First things first I can't really speak for the Sounders before the 2012 season as I never really watched soccer until I went off to college and made friends with people who were big MLS fans. So I started watching the Sounders, and really have come to enjoy the sport, even if I wasn't there for the start of it all.

The Sounders Midfield

At least since I have watched the Sounders it feels like the team has primarily played in a 4-4-2 formation, with occasional flirtations with a 4-5-1 and 4-1-3-2 (Diamond) at times. However for the last five seasons I feel it reasonable to state the 4-4-2 has been our staple and I assume it probably was that case earlier. The 4-4-2 has fallen out of favor around the world (although it is being revived by teams like Atletico and Leicester) which means that in the current climate of 4-3-3's and 4-5-1's the midfield is at a disadvantage as they play down a midfielder especially if forwards don't track back or wingers tuck inside.

Ozzie Alonso and our Central Midfield

Osvaldo Alonso is hands down the best midfielder in Sounders history and probably could be remembered as one of the best DM's in MLS history when he eventually retires. However he is not a serious goalscoring or assisting threat despite his incredibly strong defensive presence. His ability to retain and win back possession is crazy, I honestly think Alonso if he didn't have to deal with his nationality (Lack of International Appearances is a primary component of work permit requirements) and had a strong desire could have carved out a successful career in Europe. I know it was a friendly, but an Alonso/Johnson midfield held their own against Bayern in the 2014 All Stars and managed to piss of Pep Guardiola. Ozzie's ability to cover so much ground is the only reason we have been able to continue to utilize the 4-4-2 however he cannot do it alone.

Since our midfield is usually playing down a man, The most important attribute for a Sounders central midfielder is his work rate and stamina, and usually except in elite players you are forced to sacrifice technical ability and crisp passing for energy. Therefore we have to have another ball winning / box to box type midfielder. This is where we have traditionally had guys like Brad Evans step in. Brad is a jack of all trades master of none player, which is why he has gone from midfielder to full back and finally center back, however he also is not a super creative incisive player. Since Brad moved out of the starting midfielder position, we have replaced him with both Gonzalo Pineda and last season Erik Friberg.

Pineda was actually a pretty good player in his prime, while he was never Mexico's greatest talent a complete schlub wouldn't earn 40 odd caps and start in a World Cup. While Pineda in 2014 wasn't as dynamic as Alonso, he was quick enough to get himself a little space where he could make forward linking passes, although his defense on fast breaks was pretty poor. Pineda actually started off 2015 fairly well despite playing alongside a far less talented Azira, however an early ankle injury seemed to slow him down considerably and after that return he was too slow to really close down players, or even get himself space to complete passes. Thus while we were still playing well in May & June Dempsey & Martins were covering for a really weak midfield. Alonso, Azira or Rose at the time were tasked with having to essentially defend 2-3 midfielders solo and it caused Alonso (who was also battling injury) and caused our midfield to be constantly overrun until Friberg arrived who in my opinion has a pretty similar skill set to Alonso, except maybe with worse positioning and tackling, but a little better passing although still not enough to truly terrify defenses.

As a result the necessity of mobility in our central midfielders, has hampered our ability to incorporate playmaking midfielders, which I think is the big reason Tiffert was a disastrous signing as he simply wasn't able to cover the ground needed. So he was heavily pressured and struggled to make use of his skills and was ultimately benched and released despite coming off several good Bundesliga seasons of double digit assists. The lack of playmaking in central midfield means we needed to run our attacks from the wings (2011- early 2013) or up top (late 2013 to 2015).

The Wingers and Wide Play (Rosales, Neagle, Pappa and the Emergency Wingers (Rose/Roldan)

Because the central midfield was not a creative force in 2012 and a big chunk of 2013, the majority of midfield attacks had to come from out wide. Our 2012 teams attack was run mostly through Mauro Rosales who recorded 13 assists that year and another 8 the following season. The strategy on offense seemed mostly to get the ball out wide to Rosales who could cross the ball to Eddie Johnson who was very good at the Target Forward role, from there he could either attack the goal or lay off the ball to Freddy Montero. This formula was a success because all three of the players performed well in their roles, which were pretty clearly defined, however the arrival of both Clint and Oba and the departure of Freddy marked the beginning of the end of the Crossing strategy we employed for the better part of two seasons.

In the latter half of 2013 we seemed to switch into a 4-1-3-2 formation more popularly known as the 4-4-2 Diamond, where we would play Dempsey as the tip (which didn't work at all) in order to ensure we could get Dempsey/Martins/Johnson all onto the field at once. I think this late season switch really hurt the team, as once again we had pieces that didn't really strongly compliment each other, and the adjustment period for mid summer signings meant Dempsey and Martins were tired from playing and thus were not yet at 100% like we would see in 2014. As the season closed locker room issues and other problems plagued the Sounders and Gspurning seemed to completely lose the plot and put in a string of awful performances.

When 2014 rolled around Sigi and Adrian made the decision that the team needed to be restructured around Dempsey and Martins, which was the correct move in hindsight. As a result Eddie Johnson was traded to DC United and got paid... (he also dropped off a cliff there scoring 2 goals and retired in 2015 after heart troubles) and Rosales was sent to Chivas USA for Tristan Bowen (awful trade, across Chivas and Whitecaps Rosales managed 11 assists, Bowen I think played one game for us all year) and Freddy had his loan move to Sporting CP turned into a transfer (where he went back to being streaky and struggled to find playing time, now he is having fun in CHINA with Martins!!!). As a result Marco Pappa was acquired through allocation and Lamar Neagle coming off his best season yet (8 goals and 4 Assists) was transitioned from a backup Forward to Wide Midfielder.

These moves signaled a change in strategy from the wings, Lamar is a pretty poor crosser and even as one of his big fans that was a huge weakness in his game. His job was not to stay out wide, instead he was supposed to cut inside to directly attack the goal, while he lost possession alot his pressure on the defense opened room for Dempsey & Martins to combine in the final third. His best asset other than his ability to stay healthy over a long season was his ability to shoot which made it so defenses couldn't just entirely pack the box, and on occasion these long shots could turn into assists if they were blocked by defenders.

Pappa while still a decent crosser, was definitely more notable for his dribbling and shooting ability, and he and Neagle often played inverted and drifted alot across the attack. However Sigi seemed to want him to stay wide (especially when Pappa was played on the left) and be a winger rather than a more roaming playmaker, who would drift inside and combine with Dempsey and Oba. Pappa however had an annoying tendency to hog the ball, which at times could kill promising attacks as he tried to dribble through three defenders rather than simply lay off a pass before he was closed down. However Pappa in 2014 was probably one of the more underrated technical players in the league, he had a great ability to dribble the ball, however his defensive workrate was inconsistent sometimes he would hustle and other times he would quit on plays, similar to Joevin Jones criticism this season. Pappa also received criticism at times from Sigi for not staying wide and generating width, but personally I don't take issue with that.

When Oba and Dempsey were stopped by teams clogging the midfield in 2014 or were out of the lineup for a variety of reasons this created a problem. With our plan A attack stopped we resorted to crossing in balls to either Chad Barrett or Cooper. While in theory these guys are decent targets, they aren't nearly as lethal as Eddie in 2012-2013. Several times during the season, most notably against San Jose & Whitecaps our team resorted to awful crosses into the box that were easily cleared by these 6'0 behemoths. For while most MLS Centerbacks might not have the best positioning or technical skills, they are still big guys who can use their head to deal with aerial threats. These rare occasions showed that the 2014 Sounders didn't really have a plan B other than hope one of the supporting cast would pull off a surprise goal (which did happen surprisingly often).

The Dire Days of 2015 exacerbated these problems that showed through the cracks a few times the previous season. For this time both Martins and Dempsey were out of the lineup and in theory our striker most suited to be a target in Kenny Cooper had been waived (I supported this decision, it was clear he was on a downswing and on a big contract.) and was on the injury list in Montreal. With Cooper gone at the season's start we really only had two veteran forwards in the lineup Chad Barrett and Lamar Neagle. Barrett is a hard workrate guy, but has a pretty awful first touch and an infamously bad finishing ability with the ball at his feet. As a forward Neagle is pretty much a goal poacher, he can put away easy chances, but he is not a guy to beat the defense in the box unless he gets a chance spoonfed to him.

It was clear there was no way Neagle and Barrett could replicate the skills of Dempsey and Martins and anyone who thought that in the summer was utterly mad. However the two sort of fit into the mold of the Big Man/Little Man partnership of the classic 4-4-2, however both these guys were not as good as their predecessors. It didn't help that the best crosser on our roster in the dire days was Tyrone Mears. The loss of Pappa to the Gold Cup and later DUI meant over than a rookie Kovar we had not a single natural wide player on the roster other than Evans (who was needed on the backline). So we played Christian Roldan and Andy Rose out wide quite often and it was a disaster. Both these players have good qualities, but wide play is not one of them. So throughout the summer we had people playing out of position wide, sending in poor crosses to our B team forwards and acted surprised when we scored two goals in two months. This horrible run of form I think caused Sigi and Adrian to realize he needed more options for if Dempsey and Martins went down again because Sigi isn't stupid he knew he needed a plan B. So Garth went out and acquired what at the time looked like the most promising short term pieces available in an attempt to revive our old 2012 tactics.

Adding Ivanschitz and Valdez

Ivanschitz was the former captain of Austria with numerous caps, and was touted as the "Austrian Beckham" who had a successful career in Europe as a winger and a set piece specialist. Ivanschitz honestly played really well in 2015 and was a dangerous presence on dead ball situations and was one of the only people on the team who could deliver a good ball into the box. However it was clear he wasn't exactly quick and could be muscled off the ball by physical defenders.

Like Ivanschitz, Valdez also had a successful European career, spending many seasons with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and had a reputation as a big strong target forward who could go toe to toe with centerbacks and win aerial duels and always gave 100%. However at the time he was coming off several injury plagued years. A full season and Russia and a busy summer with Paraguay in Copa America meant he had essentially no offseason to recover. While he endeared himself with his tough play, he wasn't terribly effective, playing out wide he rarely was in a position to threaten the box with headers outside of corners and free kicks. In addition over the course of his season he was often carrying nagging injuries that hampered his effectiveness and could rarely go a full 90 minutes, which I think was exacerbated by his physical play, his body simply couldn't keep up.

Thus in my opinion these two moves were on paper good ideas, however I think the additions were a little to old and the lack of a true offseason (especially in Valdez's case) meant they really faded in games.

How this all unraveled 2015-2016 Offseason

2015 ended in heartbreak, we almost beat Dallas and only had to have held a lead for ONE FUCKING MINUTE *RAGE* to have made it to the finals and hopefully have gotten back Evans and Alonso against Portland. Seriously though I think the 2015-2016 offseason was an utter disaster in hindsight. It caused the front office and Sigi to back away from the formula that made our team successful. We lost our entire Supporters Shield WInning attack with the exception of Dempsey. An attack which was statistically one of the best in MLS history which went toe to toe with another great team in 2014 LA Galaxy, and crawled out of the grave in the Fall of 2015.

For the second time it was decided that the players were at fault and the team needed another rebuild... however this rebuild didn't really happen. The team sent Marco Pappa to Colorado (Understandable was pissed that he did something so stupid with his DUI and vindicated when he had a questionable stabbing event at his apartment after the trade) and Neagle to DC United (I wasn't happy, but I understand why he had a terrible season after getting a bigger contract, I think he would have been a good fit in our current 4-3-3 however). Even Barrett was out the door despite his small contract and pretty good record for a guy making 80K a season and being primarily a sub.

However the most damning of all was the loss of one of our teams cornerstones in Obafemi Martins, right before the start of the 2016 season to the CSL. Naturally the removal of a key piece shortly before the season started would kill most teams, but this move really ripped the heart out of the Sounders. In one offseason one of the more dynamic MLS offenses died an unceremonious death. While one can make a case for why these players needed to leave, the Front Office did a poor job replacing them. While it could be argued the replacements came in the summer, the guys brought in Valdez and Ivanschitz don't really match up to the skills that ended up leaving, Valdez and Ivanschitz were very different players than Pappa and Neagle (You could argue Barrett being replaced as a target by Valdez, but honestly paying a guy 1.4 million to replace a guy who makes 80K just sounds stupid if you use this angle).

The 2016 Attack and Why it Sucks

Now we come to why our 2016 attack sucks, and no it isn't any one person's fault, scapegoating Valdez or Ivanschitz or Morris or Dempsey is the wrong attitude. What happened in the offseason Plan A walked out the door chasing a bigger paycheck. This hampered Dempsey's effectiveness because he is not a true #9 he plays as a deep lying forward or a shadow striker to borrow terms from Football Manager. He needs someone to lead the line, and the 4-3-3 forces him to play in one of three roles that limit his effectiveness. Martins despite his lack of height, really could do everything a forward needed too. His build let him hold off center backs and defensive mids, even if he wasn't so good at winning aerials. Despite turning 30 in 2015 he still had oodles of pace and in 2015 he was probably the fastest player on the team. Finally he had a lethal finishing ability and converted chances at a ridiculous almost improbable rate. All of this let Dempsey play off of him and eased the pressure on our actual big money player to fill the role he at this time in his career is best suited for, unlike the team we currently have.

Dempsey used to be a dangerous force as an inside forward out wide years back when he played for Fulham and the USA. It was playing primarily out on the wing that Dempsey was one of the top 3 goalscorers in the EPL one season, losing out to some nobody named Wayne Rooney. However age has slowed Dempsey down and he doesn't have the pace or stamina to really go a full 90 minutes in this role. Likewise his tendency to drift centrally exposes the fullbacks as he isn't out providing an outlet and cover for overlapping runs. If you play him centrally as a midfield playmaker you move our best finisher away from goal which is also a bad idea. Although Dempsey honestly is the only one who can sort or fill the playmaking role on the current roster and most of our handful of wins this season have featured Dempsey in this spot. If you do end up playing Dempsey up top he gets clattered by center backs which will just get him injured and fouled alot pissing him off and making him play like crap. Likewise Dempsey at times has developed in his years a really annoying tendency to go down softly to draw FK's in dangerous areas, which while useful sometimes it would be nice to see him actually try to beat his man than draw the foul.

This center forward role, then has to be filled by either Jordan Morris or Nelson Valdez. Morris is not a strong hold up player (at the moment) although he has a pretty broad frame and with time could probably add that to his game. When I mean Morris is not strong, he seems to struggle to win aerial duels, however he does have enough strength to hold off defenders when the ball is at his feet. In contrast Valdez is that kind of guy who has done poorly in pretty much every other aspect of the game, but win aerials. However injuries have limited his playing time and his lack of pace really hurts up top. He regularly is outrun by Centerbacks and poses no threat on through balls, compared to Morris who is fast enough to burn defenders. Therefore teams can play a high line and compress the Sounders into making errors, because Valdez is not a threat to break an offside trap, even the shoddy ones run by MLS defenses.

Next it was expected for Ivanschitz to take up the central playmaking role as he has a good vision and a pretty decent range of passing. However Ivanschitz is a winger and had a tendency to drift out wide leaving a whole in central midfield, which forces Friberg/Ozzie or Roldan to close it down. Likewise Ivanschitz doesn't seem to have the ability to hold off defenders or the stamina to go a full 90 minutes effectively, especially in the middle. While out wide he really is too slow to beat opposing fullbacks and get space for a cross. Similarly he seems to have issues coordinating with Joevin Jones and the two seem to not play off each other.

As a result of this our attack relies on playing pretty much everyone out of position and the age of the attackers is pretty damning, in our first choice attack everyone but Morris is over the age of 32... and while Kovar and Anderson are young, we regularly have a 34 year old Hercules Gomez coming off the bench. Our attack simply put is too old and too slow. When we win the ball back, or Morris/Anderson/Kovar gets in behind the defense they have no support most of the time.

A good example was in the most recent game against LA, Morris got onto a nice long ball and managed to beat Rowe to the ball, while he should have put the ball away the only player who was in any position to maybe get a better shot off a late run was Dempsey, who still was a little late. No one else was even in the final third when Morris made his turn to shoot. A year ago Oba probably would have tried to make the shot anyway, but Dempsey/Pappa/Neagle all probably would have been there making supporting runs. Our offense once again is too slow and thus can't effectively counter because the defenses can track back faster than our players can get down the field. It doesn't matter if Valdez/Ivanschitz/Dempsey have all the skill or work ethic in the world if they can't be in good positions.

Right now were playing as a half assed combination of 2012 and 2014 Sounders, with Dempsey trying to play through the middle, but Friberg and Morris aren't as skilled as on the ball as Martins and Papp. Out wide Ivanschitz is too slow to get into dangerous crossing positions and isn't a long distance shooting threat like Neagle was. Finally up top Valdez even when he wins aerial duels, simply isn't fast enough to burn defenses like EJ occasionally could.

Potential Fixes?

The teams roster right now is a mess and the pieces are old or inexperienced and simply don't fit. To borrow a quote from Game of Thrones "The Night's Watch has become an army of sullen boys and tired old men". The same goes for the Sounders. If you look at the roster more than half of it is 30 or older, and almost the entire gameday 18 is north of 30. Zach Scott (36), Neslon Valdez (32), Hercules Gomez (34), Brad Evans (31), Osvaldo Alonso (30), Stefan Frei (30), Erik Friberg (30), Chad Marshall (31), Tyrone Mears (33), Clint Dempsey (33). The only four players under this age to get at least semi-regular minutes is Joevin Jones (24), Cristian Roldan (21) and Jordan Morris (21) and Aaron Kovar (21).

In the Short Term, I think the team can function all right with a couple of moves. Bringing in Lodeiro if he really is coming to Seattle will give us a technical #10 who should be able to combine with Dempsey and provide through balls and long passes that Jordan Morris can latch on too. This move alone probably won't make the Sounders a playoff team this season, but then again Piatti came in to Montreal in the second half of 2014 and made them a much stronger team. If this is the only move we make I would change the teams formation to a 4-4-2 Diamond. that would look like this

http://lineupbuilder.com/?sk=bx6l9

Edit: If we got both Lodeiro and Romero I would be happy seeing us line up in our 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 with Dempsey in the hole behind Morris, and Lodeiro and Romero out wide pulling strings.