Breathe.
The MLS preseason is a ripe time for overreaction precisely because it’s a time for experimentation. Coaches - especially coaches with title-winning rosters - tend to throw scenarios against the wall to see which sticks and which doesn’t while simultaneously getting the first teamers up to playing speed. But when your season ended two months ago, there’s not a whole lot of offseason to lose your form. With a team as infused with savvy veterans as this one, you know what you have, preseason or not.
That was more or less the tack from Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer on Wednesday night. His starting lineup was young, and as a result Atlanta United piled up two goals in the first three minutes and eventually dropped Seattle by a 4-2 scoreline. Atlanta United led 4-0 before the Sounders, bolstered by an increasing number of first teamers in the second half, pulled two back via Henry Wingo and Will Bruin.
Results in preseason don’t count, but individual impressions do. Here’s three things we learned from the Sounders’ penultimate preseason game before finishing in Charleston on Saturday.
Atlanta United FC came out swinging
There’s an important caveat to note about this match, and it’s that Atlanta United and the Sounders came at the preseason from wildly different poles. The Sounders just climbed to the pinnacle of the league two months ago and return almost every important piece from that team in 2017. Atlanta United has never played a competitive match together. Both of those facts informed their respective preseasons. Atlanta United coach Tata Martino rolled with a starting XI that might well be his preferred choice all season. In the first half, he sent two Designated Player attackers against two trialist defenders.
Schmetzer started zero regular starters from a year ago and only one - Harry Shipp - who’s even in the discussion at the moment. Martino is desperately trying to get his team to jell before the start of the season with so few reps together, which explains why Atlanta was so dominant through the first half and the Sounders struggled until after the interval. Atlanta United wanted first team cohesion out of this match. The Sounders wanted to know more about their depth. Consider both missions accomplished.
The kids are alright
There’s one more preseason game left - Saturday against the Columbus Crew SC - which means one more opportunity for the young guys to impress the coaching staff. A few probably earned themselves further scrutiny down the line, and maybe the biggest individual standout was again Henry Wingo.
The recent Homegrown signing had a few brief flashes of light throughout the night, none bigger than the goal he finished for Seattle’s first in the second half. A well-played ball into the box from Joevin Jones found Will Bruin, whose cross alighted upon Wingo in space. The former UW star was quick with the finish, giving the Sounders a much-needed bolt of energy. Wingo was arrayed on the right flank in Schmetzer’s 4-2-3-1, and his individual ability was evident. We’ll see more of him, and that’s probably the same story for Seattle University forward David Olsen. He started on the opposite flank and nearly turned in a goal in the first half that clanged against the post. While guys like Zach Mathers, Bryan Meredith and Jake Morris acquitted themselves well, Wingo and Olsen earned some impressed nods of affirmation.
All is well
The Sounders first teamers are clearly on a playing time clock until the season, and it wasn’t until the 70th minute that a raft of them entered. Five, exactly: Alvaro Fernandez, Chad Marshall, Roman Torres, Cristian Roldan and, yes, Clint Dempsey. They joined guys like Jones and Nicolas Lodeiro who were already on the field, and unsurprisingly the Sounders’ final 20 minutes was far and away their sharpest. Dempsey, in particular, looked his old self, cleaving passes into space to open lanes and taking daring shots on target.
Point is, this team doesn’t need a ton of runway to ready itself for the season. It shouldn’t be easy to forget that Toronto was nine weeks ago. This result will fade with time as all preseason results do, but the fact that the first team looked so sharp in limited minutes was a positive sign and should stick around a bit longer. Moreover, the Sounders continued to build fitness, even if the largely jumbled roster also limited exactly how much broader extrapolation we can actually take out of the holistic performance as a team. It’s the preseason. Just remember to breathe. All is well.
