HOBOKEN, N.J. — The Seattle Sounders enter Wednesday night’s match against the New York Red Bulls (5 p.m. PT; JOEtv, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM) fresh off an emotionally satisfying win over D.C. United last weekend. The match is the third in eight days for the Sounders, who are hoping to build on last weekend’s result at what has become already a very crucial point in the season.
“I said it before that we’re coming to a point in time where we’re on a course where everybody can see the math and we need to collect points, so collecting points is paramount,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer after the team’s training session in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s match is going to be a tactical battle between Schmetzer and Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch, who Schmetzer said likes to tinker with how he approaches certain games.
“It’s always a crapshoot [facing Marsch],” said Schmetzer. “They played a 4-4-2 diamond against New England, they’ve played their 4-2-3-1, they’ve played a 3-3-3-1. They’ll get a couple guys back from national team duty, so how he incorporates them back into the squad, we’ll see.
“What we expect though is a well-organized, well-coached team, and they’re at home,” he added. “We want to make sure we don’t give them any points at home, so it’ll be a motivated squad.”
Schmetzer does have the luxury of three important players all returning to the fold in Nicolás Lodeiro, Víctor Rodríguez and captain Osvaldo Alonso. All three featured in the win over D.C. for the first time in quite some time. Lodeiro missed six matches with a toe fracture and Uruguay national team camp. Rodríguez made his first start of the season after battling a knee sprain, while Alonso returned after suffering a left quad strain.
Ozzie Alonso vs. the Red Bulls at CenturyLink Field in 2017 | Dan Poss
“It’s great [having all three players back], it gives me plenty of options,” said Schmetzer.
“It’s always great being back and playing again,” said Alonso. “[Lodeiro and Rodríguez] are great players. They showed that last week when they came out and played well.”
Two of the main weapons the Sounders will be forced to try and shut down are new Designated Player Kaku and goalscoring machine Bradley Wright-Phillips.
“[Kaku is] a very good player,” said Schmetzer. “There’s a reason why quality players are coming to MLS, and he’s one of those in that narrative. Good player. But they have more than one good player — Bradley Wright-Phillips, their defense has been good, [Daniel] Royer’s been good. They have some good pieces."
“It’ll be a challenge [to stop Wright-Phillips],” he added. “He’s definitely very, very goal-dangerous. His movement inside the box is very good. So we’ll have that awareness of him and try and slow him down.”
Alonso said it would be “tough, but not impossible” to steal three points on the road on Wednesday. Seattle already had two great road performances earlier this year — a 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City and a 2-1 win at Toronto FC — and is hoping to replicate that success at Red Bull Arena.
“It’s testament to the drive and determination of the squad,” said Schmetzer. “They want to win, they want to play, they want to get to the playoffs, so that’s all them.”
