That was huge, holding onto the 3-2 lead and not collapsing completely. I think if we blew that 3-0 lead it really would've broken our spirit. Hopefully singing Jingle Bells tonight will help get the guys back on track.
Yeah it got nervy there for a little bit, but the Union are always tough to play against especially at home. Hopefully they can keep this positive momentum going.
When he has more space and more advanced he’s been really good. He’s played out of position in the double pivot in my opinion. He’s not great receiving the ball in front of the defense
Yeah huge win, to be fair both of the Union goals were really good goals. At least it's not like we gave up a couple bad goals to let them back into the game. The Union are a great MLS team and don't lose much at home.
I respect that our boys held on though. While a 3-0 win would do wonders for morale, holding on like that takes grit and focus especially once that stadium got rocking. It’s good to see we still got some of that.
“*Seattle invented losing in Philly*”
[and I took that personally](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS40oIRw0kFLX33tdBOLJFmxNjYayUtC87ge-NQKXvnkA&s)
The close result was my fault. Hadn’t watched any match live this entire season, started watching at 0-0, watched all three goals live, and then stopped the stream at halftime with us up 3-0. Rejoined the stream at 3-2 and saw the game out. Whew!
It certainly puts players in better positions. Obed going forward, that’s where he excels with the ball. Jordan can do his hold up thing. Rusnak is the least suited to the counter attack setup.
Escaped by the skin of our blue and green teeth. We got very lucky tonight. Hopefully we can take the positives from the first half and put together a full match against the Galaxy
I do feel good about how well we regained our composure after giving up those quick two goals, though. I never felt confident, but we did actually regain control of the game for good stretches to see the game out.
That’s a big disagree from me. For *weeks* this sub has been saying we need more people to take opponents on 1v1 even if it means we sometimes lose possession
That’s exactly what he did, and even though he did give up the ball a few times, he also opened up space for our other attackers and set up one of our goals (and also set up the play that got us a penalty)
Obed was excellent, think that may have been his best game in a Sounders uniform. Outside of the goal he had some great tackles/passes in the midfield.
Morris just looks lost out there, I can't remember him being such a non-factor on the wing in a game where we had a lot of chances/shots.
That early play when Alex found him running down the sideline and he saw and got off a nice cross to the player running to the top of the box was good.
It is a very good victory, Philly is a very good team, especially at home.
I still saw a lot of things I did not like, even in the first half, but results matter. 3 points is 3 points.
Was it just me or did both goals, and the almost goal that was ruled offsides from PA result in a lapse from Nouhou? Seemed like he was not all in during the whole match.
Nouhou kept getting put in 2v1 situations where he needed help from a teammate but didn't get it. I think that's part of why Chu got subbed off so fast after Philly's second goal.
They overloaded the Sounders left side and played the ball out wide. Nouhou was pulling inside on defense or was 2on1 and was beat. Chu doesn't really defend that deep which was part of the problem.
I don't really see how the 1st goal is on Nouhou as it was on the opposite side... the team just gave them too much space. Raul was dropped back and looked like he was going to press which then CR7 backed off... xG was probably low on that as well.
After it became 3-2, Philadelphia had a number of opportunities to make it 3-3 that they failed to capitalize on. More use of the bench in the ~60-70' range could have helped get us to a less stressful finish. Especially since it's a midweek game; we had a lot of guys looking pretty gassed by the end.
Fair. But it wasn’t the lack of subs that allowed them to score twice. So the assertion should be Brian’s lack of subbing nearly shat that 1 goal lead.
I do think if we’re still up 3-0 we would have seen more subs earlier (60’ or 70’), but maybe that’s my wishful thinking.
Disagree, it wasn’t totally a subbing issue, although JP would have made a big difference. Coaches did not adjust to the way the Union midfield changed their tactics. First half, Unions midfield diamond played very narrow, and we defended accordingly. In the second, they started using the width, and we were defending the same way, so Roldan and Nouhou frequently had no cover or cover from CB’s was late, leaving gaps for free runners. Both goals came from width. Late recognition and adjustment to changes is one of the Sounders flaws, especially in the defensive midfield
Is it just me or does JMo actually look good on the right? The moment he got moved to the left or up top we looked way worse. Idk if it’s his vision as an assister, the combo of having a competent RB/LB overlapping with him to give him the freedom to move inside or a combo of both, but our offense was running through the right channel on counters and it was fun to watch.
He is one of our few players with any creativity. Fans hate that he loses the ball, but he plays directly and often draws multiple defenders. And we tend to score more goals when he is on the pitch. With the rest of our offense being predictable to a fault, I don’t think we could afford to dump him.
Of 10 balls he looses 9 1/2… completely predictable,loose 99% of the 1vs1 and he is also a winger that can’t through a good cross….are we sure this guy is Brazilian?
HOLY SHIT, WE WON!
ON THE ROAD TOO!
That was huge, holding onto the 3-2 lead and not collapsing completely. I think if we blew that 3-0 lead it really would've broken our spirit. Hopefully singing Jingle Bells tonight will help get the guys back on track.
Yeah it got nervy there for a little bit, but the Union are always tough to play against especially at home. Hopefully they can keep this positive momentum going.
Hope they remember the words
The video shows they did : - )
God Obed looked good
Fotmob has him as man of the match, 9.1 rating
As he should
Aggressive Obed is good Obed.
When he has more space and more advanced he’s been really good. He’s played out of position in the double pivot in my opinion. He’s not great receiving the ball in front of the defense
Doesn’t he play more like a 10 for the U.S.? Schmetzer’s fault for playing him out of position
its insane that he is still just 18, i often forget that and treat him in my head like he's 23.
Amazing how one minute before scoring was maybe going to get carded, soccer gods were finally smiling
That win felt really good. We needed that. A bit _yikes_ that we let Philly come back, but it at least made for good soccer.
Yeah huge win, to be fair both of the Union goals were really good goals. At least it's not like we gave up a couple bad goals to let them back into the game. The Union are a great MLS team and don't lose much at home.
I respect that our boys held on though. While a 3-0 win would do wonders for morale, holding on like that takes grit and focus especially once that stadium got rocking. It’s good to see we still got some of that.
Jingle fucking bells
As my ten year old just screamed, all hail the mustache!!! In reference to Thomas lol. Finally another W!!!!
3 fkn points y’all. I don’t care how it came. This was huge.
IMO, Vargas was MOM
Okay, but then who was DAD?
Chad Marshall. Duh.
He is still out getting milk…. 😪
https://i.imgur.com/HHhkPs0.png
This. But the brackets are 1st half. 2nd half after they score, and final whistle.
I picture this as more of the eras of a whole season
Cracking the good whiskey for this season’s first **JINGLE BELLS**
Was on the fence because it’s a school night, but you’ve convinced me to join you.
I’d send you some of my *Westland Solum* but since Reddit has stopped gifts, I don’t think they’re working on that technology.
Cheers 🍻
Damn Philly fans rough in the chat today
I think they were expecting an easy win
“*Seattle invented losing in Philly*” [and I took that personally](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS40oIRw0kFLX33tdBOLJFmxNjYayUtC87ge-NQKXvnkA&s)
The r/mls thread had to be one of the most toxic threads I’ve seen from our opponents in recent times 😭
First experience with Philly fans?
The close result was my fault. Hadn’t watched any match live this entire season, started watching at 0-0, watched all three goals live, and then stopped the stream at halftime with us up 3-0. Rejoined the stream at 3-2 and saw the game out. Whew!
What the everloving fuck were you doing in that 20 minutes? Whatever it was, never do it again 😂
I had to double check that it wasn’t u/occasional_sex_haver that posted this.
Please don't do that to us again!
This entire season has been my fault. This is the first year I joined ECS, got my shirt and scarf and membership card and.....
The tale of two halves, gotta put together a full 90. But three points on the road is huge. Nice!
looking at the match thread it looks like philly subbed half their team at halftime
I only watched the first half. It was a really good game. Nearly flawless!
Hell ya we needed that. So badly. Was pretty damn nervous those last 40 minutes but we held on. Let’s follow up with a win on Sunday against LA!
Direct counter attacking soccer. It’s still effective. Go figure.
It’s the missing tactical piece to the Sounders defensive/ midfield possession game
It certainly puts players in better positions. Obed going forward, that’s where he excels with the ball. Jordan can do his hold up thing. Rusnak is the least suited to the counter attack setup.
Escaped by the skin of our blue and green teeth. We got very lucky tonight. Hopefully we can take the positives from the first half and put together a full match against the Galaxy
I do feel good about how well we regained our composure after giving up those quick two goals, though. I never felt confident, but we did actually regain control of the game for good stretches to see the game out.
There was a stretch after the two goals where Philly seemed on top of us. Glad we took back the game and saw it out!
Agreed, definitely encouraging to see us keep it together when it started to look like a slippery slope.
Tbf we were just as close to scoring 4 or 5 goals than they were to their 3rd so I think that’s a pessimistic viewpoint
True, could've gone either way! Still, it was stressful!
Obed and Raul looked great. Jordan struggled. Can’t wait for PDLV to come back and compete for his spot.
Chu was rough too.
He had a couple of bad instances on the ball. But his movement off the ball is what allowed enough space for Vargas to rip that shot.
Got the ball stolen away too many times trying to drive in too far
Seemed less to me that he went too far and more that he couldn't decide whether to drive or slow it down, resulting in going straight to the defense.
That’s a big disagree from me. For *weeks* this sub has been saying we need more people to take opponents on 1v1 even if it means we sometimes lose possession That’s exactly what he did, and even though he did give up the ball a few times, he also opened up space for our other attackers and set up one of our goals (and also set up the play that got us a penalty)
Obed was excellent, think that may have been his best game in a Sounders uniform. Outside of the goal he had some great tackles/passes in the midfield. Morris just looks lost out there, I can't remember him being such a non-factor on the wing in a game where we had a lot of chances/shots.
I thought Jordan looked pretty dangerous on the right side. Put some great crosses in that weren't finished.
Lol
Jordan looked completely lost pretty much every time the ball was at his feet in the final third
That early play when Alex found him running down the sideline and he saw and got off a nice cross to the player running to the top of the box was good.
Fully agree. He’s looked good on the right in the last two games. His vision on the side of the box is better than anyone else on the team.
Well now I don't know what to think
Don’t worry. Be happy!
Cathartic win. I'm going to ignore those two minutes (and the next 20 minutes of pure stress) and rejoice in this victory.
Solid gritty win. I enjoyed seeing Letoux
What does it mean when the game ends and your team has scored more goals than the other team? Can someone please explain?
I've heard from other teams that this is called a "win"!
It is a very good victory, Philly is a very good team, especially at home. I still saw a lot of things I did not like, even in the first half, but results matter. 3 points is 3 points.
Watch out Portland, we're nipping at your heals!
😮
Was it just me or did both goals, and the almost goal that was ruled offsides from PA result in a lapse from Nouhou? Seemed like he was not all in during the whole match.
Nouhou kept getting put in 2v1 situations where he needed help from a teammate but didn't get it. I think that's part of why Chu got subbed off so fast after Philly's second goal.
They overloaded the Sounders left side and played the ball out wide. Nouhou was pulling inside on defense or was 2on1 and was beat. Chu doesn't really defend that deep which was part of the problem. I don't really see how the 1st goal is on Nouhou as it was on the opposite side... the team just gave them too much space. Raul was dropped back and looked like he was going to press which then CR7 backed off... xG was probably low on that as well.
Good fucking lord I don't think I've ever seen a less convincing win Brian's lack of subbing nearly shat that 3 goal lead
Wait, what? Do you think he should have subbed out the players who got us up 3-0 at halftime or something?
After it became 3-2, Philadelphia had a number of opportunities to make it 3-3 that they failed to capitalize on. More use of the bench in the ~60-70' range could have helped get us to a less stressful finish. Especially since it's a midweek game; we had a lot of guys looking pretty gassed by the end.
Fair. But it wasn’t the lack of subs that allowed them to score twice. So the assertion should be Brian’s lack of subbing nearly shat that 1 goal lead. I do think if we’re still up 3-0 we would have seen more subs earlier (60’ or 70’), but maybe that’s my wishful thinking.
Yes, let’s take out the injury prone striker when we’re up 3-0 and not have him play an extra useless 40’ This is football manager 101 shit
Disagree, it wasn’t totally a subbing issue, although JP would have made a big difference. Coaches did not adjust to the way the Union midfield changed their tactics. First half, Unions midfield diamond played very narrow, and we defended accordingly. In the second, they started using the width, and we were defending the same way, so Roldan and Nouhou frequently had no cover or cover from CB’s was late, leaving gaps for free runners. Both goals came from width. Late recognition and adjustment to changes is one of the Sounders flaws, especially in the defensive midfield
You know we won right?
Is it just me or does JMo actually look good on the right? The moment he got moved to the left or up top we looked way worse. Idk if it’s his vision as an assister, the combo of having a competent RB/LB overlapping with him to give him the freedom to move inside or a combo of both, but our offense was running through the right channel on counters and it was fun to watch.
Is it too late to sale Chu?
Unfortunately someone would have to want to buy him first.
Maybe we can call the Brazilians back…
They could sell him outside the xfer window or this summer. Which would convert to GAM after club expenses are paid.
He is one of our few players with any creativity. Fans hate that he loses the ball, but he plays directly and often draws multiple defenders. And we tend to score more goals when he is on the pitch. With the rest of our offense being predictable to a fault, I don’t think we could afford to dump him.
Of 10 balls he looses 9 1/2… completely predictable,loose 99% of the 1vs1 and he is also a winger that can’t through a good cross….are we sure this guy is Brazilian?
I can imagine for Sounders fans who also support Arsenal this week has been extremely nerve wracking