Defense helps Sounders move into playoff spot after win over Chicago

It wasn’t pretty, but the Seattle Sounders held off Eastern Conference bottom-feeder Chicago on Wednesday to get a massive three points – and a spot above the playoff line.

I’ve said a lot in this space about the Sounders’ newfound ability to snatch a result out of a match they never looked like they would win. Even though this was another tight win, it was a different sort of result. The Fire never looked like the better team – Seattle had them beat in nearly every important stat – but they played like the kind of team that stole results from the Sounders earlier this season. This shows another aspect of this squad that’s improved in the Brian Schmetzer era: the ability to hold onto a lead until the final whistle.

For the first half of the 2016 season, the Sounders found themselves losing matches in every manner possible. Against Vancouver in March, they gave up two penalties in an eventual 2-1 loss at home. The Sounders were punished by silly late goals against Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC in the first matches of the season. Since Schmetzer took over as interim head coach, the Sounders only dropped points late against Los Angeles, which was his first match at the helm. Against San Jose two weeks ago, it was the Sounders who snatched a late point thanks to Nicolas Lodeiro.

For the first chunk of Schmetzer’s reign, the Sounders gave up goals in nearly every match, but the attack was so good that it didn’t matter. Other than the 4-2 loss in Portland and 4-2 win in LA, they haven’t given up more than a single goal in a match. But even their tendency to concede a single goal has started to wane in recent weeks; the home wins over Vancouver and Chicago were the Sounders’ first clean sheets since Schmetzer arrived.

This defensive improvement can be chalked up to two things: understanding and balance between the center backs. While Brad Evans is an excellent center-back, it’s clearly not his best position. The arrival of Roman Torres has provided the perfect foil to Chad Marshall, and their partnership has only grown stronger since the former returned from injury.

Schmetzer said this about Torres and how he differs from Marshall’s style: “He is aggressive in nature. … I think the give and take of the two of them is the start of a good combination.”

While Marshall isn’t exactly meek, his defensive style is often a little more conservative in nature, sticking a bit closer to Stefan Frei in order to be the literal last line of defense. He’s more cerebral in his vision of the game, waiting until just the right time to make his move. This contrasts with Torres, who is more likely to rush out and snuff out an attack before it even starts. Against Chicago, Torres stepped out of the box and into midfield on multiple occasions to tackle, win headers and muscle the opposition off the ball.

The partnership hasn’t been without its problems, somewhat notably in the first goal conceded in LA, when Torres completely missed the header and allowed Robbie Keane to knock it in. But they seem to be getting better in their communication and understanding of each other’s skill sets, tendencies and preferences. When one of their full-backs or a midfielder has gotten himself into trouble, they’ve been able to quickly communicate the plan to fix it while not giving up their defensive organization. This could be key in the Sounders’ tough road matches against Vancouver and FC Dallas in the coming weeks.

So even though it’s not perfect, Seattle’s partnership in the heart of defense has been key to their tight wins and recent clean sheets, and it should only get better as they continue to surge towards the playoffs. It’s good news for the club’s future too, because if Marshall and Torres continue to improve, they could be one of the best center-back duos in all of Major League Soccer.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.