Seattle Sounders stalwarts target historic third MLS Cup

By their usual standards, the 2023 season was a bit underwhelming for the Seattle Sounders. After a decade of success a second-placed finish and Conference semi-final appearance is considered a barren year for one of the most relentless teams in MLS history.

In the previous decade Lumen Field had celebrated two MLS Cups, a Supporters' Shield, the US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first MLS side to win the competition. The most recent of those wins came in 2022 and, after a fallow season last year, a slow start to 2024 gave the impression that Brian Schmetzer’s all-conquering team had finally ran its course.

But the indefatigable Sounders soon clicked into gear and once again look like genuine championship contenders. Schmetzer built a new Seattle team uses some foundational pillars from the two previous MLS Cup-winning sides. Jordan Morris, once a pacey winger, is now a multifunctional target man. The indefatigable Cristian Roldan still prowls the midfield. Even at 38 years old, Stefan Frei remains one of the league’s best clutch goalkeepers.

On Saturday they face a rampant LA Galaxy side in the Western Conference final, vying for a return to MLS Cup. If Schmeltzer can rouse one more championship-winning season from those Seattle stalwarts, in an increasingly competitive MLS, it may go down as his greatest domestic triumph to date.

Seattle Sounders cultivate winning environment

Since their debut MLS season in 2009, no team has picked up more points than the Seattle Sounders. No team has recorded more wins (241) and, most crucially, no team has enjoyed more playoff victories (24).

The 15 years of Sounders is not only defined by that success, but also by a single managerial through-line that connects the only two head coaches in the club’s history. Brian Schmetzer, who currently leads the team, spent the first seven years of the team’s MLS existence as the assistant to his only predecessor, Sigi Schmid. After taking charge of the nascent club in 2009 Schmid led the team to four US Open Cup wins before handing over the baton. His impact on MLS is noted every season when the league’s best head coach is awarded the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award.

That heritage has informed the spirit of the Seattle side that takes to the field this weekend. There is an expectation around the team, but also a sense of confidence. An appreciation of the task at hand combined with a willingness to do what is needed to complete it.

That spirit was apparent in the dramatic Western Conference semi-final victory over a much-fancied LAFC. Playing at home LAFC, the West’s No. 1 seed, took the lead but were soon pegged back by the Sounders, who then snatched a crucial extra-time winner with a piece of sharp shooting from Morris. Seattle had their revenge for last year’s postseason loss and showed that they are no spent force.

Seattle boast MLS' best defence

Schmetzer’s great skill with Seattle has been the ability to evolve, to prevent his teams becoming too entrenched in a single style of play. This experienced group is endlessly adaptable but throughout 2024 it’s been their defensive work that has stood out.

The Sounders conceded the fewest goals of any MLS team in 2024, just 35 across the regular season. Jackson Ragen and Yeimar Gómez are both among the most accomplished central defenders in the West and the entire team shares a workmanlike, underdog spirit that belies their record of success. And when it comes to the postseason, Sounders fans will sleep peacefully in the knowledge that they possess a truly clutch talent between the stick: Stefan Frei.

“I don’t want to get too emotional with him here, but we’ve been teammates for a long time,” Jordan Morris said of Frei after another stellar performance in the conference semi-final. “Stef has saved us countless, countless times. He’ll be the first one to say that it’s a team effort and that the guys in front of him do a great job, which they do, but he’s saved us so many times and helped us win so many championships.”

Despite turning 39 early next year Frei still has another season to run on his current Sounders deal, which will take him to 12 years in Seattle. After the 2016 MLS Cup triumph he got a small star tattooed on his hand to mark the achievement. He added a second three years later and may soon need to find room for a third.

“We’ve had a high standard throughout the years,” Frei said recently, reflecting on his time in Seattle. “You kind of expect that the Sounders will do okay, or will make the playoffs, or will make a push for a trophy.”

“But again, that is all earned. Every game, home game, away game, you have to earn your points. You have to win every battle and win every duel.”

That’s what Frei, Morris and Roldan have done over the years. All three Sounders stalwarts started in the 2016 MLS Cup final, Seattle’s first, and again in 2019. Eight years on from that first championship those three veteran stars are all ready for another battle, another duel, as they go in search of another MLS Cup.

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