You don't exactly bathe in glory after holding on for dear life to a scoreless home draw. But the Seattle Sounders aren't after glory just yet – they're just trying to survive and advance. That's how teams get trophies.
And in that regard, Monday night's show against FC Dallas was just enough to get the job done. They bent a bit but never quite broke, and found time to be dangerous when the spirit moved them.
Great? Nope. Good enough? Most definitely. And now they're into the Western Conference Championship, where they'll face the LA Galaxy.
Here are a few thought's from Monday's draw:
1. A game of states
Seattle were content to sit back because the 1-1 draw in Leg 1gave them an advantage right out of the gate. They knew that they could play to protect the result, so that's largely what they did.
Evidence is in the play of right back DeAndre Yedlin, who sat deep in an old fashioned, purely defensive role. He attempted only 16 passes in the attacking half all night, which was his third-lowest number of the season, and got truly dangerous just once, midway through the second half when he whipped a cross to the back post that only just eluded Clint Dempsey.
The Sounders aren't exactly an ordinary attacking team without the width and penetration Yedlin provides, but they're not nearly the well-oiled machine that did for 65 goals this season, either. Because he stayed back, and right midfielder Brad Evans plays narrow, that allowed FC Dallas to defend narrow. And that in turn allowed the visitors to gum up the works when Dempsey and Obafemi Martins got on or even around the ball.
Seattle got zilch from the right side:
That was, however, a trade that Sigi Schmid was willing to make.
2. Cut the field in half
By having Yedlin deep and keeping the always defensively sound Evans in front of him, Schmid basically turned the Dallas left into a wasteland. Yes, they were always going to lean to the right in attack – that's where Fabian Castillo got most of his touches – but part of their game is occasionally switching from one side to the other when the field tilts too heavily.
That never happened in this one. The Dallas midfielders were too slow to pick out their lanes, and especially hesitant when trying to play deep into the left channel for fear that Yedlin would pick it off and spring a counter going in the other direction. It was a proactive gameplan that played out reactively – and perfectly – for the hosts.
This gameplan was especially pronounced in the first 45 minutes, which created a bloodbath along that side. Dallas got a bit more purchase in the second half, but by the time they really started throwing caution to the wind, the Seattle defense had set their heels at the top of the 18 and refused to move.
And that was Chad Marshall's chance to dominate all comers, by air and by land:
3. Keeping them honest
If it was the fear of Yedlin picking off a pass then trucking down the field or spectre of Marshall rising above everyone to clear away yet another promising attack that kept Dallas from attacking with confidence, then it was the work of Martins, Dempsey and Evans that kept Dallas from attacking without fear.
This was just glorious:
And this was even better:
That's why Oscar Pareja was afraid to pull Michel until late, and why Victor Ulloa was gassed by the 75th minute. Even a central defensive duo as good as Matt Hedges and Zach Loyd – and let's give 'em some dap, because they just held Seattle to one goal over 180 minutes – needs help. Going in there with one d-mid would have been close to suicide, a fact that paralyzed Pareja and forced him to throw the dice too late.
There wasn't a lot else to this one. Seattle's deep line and harrying midfield largely nullified Mauro Diaz – it looks like Osvaldo Alonso's apparent hamstring injury will be more of a storyline vs. LA than it was vs. Dallas, which is a surprise. Zach Scott walked "Aurelien Collin's Line of Overly Physical Postseason Defending" without getting punished. Neither Marco Pappa nor Lamar Neagle added much to speak of. Castillo was all endeavor and no achievement.
It was... well, it was a good, well-drilled team playing for a draw vs. another good, well-drilled team that just didn't have enough sophistication to prevent that from being the outcome.
That's not great. But it certainly was good enough for a team that knows true glory comes only when the trophies are presented.
