SDFC vs Seattle Preview

Another week, another past champion to face SDFC. The start of the season has been anything but easy when it comes to facing tough opponents. From one perspective, a club would rather face the tough competition first to truly test themselves against the best. If you look at it that way, San Diego have proven that they can not only take on the toughest competition early in their existence, but to beat them (or tie). The Galaxy, Columbus, and LAFC all presented challenges that made most analysts pick SD to lose but they have been proven wrong time and time again. Will this Saturday be any different? Or will Seattle come into Snapdragon stadium and bring SDFC back down to earth?

Rankings and Points

SDFC’s meteoric rise into the MLS ranks rewards them with 3rd place having earned 11 pts, only trailing the Whitecaps and Austin FC, who have 13 and 12 pts, respectively in what Sacha Klestjan called “a weak Western conference” during the MLS Wrap Up show on Apple TV. I’d have to completely disagree with Sacha and do not understand why he believes it is a weak division when only 6 out of the 15 teams have losing records. The competition in the division has been hot and the games have been mostly low-scoring due to the amazing defensive displays.

Seattle comes into this game in 12th place with 6 pts earned and a record of 1-3-2. Their last game ended in a tie against a good San Jose team. Despite controlling possession and tripling the shots on goal as compared to San Jose, Seattle was not able to find a break-through. Seattle has not won their last 4 games and has dropped out of the top 10 in MLS power rankings. After their impressive 5-2 win over LAFC, they have lost 2 and tied 2 so they will be coming into San Diego hungry for a win.

Adding to the Family

This week we learned about a new player being added to the roster. Milan Illoski joined San Diego on loan from Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjaelland. Milan is a native of San Diego so he should fit in perfectly and play with passion that only a homegrown player can feel. Before joining FCN, Milan was an outstanding player for UCLA and Orange County in the USL. He’s got a talent for being at the right place in the right time, which a true striker needs and he likes to run directly at players like Alex Mighten does. That aggressive style of play in the attack coupled with clinical finishing is what SDFC has been missing in the last few weeks. Coach Mikey Varas told the media that Milan will not be seeing game action this week being as new as he is and will need to compete for a starting role. One interesting this about this loan is the fact that Milan is only under contract with SDFC through July 2025. This points to the team looking to fill a role of a striker while Chucky gets back to form and Ingvartsen being out for an extended period of time.

Projected Lineups

The LAFC game proved that a strong lineup of the core players that San Diego has will produce the best results. The two biggest question marks about who was going to play in the back were answered with Mikey Varas opting to go back to the more veteran player duo of Negri and Loffelsend. I do not believe much changes will happen in the game against Seattle. Well… I will take a gamble and say that Chucky will get the start on the left. He looked healthy and all reports have been good indicating he is close to, or already is, match fit.

San Diego will aim to control possession with the ball and team-press without the ball. As it currently stands, SDFC are leading all MLS teams in passes completed and pass accuracy at 89%. Give all credit to Varas as he and the coaching staff are the ones who implemented this style of play and the team seems to be responsive in showcasing it on the field. Mikey was asked about this during a media availability and he alluded to the fact that the team seems to be understanding of the gameplay style and it may be time to implement a few more niche things that they’ve held off on as to not push too many details onto the team at once. I believe he is referring to such things as positioning, runs, and working in small groups to advance the attack or gain an edge on defense.

Seattle will look to play a similar lineup as SDFC. In his press conference, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer gave a lot of credit to Mikey Varas and SDFC for starting the way we did. He indicated that he believes both teams have a similar style of play and said they will aim to play a similar 4-3-3, a change from the 3-4-3 they have been playing recently. Seattle is second to SDFC in passes completed so they will look to control the possession as well. Schmetzer said that the key to winning this game for Seattle will be to make plays on offense when given the opportunity and to play brave in the back knowing that SDFC will be pressing without the ball.

Under pressure, Seattle looked shaky. They gave up a goal playing out of the back when San Jose pressed them in their own box. SDFC will look to do the same. Schmetzer indicated that they have a game plan for SDFC and are well prepared but questions will remain as to how well they will do on the offensive end because they will be without star striker Jordan Morris, who is injured. Rusnak scored for Seattle in the last game and will be their most dangerous player up front. Seattle will look to control the middle and take away possession while looking for through-balls into their attack.

SDFC will need to recognize that Seattle tends to play very tight through the middle which leaves their wingers vulnerable. They tend to give up a lot of crosses which bodes well with SDFC’s attacking style where we can use our speedy wing backs to join the attacke and cross the ball into a crowded box. I see this game being similar to the columbus game where both teams will look to hang on to possession so most likely it will end in with a low score but the key to winning will be to be the team who gives up the least amount of mistakes in the back as both teams will look to score in that manner.

Enjoy the game and let me know on Instagram @sdfcnation if you will be there. I’ve got my tickets already and cannot wait for another fun-filled tailgate and to cheer on our beloved club. As always, LFGSDFC!!