Seattle setback fuels San Diego FC’s drive ahead of Austin FC clash
Seattle — Sometimes the game of soccer just isn’t fair. One team can dominate possession, take more shots on target, and feel like they deserve to win the game, but there is only one thing that matters: putting the ball in the back of the net.
Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue, per se, for San Diego.
Capitalizing on chances in tight games has.
Let’s get into it.
An Unfair Game
SDFC is no stranger to dominating possession and outshooting teams. Sometimes, winning in those categories does not produce results, and such was the case in Seattle. Head coach Mikey Varas decided to rest Chucky Lozano and Anibal Godoy, a controversial decision considering the importance of earning points in an away game against a team that hasn’t lost at home.
Onni Valakari got the nod in the false 9 role, and Alejandro Alvardo replaced Godoy’s position in the right mid. Valakari, who was impressed at the start of the season, has visibly seen a decline in performance. For example, he lost 12 possessions and only had a 76% accurate passing percentage. Clearly, San Diego missed a true striker in the center forward position, as Valakari did not look comfortable there for the entire game.
Not Enough
All things considered, San Diego put together a performance that should have at least resulted in a tie. San Diego FC outshot Seattle 15-7, with seven of those shots being on target as compared to five by Seattle. Stefan Frei is definitely part of the reason why SDFC found it hard to score. He earned Man of the Match honors for his incredible performance. Head coach Brian Schmetzer called Frei “The best goalkeeper in the league” in his post-game conference.
Missing Chucky proved costly to the team’s chemistry up front. A noticeable lack of cohesion was evident when passing between the top three players throughout the match. San Diego did a great job in pressing Seattle and, conversely, playing out of the press to create space in front. The midfield did their job in keeping possession and distributing the ball forward, as seen on the passing map above.
Head coach Mikey Varas had this to say after the game – “At the end of the day, we just put together a road performance against a very, very good team and a historically winning club that you would say, you play that game 10 times, you’re going to win it more often than not.” Still, questions remain on what could have been if the lineup remained the same.
Controversial Deciding Goal
The deciding goal scored by Seattle’s Jesus Ferreira is a bit controversial in the eyes of Mikey Varas. Alejandro Alvarado tackled the ball away from Albert Rusnak, which resulted in both players going down. Alvarado seemed to get the brunt of the challenge as he was seen grimacing on the ground for an extended period of time before getting up and slowly hobbling back to his position. Before he could get back to his position, the referee allowed play to start. Seattle then swung a pass into the right side of the field, where Alex Roldan found Paul Rothrock, who then sent a cross in to Ferreira. Jesus Ferreira was able to make a nice turn inside the box and slot a low shot into the back of the net.
Varas criticized the referee for allowing a restart before his players had returned to their positions, as the play had been whistled dead prior to reengagement. In this situation, referees typically allow players to return to their positions and get set before restarting play. This was not the case here, which is why Varas felt the way he did. Alvardo was then subbed off right after due to injury.
Looking Ahead Against Austin FC
Saturday, San Diego FC will face Austin FC back at home in what the club is calling ‘Summer Kickoff’. The first 25K fans will receive a SDFC beach towel, a giveaway that is sure to bring out San Diegans. As disappointment from the Seattle match looms, SDFC is hoping to release that frustration in the best way possible – a revenge game. Austin FC handed San Diego their first-ever loss during the fifth match of the season and will once again try to get all three points.
In a disappointing stretch of games, Austin FC comes in winless over their last seven games. They earned their last win against the worst team in the league, LA Galaxy, in week nine. Since then, Austin lost three in a row, followed by four straight ties. They currently sit in 10th place in the Western Division with a record of 5W-5T-6L.
A Homecoming for Austin’s Star
Brandon Vasquez will be making his return to his native city, as the hometown player struggled to find his form all season. After Austin FC made a splash to acquire the striker, Vasquez failed to live up to the club’s expectations. A four-goal contribution over 15 matches directly correlates to Austin FC’s disappointing record. On paper, Brandon Vasquez has over 8.0 x,G signaling that based on his chances, he should at least have double the amount of goals.
Vasquez scored in the game against San Diego during their Week 5 clash, but one can argue that the newcomers were barely getting started and still trying to figure out many things. SDFC appears to be a completely different club now, midway through the season, playing much more cohesively and true to its identity. They will undoubtedly have to learn from their mistakes from the last game played against Austin FC while addressing best ways to shut down Vasquez, who’s more than capable of being the difference maker.
Austin FC midfielders Ilie Sanchez and Besard Sabovic will miss the next match against San Diego due to yellow card accumulation after picking up their 5th card against RSL. Dani Perreira and Robert Taylor are likely to get the start instead, both scoring a goal each this season.
Duty Calls
San Diego FC finds itself in a fortunate position, with several of its players earning call-ups to represent their national teams. With this being the final match of May before those players depart for international duty, head coach Varas is expected to field his strongest lineup in hopes of closing out the month on a winning note. Here’s a look at the players set to represent their countries in June:
- Anders Dreyer – Denmark
- Chucky Lozano – Mexico
- Luca de la Torre – USA
- Luca Bombino – USA U-20
- Paddy McNair – N. Ireland
- Onni Valakari – Finland
- Anibal Godoy – Panama
San Diego does not have any MLS games until June 14th, 25th, and 28th, when they face Minnesota, Vancouver, and Dallas, respectively. Most international players should be back in time for the important June games, where first place can be decided; however, it remains to be seen who will be missing for sure.
June will be a pivotal month where the rest of the squad must rise to the occasion and fill key roles if San Diego hopes to keep the pressure on league-leading Vancouver.
Dmitry Anisimov is a San Diego native who played soccer up to the college level when he represented the SDSU Men’s Club Soccer team. Growing up in San Diego, Dmitry is a fan of all the home teams but he specifically couldn’t wait until San Diego got an MLS team. Once that dream became reality, Dmitry married his love for writing and the game of soccer to portray a voice of the San Diego soccer community. There is a deep-rooted love of soccer culture in San Diego and Dmitry hopes to bring it to light through his pre and post-game coverage of all things San Diego FC.