SDFC vs Seattle: Game Recap

What a night it was at Snapdragon stadium last Saturday. The buzz of the fans was electric as they were getting to their seats. The beautiful, warm, sunny San Diego day was coming to an end – culminated by a gorgeous orange hue of the sun setting over the 300 sections of the stadium. The rain has come and gone, it finally felt like a pure San Diego summer evening that we all love so much. The pregame fireworks erupted sending fans (especially the little ones) into a frenzy of excitement as the starting 11 took their places on the field. Seattle vs San Diego was about to begin – but not many people expected the game to go the way it did. As always, let’s get into it!

Early Pressure

The starting lineup, as predicted in the game preview by yours truly, held firm with Chucky starting as a left attacker, Valakari playing the false 9, and Dreyer holding down the right side of the attack, as per usual. Luca, Jeppe, and Anibal commanded the midfield. Negri and Loffelsend got their second consecutive starts in the back, as the McDuo of McNair and McVey held down the center.

Before some fans even got to their seats, SDFC opened the night by treating those who were in their seats with an early goal. By early I mean inside the second minute of the first half. Seattle coach, Schmetzer, blamed his team for not being ready and having their backs to de la Torre, who was setting up for a corner kick and noticed that no one was picking up the short option to Chucky. He quickly slotted the ball to number 11 and Chucky craftfully dribbled his way into he box past two defenders and hit a low cross to the captain, Tverskov. Jeppe carefully bounced the ball to his left foot and slid it into the opposite corner from about 10 yards out.

Setting the Tone

An early goal is important for a team because it sets the tone of the game. It told Seattle that we were here to play hard and fast from the start. This is exactly what SDFC did. The opposition, kind of like us in Austin, fell asleep early and were not prepared for such a high-pace game from the beginning. Schmetzer half-blamed himself saying “it’s also on me for not having the team ready from the start”. During the post-game interview, outside mid Paul Rothrock said that the team was prepared and had a game plan prior to going into Snapdragon but he quoted the great Mike Tyson as a reference to what happened to them when the whistle blew, “Everyone has a gameplan until they get punched in the face”. Credit Mikey Varas with realizing that Seattle was going to press high from the start and by playing quick, they will be exposed.

Giving Credit Where it's Due

Seattle wasn’t going to back down as they came back firing themselves. In the 8th minute, Rothrock found Rusnak on the left side of the penalty box. Rusnak, whos picked up the slack in the attacking third with Jordan Morris being out due to injury, dribbled across the box and shot just wide past a diving CJ Dos Santos. Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said Rusnak scores that goal 9/10 times, indicating that the game would’ve been much different had he put that one away. Many TV personalities as well as Schmetzer alluded to the fact that Seattle were not playing like themselves and that they had “self-inflicted” this onslaught of pressure and goals that were to come from San Diego later in the match. Seems as though many people are still not giving SDFC the full credit we deserve. Maybe it is because they are embarrassed that the storied clubs who faced off against an expansion team were beaten. Whatever the reason is, the boys in Chrome and Azul do not care nor do they listen. They know that if they stick with the gameplan, things will go our way.

40th minute proved just that. Negri dispossessed a Minoungou in half-field and quickly played a pass to Chucky, who immediately looked to switch the field and catch Seattle sleeping. Anders Dreyer made a beautiful, full-speed run down the wing as Chucky found him with a wonderful through ball. Dreyer held it up on the corner of the box and slotted a pass into the path of Anibal Godoy, who hit a low shot into the corner of the net to make it dos a cero. It wasa beautiful link up play between four players that are proving to us that the chemistry is there. SDFC is not working on chemistry. It is present – in a big way. Mikey Varas mentioned in his post-game presser that he saw top-level football for about 50 minutes at most this season. He ended his statement by saying he cannot wait to see a full 90 minutes of that kind of play from the team. That is what they are striving to achieve and there is no doubt that the boys are showing it on the field for all to witness.

Two goals had Seattle rattled and it seemed as though they lost all sense of their initial gameplan, their style of play, and the calmness on the ball. Seattle pressed high for the remainder of the half and they paid the price for it. Loffelsend, who was so good all game, intercepted a poor pass in the back and made a dashing run down the line with no one tracking him. Valakari collected the loose ball and dropped it to Tverskov, who quickly one-timed a GORGEOUS through ball back to Loffelsend. Chucky snuck in behind Ragen as Loffelsend one-timed a sliding cross to the Mexican international. This was it… the star player was in one on one with the keeper. Would he once again miss a great chance? Or would he finally slot it away to open his scoring campaign? This time, he did not miss. The stadium erupted in the 2nd minute of first half stoppage time and SDFC were up 3-0.

Schmetzer, in his post-game interview criticized his team for not picking up Chucky as he was running in behind. He made a funny mistake calling Lozano 35 years old when he’s actually 29. “A 35 year old makes a run from deep… he’s running from deep to score, those are things we can’t give goals away like that.” I personally got a very passive-aggressive vibe from him in the way he criticized his team but also made it sound like SDFC did not put in a deserving-of-a-win effort. This is a long-time, aging coach who is feeling the pressure of an underachieving and quite frankly, terrible start to the season. His job is definitely on the line as Seattle faces their own tough challenges.

Stats & More

Statistically, you wouldn’t know it but Seattle actually out-possessed and out-shot SDFC. The game management aspect is still shaky after 7 games and it is becoming a bit of a concern. SDFC seem to have a hard time seeing games out. I am talking about keeping possession and playing more of a defensive-style game after being up multiple goals. This stems from the style that Varas implemented in the beginning of the season. Sure, it’s exciting end-to-end, high pace game but at some point a team needs to realize that minimizing risk is probably a better way to see a game out. This kind of play got us in trouble a few times but luckily Seattle missed their chances. CJ Dos Santos kept a clean sheet by making an incredible save after SDFC were caught playing out of the back and McVey lost the ball in the box which was quickly turned into a close-range shot. In his post-match presser, Varas said he admires the passion of the team to search for ways out of a tough, pressure situation. What he is talking about is SDFC playing out of the back and passing it in front of goal under tremendous pressure. While that is ok to do sometimes, mostly with a comfortable lead, SDFC tends to do that throughout the game – no matter the score. This is a tough pill to swallow for many people and I’ve yet to see the benefit of it but in Mikey Varas we trust.

Tidbits

• I took my 5-year-old daughter to her first game last Saturday and she had a blast. Shout out to SDFC for always going all out for the kids in the pre-game fan fest right outside of the stadium. If you are looking to bring your kids to the game, check out the grass area in front of the stadium starting at 3:30. They offer free face painting, bracelet making, coloring, and much more for the little ones. I of course had to introduce her to the purple lot where she got handed free paletas while I was being treated to beers and tacos. Shout out Barra18 and USG18. She then got to experience being in the supporter section and chanting the songs, which she knows by the way. Amazing times were had and I will never forget it.

• Loffelsend played much better and I believe he has cemented his starting role.

• Negri made a few really good plays and a couple mistakes but no one is perfect. His biggest crutch is that he does not seem fit enough to go a full 90 hence why we see him subbed out in the second half when he starts.

• With the arrival of Milan Iloski and having game-changers on the bench like Tomas Angel and my favorite, Alex Mighten – we had a tough but good problem on our hands about how to get all of them ample playing time. They are all deserving.

• I will be making a guest appearance on the Penalty Kick Podcast this week to break down the upcoming match at Colorado. Look out for that on www.penaltykickpodcast.com and on YouTube.

• If you still aren’t following me on Instagram, check out my page @SDFCNation and follow/spread the word!