Sounders’ sloppy finishing bailed out by Jordan Morris’ late goal

It’s hard to believe that the Sounders are already eight games into the MLS season, but the many ups and downs of the season have put fans on the kind of emotional roller coaster that usually takes an entire season. After Seattle broke its initial three-match losing streak to start the season, it started to improve only to be humiliated in Colorado a week ago.

The Sounders fixed some of the problems from that match and bounced back with a win against Columbus at CenturyLink Field on Saturday. Even though they squeaked out a win thanks to rookie Jordan Morris’ late goal, the match could have easily ended 0-0, and it probably should have ended somewhere around 2-2. Both teams were absolutely awful in front of goal, fluffing or making poor decisions when presented with extremely easy chances.

The stats are especially telling: Seattle put eight shots on target from 16 total, which while not horrible (50 percent accuracy) is far from ideal. It’s not as bad as Columbus’ stat (four on target from 16 shots), but Seattle coach Sigi Schmid will want to see that percentage go up quite a bit in the future.

Herculez Gomez had a fairly solid match, playing nearly the entire 90 minutes, but his willingness to shoot on sight rather than find a short pass or work his way closer to goal meant that his three shots on goal were all rather poor. The front three shuffled quite a bit, but when Clint Dempsey played up front and was able to get shots in, unfortunately none were on target.

So while the Sounders definitely need some finishing practice after the way they attempted to take some of their shots against Columbus, a number of chances created were simply not good enough. Whether it was direction from the coaching staff or just instinct, Seattle’s full-backs (who did a great job of getting forward) insisted on pumping crosses into the box. But those crosses were not only poor, they were sent towards Aaron Kovar, who is short, and Morris, who can head the ball, but it’s not his strength. Tyrone Mears was especially perplexing, as he constantly tried to cross in from deep and only connected with a teammate once. Joevin Jones wasn’t particularly great, but it should be noted that his run and subsequent short cross to Oalex Anderson set up Morris’ winner. Either way, the Sounders continued the season’s trend of insisting on crossing when it almost never works for the personnel available.

Much had been made out of losing Andreas Ivanschitz for this match, due to a possible combination of a thigh strain and some sort of sickness, but in truth the Sounders didn’t really miss him. The corner-taking duo of Kovar and Gomez weren’t particularly good, but Ivanschitz hasn’t been particularly good from corners this season either. The Austrian can deliver a good ball, there’s no doubting that, but this season it just hasn’t really clicked for him.

Erik Friberg, who is a pretty different player than Ivanschitz, provided a different sort of creative outlet for the Sounders against Columbus, and it paid off with the late winner. Ivanschitz’s pass for Morris’ first goal of the season in the match against Philadelphia showed that he can put in a killer pass, but he’s been far from consistent in that area thus far. Friberg’s passing in the final third, on the other hand, showed that he can consistently pull the strings of the Sounders’ attack from an attacking midfield position. Of his 6-of-11 completed passes in the final third, nearly all were diagonal or through balls to the wings or corner of the penalty box. It was one such pass that put Jones through on the left that allowed for the pass to Anderson. I can’t see Ivanschitz forcing Friberg out of the starting lineup if both players were fit next week.

For all of the Sounders’ woes against Columbus, they still came away with three points, which is all that matters. It doesn’t hurt that it was Morris’ third goal in three games, giving the young rookie a flood of confidence and silencing the haters for now. Morris was dangerous for most of the match anyways, creating chances for teammates from multiple areas of the pitch and coming close to scoring a couple of times. His finishing wasn’t perfect, but his decision-making has improved so much in recent weeks that it’s easy to see why the Sounders fought so hard to bring him home.

It’s a long slog of a season, and Morris can’t do it all on his own; but if he continues this rich vein of form, he’ll have to be considered a bargain for the club. Dempsey said earlier this season that he and Morris had very different styles of forward play, that he enjoyed playing “give ’n go” passes to open up space while Morris prefers latching onto through balls and long passes. But Morris has certainly worked hard to play to Dempsey’s strengths when they’re both on the pitch, and they connected a number of times with the type of 1-2 passing that the veteran enjoys.

It’s not a finished product, but as Morris continues to gel with his teammates and find the best ways to create and score goals, this team could get very dangerous in front of goal.

Other observations:

• Zach Scott filled in more than adequately for the suspended Brad Evans, showing just why the Sounders have kept him around for so long. He led Seattle’s defenders in tackling, succeeding 3 of 3 times, and led the entire pitch in blocks with two. Mr. Sounder may be retiring at the end of the season, but until then he’ll continue to play a vital role in Seattle’s squad.

• It was truly a game of two halves for the Sounders, as they tripled their shots on goal total in the second half and raised their overall possession significantly. Friberg for Kovar in the 65th minute seemed to have the most influence on that shift, especially because it allowed Clint Dempsey to play as a forward rather than a midfielder.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.