Brian Schmetzer’s describes a vision in a way that allows others to see it, too. He speaks in declarative, confident sentences, and in detail, immersing his audience in a picture that exists in his mind. It’s the type of professorial air that can turn his players into pupils, believing his every word.



This is how Schmetzer laid out his team’s game plan for taking down this year’s version of Los Angeles FC, one of the most formidable sides MLS had ever seen, about 28 hours before it actually happened.



Sitting in an unused ballroom at the Seattle Sounders’ hotel in Santa Monica on Monday afternoon, Schmetzer spoke in that same confident mode, using only his hands to bring the playing field to life on the table in front of him. Even with the most spartan of visual aids, it was easy to get swept up by his narrative of how he saw the MLS Western Conference championship playing out, in his ideal world. What would manifest itself as one of the...