Football Season Guide

MLS

USA

MLS

2020

Seattle Sounders

In

Stefan Cleveland (gk) Chicago Fire, Shane O'Neill (def) Orlando City, João Paulo (mid) Botafogo, Yeimar Gómez Andrade (def) Unión de Santa Fe, Miguel Ibarra (mid) Minnesota United

Out

Bryan Meredith (gk) Inter Miami, Jonathan Campbell (def) released, Saad Abdul-Salaam (def) FC Cincinnati, Román Torres (def) Inter Miami, Víctor Rodríguez (mid) Elche, Luis Silva (att) released, Kim Kee-hee (def) released, Brad Smith (def) AFC Bournemouth, Emanuel Cecchini (def) Union de Santa Fe

Seattle won the MLS Cup for a second time with a strong post season performance. Despite falling behind runaway Western conference leaders LAFC, they overcame their rivals in a solid semi final win. There has been a huge defensive shake up during close season with Abdul-Salaam, Cecchini, Campbell, Torres, Smith and Kee Hee all departing. O'Neill and Gonzalez are like for like replacements but Joao Paulo is a key acquisition. Arreaga will also step up after largely playing second fiddle last season. The Sounders have made few other significant acquisitions. Miguel Ibarra will help to add another dimension to the midfield line, offering pace and width, helping to support the forward line. Svensson will be another key presence for Sounders, anchoring the midfield and using his experience to help support the new defensive signings. An injury crisis could have a strong impact on Seattle. Any prolonged absences for key defensive players could see Seattle set adrift and relying on their mediocre forward line for results.

Target

Seattle will be expecting to make the play offs again, anything else will be a disaster. But the real challenge will be keeping pace with LAFC, and Seattle need to strongly boost their attack if they want to keep pace with the leaders.