Nelson Valdez the unlikely hero in Sounders’ playoff-opening victory

It wasn’t the prettiest of games, and it could have gone very differently than it did, but the Sounders defeated a very difficult Sporting Kansas City team on Thursday night to make it to the next stage of the playoffs. Nelson Valdez, the expensive forward who hadn’t scored since the knockout stage of last season’s playoffs, silenced the many doubters with his late goal.

It was the Sounders’ only shot on target, but they made it count.

Despite the miraculous victory – and the miracle that got them this far – the Sounders weren’t perfect in the match, and they’ll need to play a whole lot better in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal against Supporters Shield winners FC Dallas on Sunday. That one shot on goal was just one of a set of issues that Seattle had. Its attacking was great on buildup but poor on output. Osvaldo Alonso’s discipline was a problem yet again, and he forced the referee to make hard decisions far too many times. Goalkeeper Stefan Frei was the real hero of the match, but the rest of the defense shouldn’t have allowed KC so many good chances.

As for the attack, it’s kind of easy to write off because of how stout KC tends to be, especially at defensive midfield. The Sounders built attacks well on the edges of the box but failed to get the ball into the box regularly or effectively. Of the five shots (all off target besides the goal) that the Sounders had inside KC’s penalty box, four were by center backs. No attacks from open play resulted in a shot inside the box for Seattle.

The 4-2-3-1 formation that interim head coach Brian Schmetzer has mostly stuck with since taking over the team has worked in most matches, but it has also declined in effectiveness with every key player missing from it. The Sounders haven’t really dominated a match, aside from a win in Los Angeles, since losing Clint Dempsey, because he was a perfect part of the puzzle that worked in that formation. Their quality went down a notch without his physical play and quality finishing. Andreas Ivanschitz might not be the best player for the position out there, but he fit Schmetzer’s tactics nearly as perfectly as Dempsey. Replacing those two players with Flaco Fernandez and Cristian Roldan, who hasn’t been poor but deserves to be in central midfield, decreases the attacking options and places too much on the shoulders of Nicolas Lodeiro and Jordan Morris.

Obviously injuries are totally out of Schmetzer’s control, and moving away from a tactic that has worked so well for him is mostly out of the question. We may see a slight change against FC Dallas on Sunday with Brad Evans finally making a start in midfield after his various injuries/suspensions/etc. If he plays the right midfield role, it will likely push Roldan back to his best position next to Alonso and oust Erik Friberg to the bench. I think Friberg has improved a lot this season and his defending against KC was actually quite good, but the Sounders are really lacking players that can hold onto the ball in midfield and in dangerous positions. Such a change could help them build their attack more slowly.

One advantage the Sounders will have is that Dallas’ defense, while solid and one of the better units in the league, tends to be very vulnerable. Dallas relies on other teams’ fear of its blazing counterattack, hoping opponents don’t commit too many men forward. The 5-0 drubbing the Sounders gave Dallas earlier this season was against their starting goalkeeper and 3/4 of their starting defenders. When Dallas can’t rely on their attack, their defense tends to suffer. If Seattle can press the backline and keep possession in the final third long enough to create good, finish-able chances, they might get more than one shot on goal.

The other big issue that needs to be dealt with going forward is discipline. While Alonso didn’t lash out like he did against Houston, his tackling – especially on a yellow card – was rather risky in such a crucial situation. He hadn’t been too bad about this during most of the season, but the pressure seems to be ramping up his willingness to dive into questionable tackles. With the return of Evans, hopefully the leadership pressure shifts from Alonso and he can focus on being the tidy central midfielder we saw for much of the season.

Even though the Sounders weren’t perfect against KC, in fact far from it, they did the thing that I haven’t shut up about all season: they found a way to win. The Schmetzer revolution continues to inspire belief in these guys, and after that win, they probably think they can do anything. If they combine that with a cleaner attack and cool heads in midfield, they just might be able to.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.