Seattle Sounders: What could a new era look like? | MLSSoccer.com

I think there are two ways to look at this mid-era limbo the 2024 Seattle Sounders find themselves caught in at the moment.

Option No. 1 is my guy Taylor Twellman’s take:

I’m not gonna lie: I largely agree with Taylor’s overall assessment of the Sounders. Their current core players are either guys who are better served as complementary pieces (Albert Rusnák, Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan) or who are unproven (Pedro de la Vega) at the MLS level. They lack elite match-winners, and as such they profile more as a good team that can occasionally make waves rather than as a true contender who can actually go head-to-head with the best in the region and win things.

We know this is, in fact, not just a take, but is The Way Things Are Now because any time the Sounders run into LAFC in the hallway, LAFC dump their books, give them an atomic wedgie and take all their lunch money.

It should not be surprising that Seattle aren’t the team they were from 2016 to 2022, which I think we’d all be comfortable calling “The Lodeiro Era.” Nico Lodeiro is with Orlando City now, and his partner in crime, Raúl Ruidíaz, has aged out of any meaningful role and is likely heading into his final few months as a Sounder.

I can count on one hand the number of MLS teams who have replaced match-winners of that caliber without missing a beat. It was always going to be hard, and they were likely always going to take a step backwards for at least a year or two. In the grand scheme of things, it’s worth mentioning how the Sounders have done much better at skating from one era to the next than their contemporaries in Toronto or Atlanta, and seem to be on a much tighter and more successful turnaround than the once-mighty LA Galaxy.

So with that said, here is Option No. 2, which is where I disagree with Taylor: Seattle were right to wait until winter to make the big moves. This summer wasn’t the time to go all-in on making more big changes, and the added flexibility they’ll have this winter meant it was smart to keep the powder dry. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have made any other signings — I gave them a C- for their summer window for a reason — but big moves? Nah.

And the simple reason is Seattle have too many known unknowns. Here’s a brief list, in order of importance, of assessments majority owner Adrian Hanauer, general manager Craig Waibel et al have to make before they can feel comfortable expending resources to try to create the next Sounders era:

Seattle bought the Argentine winger last winter with the idea of making him one of the tentpole pieces of the next half-decade. There have been moments where you could see why – de la Vega’s got both 1v1 dynamism and the ability to lay in a final ball.

But because of injuries, we’ve just seen moments rather than anything sustained. As of this column, he’s played all of 400 minutes across all competitions.

In theory, de la Vega gets healthy and is that foundational piece, but that’s just a theory at this point. They need more data to understand how to best use him (I personally like Joe Lowery’s suggestion of making him a full-time left wing instead of burying him on the right) or even if they might have to recruit over him.

Yeah, that’s a nightmare scenario. But it’s become plausible as he’s picked up one injury after another this year.

Either way, much of who the Sounders become hinges on de la Vega. Trying to add a running mate before really understanding who he is would’ve compounded the risk, not mitigated it.

My assumption – everyone’s assumption, I think – was that the next new Designated Player would be a No. 9 to take the place of Ruidíaz, whose contract comes off the books at the end of the season.

But Morris’ performance since being moved up top in June has called that wisdom into question. In 16 games across all competitions since becoming the team’s No. 9, Morris has 10g/2a. That’s not a Golden Boot-winning pace. Nor, however, is it a “replace this guy with a DP” pace, especially since Morris is doing this with makeshift wingers. How much better would those numbers be if de la Vega had been healthy for even half the year?

So I would be hesitant to spend a DP slot at the 9 if I were the Sounders, though I’d strongly consider using a U22 Initiative slot on a high-upside import who could get a year or two on the depth chart before taking the job as his own (think Dejan Joveljic at the Galaxy).

Obed Vargas is great, arguably top-three in this year’s 22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR list. And there’s a decent chance he’ll be a full Mexican international before the year is done.

Guys like that command significant fees on the international market. If, say, Toluca were willing to spend $4 million to sign Frankie Amaya from the Red Bulls, how much might Tigres, Monterrey, Chivas or Club América spend on a player who’s younger and better? Or might there be European interest instead of, or in addition to the LIGA MX giants?

If (when, really) the Sounders get these offers, they should sell, because they already have two obvious replacements in central midfield: Josh Atencio and… Cristian Roldan.

It’s become pretty apparent this season that Roldan is no longer as effective on the wing as he was a couple of years ago. At the same time, he’s still a high-level, winning player. So a move back to his old spot seems like the right evolution both for his career and what the Sounders want to become.

Think of it this way:

I will take Door No. 2.

The thing is, though, I doubt the Sounders had that option this summer. I don’t think those kinds of moves could’ve been made, even if they could open up a DP slot (of which there was no guarantee, as it would’ve cost millions to buy out Ruidíaz).

This winter, though, is likely to be a different story.

Rusnák’s not an elite No. 10 in MLS, but he’s still really good and reliably healthy. He’s also the type of progressive passer who’s made to play behind two star wingers and a pacy No. 9:

Rusnák is out of contract this winter. The smart thing to do, from where I sit, would be to try to bring him back for multiple years on a deal that opens up another DP slot.

Once that’s open, Seattle can determine if they want to go with 3 DPs/3 U22s (the path Waibel said they’d take in 2025), or 2 DPs/4 U22s (which might honestly make more sense for this team).

JP is entering his mid-30s and, like Rusnák and Ruidíaz, will be out of contract this winter. If it were me, I’d give him a two-year deal (d-mids have a long history of aging gracefully in MLS) and explain to him that the main components of the job are to 1) be ready to start every big game, but be a good soldier when you’re spending midweek and Eastern Conference matches on the bench; and 2) help develop Atencio, Danny Leyva and Sota Kitahara.

If Seattle go with 3 DPs, however, it might make more sense to make a clean break and instead find the next João Paulo. That’s especially true if you’ve already got two DP wingers and a TAM No. 10.

Which is all to say, yes, this year has been disappointing for the Sounders – there’s no way around it. But the end of an era almost always is, and in MLS, there’s been no way around that, either.

All you can do is hope your team’s ownership and front office have a plan to make the transition as painless as possible. And in Seattle, I see a team with two open DP slots this winter, multiple U22 slots to use, and a pretty clear path back toward the top of the Western Conference.

That’s no guarantee of success. But honestly, I like their chances.