Jane Gershovich / Sounders FC Communications
SEATTLE The stage was all set. The Seattle Sounders had their biggest in-stadium crowd of the season including a reasonably packed Brougham End and a broadcast television audience to boot. The Sounders entered the match on a roll that seemed nearly as sustainable as it was impressive. Their opponent was another in an ever-growing line of challengers for their status as marquee team in MLS.
Not that they needed it, but a win would have put an emphatic stamp on the start of Seattle’s season and sent them into their final game before the June international break on a dead sprint.
Max Aquino / Sounder at Heart
When the 2021 MLS schedule was released, the deck seemed to be somewhat stacked against the Seattle Sounders. In the first month, the Sounders would play six games. Of those six games, four were against 2020 playoff teams two of them against perennial favorites LAFC another against the retooled LA Galaxy, and the other against the highly unpredictable San Jose Earthquakes.
Just to add a level of difficulty, the Sounders were going to be learning a new formation without the benefit of a full preseason schedule after the pandemic limited them to just one 75-minute match against a MLS opponent and one full 90-minute affair against a USL Championship squad. A couple weeks before the season started, they found out Nicolás Lodeiro would miss at least a couple of weeks, compounding the already expected absence of Jordan Morris.
Five things we’ll be watching when Sounders visit Timbers
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Max Aquino / Sounder at Heart
As strong of a start as the Seattle Sounders are off to, this is no time to lighten up. The Sounders face their fiercest rivals this weekend in the Portland Timbers, at the start of a three-game week. Here are the five things we’d like to see this weekend.
Take advantage of short rest
The Timbers are coming off a tough run in the Concacaf Champions League after getting ousted by Club America. Last weekend the Timbers rotated heavily in their league matchup to rest their starters for Wednesday night, and it showed. Their 4-1 loss to previously winless FC Dallas left them with three points through three games. It’ll be interesting to see how the Timbers handle Sunday’s match with short rest, likely having to again rotate some of their starters out of the lineup. Notably, the Timbers have already used an MLS-high 21 starters, including all three of their goalkeepers. Th
Josh Atencio had a very promising starting debut
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Max Aquino / Sounder at Heart
As starting debuts go, Josh Atencio had his work cut out for him. Not only was he matched up against one of the top midfield units in the league one that featured the dynamic Emanuel Reynoso but he was also effectively filling in for Seattle Sounders captain Nicolas Lodeiro, who was missing the game with a quad strain.
Just to round out the pressure, the Sounders were also playing their first game in front of home fans for the first time in over a year.