Something is wrong in Seattle. Again. The Sounders have lost three of their last five games, picking up only four points and scoring only four goals in the process. Maybe it’s just a blip on the radar, but maybe it’s not.

Don’t forget that Seattle did this last year as well, though much later in the season. The Sounders went winless in their last seven games to end the regular season last year, going 0-3-4 to limp into the playoffs.

Cascadia Clash: Portland Rising, Seattle Sliding

While this isn’t likely to be another collapse, and Seattle certainly has time to turn things around and a cushion to do it with (they’re tied with SKC and RSL for most points in the standings, and have a game in hand on both), it should still be cause for concern.

With a Cascadia Cup visit to the rising Portland Timbers this Sunday, Seattle must figure out their problems or they’re likely to see their skid continue for at least another week.

What’s Wrong?

Here are some numbers that may provide a bit of context as to Seattle’s recent problems, especially their lack of scoring:

• Seattle has the 2nd worst goals per shot taken outside the box ratio in MLS at 0.019.

• The Sounders have the best goals per “danger zone” shot taken ratio in MLS at 0.247.

• In MLS play in 2014, 48% of the Sounders shots have been taken from inside the 18 yard box.

• In their last 5 games only 37% of their shots have been from in the box.

• For the season, 43.5% of shots from the “danger zone” have been set up by crosses.

• Seattle averages 22 crosses attempted per game.

• The Sounders are averaging 13.4 attempted crosses in their last 5 games, completing 1.6 per game.

A quick glance at the Chalkboards for Seattle’s game this year shows that a good portion of Seattle’s goals have been assisted on balls from distance and from the wide areas of the field. Take Chad Barrett’s 2nd half goal against San Jose on Wednesday night as an example. Obafemi Martins picks up the ball near the center circle, moves past a defender then plays a ball through to Barrett running behind the defense.

Martins and Clint Dempsey have combined similarly multiple times this season, putting together combinations in the midfield to play each other through behind the defense for a scoring opportunity. Seattle’s forwards love to operate just inside the attacking half and the combine to get in behind the defense for scoring chances.

Barrett’s goal Wednesday night was one of the only times that Seattle was able to get the ball in behind the defense. The Sounders also struggled creating space for their wide players to cross the ball into. While Seattle outside backs DeAndre Yedlin and Jalil Anibaba spent much of the game in the attacking half and the Sounders controlled possession, they had few chances to cross into the box that weren’t aimed at a Sounders forwarded surrounded by red shirts.

This inability to get in behind the defense or use the wings to create space in recent games has plagued the Sounders, and in part it may be down to teams playing a higher defensive line to compress space in the midfield. Real Salt Lake did this especially well in their 2-1 victory over Seattle, using a high defensive line and their diamond midfield to limit Seattle’s chances to combine and find space going forward.

Take a look at the heat map for Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins for their 4-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids back in April, one of their best performances of the year based on Squawka performance scores. They combined to score 3 goals, so the action in and near the box make sense, but notice the amount of action in the middle third of the field. Dempsey, Martins, and Chad Barrett as well, spend a lot of time in the middle third of the field. It’s where they combine, find space, and play each other and others into space going forward.

Now take a look at how RSL took that space away in their recent matchup with Seattle. Notice how high the entire line pushes up regularly. The center backs press up, limiting midfield space to create combinations going forward for Seattle. The fullbacks also pushed high up the field, limiting the ability of Seattle’s outside backs to get forward, something they’ve used to punish teams this year.

Notice the whole left in the middle of the field by the back four of RSL. For some teams this would be a defensive problem. RSL are not some teams. RSL have Kyle Beckerman. Here’s the space he occupied in the same game. Notice how the majority of Beckerman’s time is spent filling in that hole in the middle, forming a triangle with the center backs, and clogging the middle of the field where Seattle’s forwards like to operate.

Seattle vs. Portland: What to Watch for

A visit to Portland may be coming at the perfect time for Seattle. While the Timbers’ play has improved lately, their defense still fails to inspire confidence, and Seattle has scored nine goals in three games against Portland this season if you include their US Open Cup match. The Timbers struggle against set-pieces, and Seattle’s 15 set piece goals in MLS this year are good enough for 4th most in the league.

Playing at home, Portland may look to press Seattle more than in previous games, with Will Johnson and Diego Chara especially looking to force turnovers in the midfield to launch the Timbers attack. The Timbers have been at their most dangerous, this season and last, counterattacking not from their defensive areas, but countering off of midfield turnovers.

Here’s the Timbers back four in their last home game, against Chivas USA, and their most recent game against the New England Revolution. The fullbacks don’t push as high up against New England, but the center backs push high in both games.

Similar to RSL, in the Chivas USA match, Portland leaves a bit of a hole in the middle, which is filled by Will Johnson and Diego Chara at holding midfield.

Portland’s defensive positioning sets them up to frustrate the Seattle attack. Whether they can execute effectively enough is another question, and that they’ve given up so many goals to Seattle this year may suggest they cannot.

If the Timbers defense can hold steady and the midfield can create turnovers, it could be another frustrating day for the Sounders attack and another in the loss column. However, Portland’s defensive inconsistencies suggest that Seattle may find space going forward, which given the strength of both team’s attacks over the whole season, could lead to another high scoring affair.

Seattle may not break out of their slump in terms of results, but look for the offense to get going in what should be a high flying matchup between rivals.

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