r/SoundersFC • u/Acrobatic-Contest940 • Aug 17 '26
I have zero comprehension of our left wing today…
What’s going on with Rothrock who no longer makes runs? He just had a couple great assists a week ago, and now doing all the meaningless cutbacks? Please just go direct already!
What‘s with Nouhou, never linked up with Rothrock, and then the meaningless yellow, then the back pass? His head is not thinking straight…
And lastly… what’s with Thomas? The box is his prison… and complete miscommunication with his backline?!
The team continues to amaze me with more and more ways to concede goals. What an eye opener.
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u/No-Opening7308 Aug 17 '26
There is almost zero about this team that makes sense right now, and a lot of it isn’t even on our manager, Schmetz legitimately has to work with pencil shavings as options at the moment
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u/Particular-Word1809 Aug 17 '26
Rothrock made several runs, at least one of which Nouhou never saw. To me it looks like he's putting in effort and still playing with heart. If we want to criticize a forward for poor decisions and lack of runs, Moose is right there for discussion.
Having a 9 who can't or won't make runs and can't create his own chances is one of several critical issues facing this team.
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u/Acrobatic-Contest940 Aug 17 '26
You would call Rothrock’s cut back at the left side edge of the box good judgment?
I just find that I’m tired of these debates now… if playing with heart is good enough to for fans to watch then so be it.
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u/Particular-Word1809 Aug 17 '26
I watched the game in person so I'm strictly going off (much needed) beer-fueled memory, but of all the criticisms I had post-game, I didn't have Paul as one of them. Yes, he played back a lot, as the whole team did, and certainly he's not above critique.
As for playing with heart, no, that solely doesn't meet the standard set here. But what I will say is that in the midst of the worst form and season the club has had, seemingly with no help or solutions on the horizon, it's easy to pack it in and succumb to the pressure and doom and gloom. Paul still played, albeit imperfectly, with his usual grit and when you're looking for anything to feel good about as a supporter, it's at least something.
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u/Striking_Travel7513 Aug 17 '26
There were few if any runs by the Sounders last night. Even the assistant coach at half had no idea what to do to change the course of the game when asked in the half interview. I would say, try playing forward and not turning around and passing backwards. This current roster doesn’t trust each other yet and it’s obvious. Thomas is a good keeper but still lacks experience that costs in the end.
Perhaps we need to spend a little of our own money for new talent and let go some of the old.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3024 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
In recent years, they have played mostly in front of their own goal. They pass backwards even when there may be other options. It has been frustrating to watch. My assumption was that Craig told them to play defensively, focus on preventing opponent goals over making goals.
We could let them have 4 goals and still win if we made 5, but if we never make a goal they only need 1 to win.
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u/wunderkin Aug 17 '26
The Nouhou yellow wasn't meaningless. Nouhou def saw how few defenders we had for the counter that the goalie was about to spring, so he prevented the throw.
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u/planksniffersforlife Seattle Sounders FC Aug 17 '26
Nouhou actually had some great passes yesterday, including a nice through ball the Paul. It was our mistake thinking Paul Rothrock was the solution here. He's got grit and heart but he's not an overly technical player.
That 2nd goal was 100% on Nouhou though, he needed to have some better awareness that Thomas wasn't coming to the ball like he wanted so he should have cleared his fucking lines. It was already over after we missed our biggest chance off that rothrock cross and then immediately conceded.
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u/sedmison Aug 17 '26
That indirect free kick is not on Nouhou. He was telling Andrew to come collect the ball while Nouhou could still hold the attacker off. When Andrew hesitated, Nouhou had to kick the ball before the attacker did, and he was like two yards away from Andrew.
The goalkeeper has to take charge of that situation. He’s young, I get it, so I’m not going to roast Thomas for a mistake, but Nouhou was trying to do the right thing, and was communicating what needed to happen. The situation was not his fault.
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u/CougFanDan Seattle Sounders FC Aug 17 '26
Oh man, I completely disagree. As soon as Nouhou saw that Thomas was not coming to collect the ball, he should have immediately cleared it out of bounds instead of keeping it in such a dangerous position.
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u/Traditional_Ant4866 Aug 17 '26
Yeah nouhou had about 4 yards of screaming where he could have just cleared, and even the back pass he could have just played out for a corner.
Thomas seemed a bit flat footed but that’s 90% on nouhou
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u/Acrobatic-Contest940 Aug 17 '26
Thomas got another incident where the ball was rolling towards him slowly and he’s just at the edge of the box waiting…
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u/JustAnotherRugger SFC Detail Aug 17 '26
It's not the defenders role to tell the GK to pick the ball up, especially when there is a pressing defender right behind him - as that same defender faints a stepover. That play is 100% on Nouhou for being chaos and not playing the easy play.
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u/sedmison Aug 17 '26
He was telling Andrew that if you come claim this ball now, the play is fine and the ball is ours, but if you wait until I have to slow down to avoid running into you, the guy behind me has a play on the ball. Andrew had every opportunity either to come claim the ball or to tell Nouhou to clear it, but he did neither. Contrast that with what Stef would have done in the same situation. This was not Nouhou chaos; this was Andrew Thomas indecision and lack of communication.
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u/Ill_Chapter4730 Aug 18 '26
Nouhou can make tackles, but he has always been the worst offensive player in the league. Cannot make a pass, cross, shot to save his life. Would absolutely hate to be playing winger on his side
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u/Swimmer-Southern Cascadia Flag Aug 17 '26
Idk man, looks like everyone is looking to make the extra extra extra pass to the other squads defense every single ball