Atlanta United vs. Seattle Sounders preview: Three questions with Sounder at Heart

Atlanta United seems to face the Seattle Sounders every year.

The two teams met from 2017-2019, again from 2021-2023, and now again this season. While Atlanta has faced choppy waters more often than not since winning MLS Cup in 2018 and getting to the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, the Sounders have seen sustained success, thanks in part to the front office tandem of Garth Lagerwey and Chris Henderson (both, of course, in Atlanta). If there’s a model club in MLS, Seattle is about as close as it gets.

I had a chance to catch up with Jeremiah Oshan from Sounder at Heart and pick his brain about some of the storylines surrounding the Sounders this season.

I have to ask you about Pedro de la Vega. He scored a goal and an assist in the Sounders’ last outing against San Jose. How can he use that as a springboard for the rest of the year, especially with Seattle in a top 4 spot and looking to push their way further up the Western Conference table?

Those of us who have been watching de la Vega in training on a regular basis knew he had a performance like this in him, but it was a massive boost to actually see such a complete performance show up on the field. The goal and assist were both really well taken, but he was a handful for San Jose throughout the match. If de la Vega can emerge as a reliable attacking option, especially at the same time that Jordan Morris has gone out, would be huge. The expectation i that he’ll get another chance to do it this week, too.

The big injury news is Jordan Morris, who’s set to miss about eight weeks after another injury. You mentioned Danny Musovski, who’s having a career season (8g/2a), as a player who should see an increased role with Morris out. How has Brian Schmetzer been able to get the best out of him this season?

The one thing that really jumps out about Musovski is how good his positioning is. Musovski is disciplined enough to stay high and is always making himself available in the box. What’s encouraging about his goal-scoring is that it’s not like he’s on some wild finishing heater, he’s actually under-performing his xG by a bit which suggests that this is somewhat sustainable than it may seem at first blush. 

Seattle has all three DP spots filled up, but all three U22 slots are available going into the summer transfer window. Are you expecting a busy window for the Sounders or will Craig Waibel wait until the winter to do most of his work?

I wish I could say with some confidence that the Sounders are planning to splash some money around this summer but the reality is that we’ll be happy if they use even one of those open U22 spots on an outside signing. We’ve heard a couple of rumors about what kind of talents they’re looking at but it doesn’t look like they are really going to break the bank with any of them. The other two spots are likely to be used on internal signings, most likely extensions for Obed Vargas and maybe someone like Reed Baker-Whiting.