Seattle Sounders: The Most 'MLS' Team in MLS

Every club in Major League Soccer boasts a unique on-field brand. LA Galaxy , for example, have always been about glitz, glam, and Galácticos. Atlanta United practically founded the “buy low, sell high” pipeline of South American talent through the league.

And, for their persona, Inter Miami essentially reconstructed the city of Barcelona in South Beach. But for all the fun MLS identities, Seattle Sounders emerge as what has to be the most “MLS-ey”. Stop me, American soccer fans, if you’ve heard the names Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Morris, Paul Arriola, Christian Roldán, or Stefan Frei before.



.. Seattle Sounders with an MLS-heavy Transfer Window While teams across the league have ventured across the pond and below the equator for expensive, high-impact signings, Seattle have seemingly kept their scouts stateside to assemble their 2025 squad.

Although the result may not be as spicy as some of his bigger-spending counterparts, Sporting Director Craig Waibel has put together an impressive squad on paper while shopping locally and promoting from within. The big off-season signing for Seattle was Jesus Ferreira from FC Dallas. He’s a weirdly divisive figure amongst USMNT fans, but boasts an impressive 15 goals in 25 caps for his country.

At the national team level, his criticism lies in his ability to dominate smaller CONCACAF teams, but struggle against tougher opponents. It’s a trend that’s landed him the admittedly funny nickname, “The Pirate of the Caribbean”, but also one that perhaps explains why he hasn’t been called up since 2023. In MLS play, however, Ferreira has shown more consistent levels of goal-getting, including an impressive stretch between 2022-23 that saw him tally 41 goal involvements in 58 matches.

He’ll be joined in Seattle by fellow FC Dallas and USMNT teammate, Paul Arriola. The versatile veteran has been capped an impressive 50 times by the Stars and Stripes but, like Ferreira, hasn’t been called up since 2023. Old Faces, New DPs The Dallas duo won’t be the only impact players with an MLS pedigree, as Seattle’s remaining two DP slots were filled by familiar faces Jordon Morris and Albert Rusnák.

Morris bagged 18 goals and 5 assists last year in all competitions, an impressive enough total to trigger a clause in his contract that increased his wage and status to that of a designated player. Now, after 10 seasons with the club, he’s locked down one of those coveted three slots until 2027. Rusnák has signed (again) as a designated player after seeing his previous DP contract run down this offseason.

The creative midfielder is coming off a career year with 11 goals and 15 assists across all competitions in 2024. Entering his 9th season in the league, the Slovakian is about as MLS-hardened as they come. Other Classic MLS Contributors This “MLS-ey” spine goes beyond the new signings and DPs, extending to a handful of other MLS legends in their own right.

Perhaps the most notable would be goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who’s made a real habit of lifting hardware in his extensive MLS tenure. His trophy case includes two MLS Cups, a CONCACAF Champions League, a US Open Cup, a Supporter’s Shield, and three Canadian Cups from back in his Toronto FC days – Frei’s a League’s Cup victory away from a full house. Then, there are MLS’ favorite brothers, Christian and Alex Roldán, who have been with Seattle for as long as any of us can remember.

Christian Roldán, who’s been capped 37 times by the USMNT, has hoisted both MLS Cups in Seattle’s history and remains versatile enough to contribute however needed. Alex on the other hand, may just have to prove his worth at right fullback this season after the arrival of Arriola, who could be deployed anywhere down the right flank. The Wildcard There is one player, however, who very much does not fit this “classic MLS” mould: Pedro De La Vega.

The Argentinian signed from Lanús last year for a club-record $7.5M, but it didn’t go to plan for the winger in year one. De La Vega struggled with both injury and form in his debut season, finishing with just one goal and one assist in 20 league matches.

We saw a promising 12-goal-involvement campaign from the young attacher back in Argentina the year prior, but we’ve only seen flashes of his quality so far in Seattle. This puts a lot of eyes on the big-money star in 2025 – not only as the most expensive piece of the attacking puzzle for Brian Schmetzer but also as the only one lacking a proven MLS pedigree. That said, as an undeniably talented 23-year-old, no one’s giving up on Seattle’s wildcard just yet.

If he can turn some of his mazy dribbles into tangible goal output, De La Vega could be a real weapon in 2025. The Outlook Overall, Seattle are a tricky one to place given their unique roster build. On the one hand, one could argue that Seattle are hardly shooting for the moon by filling two of their open DP slots with players they already had.

This rings especially true if worries remain about the health and productivity of their third DP in De La Vega. Signing Ferreira, who was formerly a DP with FC Dallas, helps quell these concerns considerably. But, with Seattle finishing 4th in the Western Conference last year, and with fans expecting an improvement over that finish, there’s real pressure on their new signings to hit and for their existing stars to keep improving.

The flip side, however, is that we’re talking about the Seattle Sounders here. This is a perennially competitive MLS outfit, and they’ve just constructed a side whose core competency is MLS pedigree. There’s a world where that makes too much sense to ignore.

Either way, Seattle may just find themselves as an MLS Sicko’s dream side in 2025. Recording Date: 28.10.

2024.