same,” he said. “It’s the referee’s job to handle that, because sometimes you just want to see how long you can take before the ref says something.”
Playoff Mode
City SC will begin its playoff run against the winner of the October 25 match-up between San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City. City SC’s first-ever playoff match will take place at Citypark on October 29 at 9 p.m.
Löwen hopes City SC can move on from its defeat and perform in the playoffs. “We just have to stick together as a team now and have to work out this week and focus on the playoffs like the season, like nothing else, happened, like we are not first in the Western Conference, like we didn't lose the last two games. It doesn't matter. The playoffs start now.”
Julian Trejo, a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, is a native of Arkansas, and a former goalkeeper for several state championship teams. His work is supported by the River City Journalism Fund.
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