Since the start of the 2019 MLS season, one word keeps popping up in interviews with Seattle Sounders players and coaches: tempo.
“We would like to [play on the front foot] every game,” midfielder Cristian Roldan said ahead the Chicago Fire match, a game the Sounders won 4-2. “Not just the goals, but the tempo of play, the pressing, the ability to get back defensively. I think the commitment level was there from the get-go [against Colorado].”
There are two ways to dictate tempo in soccer: on the ball and off the ball.
When the Sounders have the ball, they manage the rhythm through intricate, sustained possession, overloading key areas of the field and stringing together dizzying passing combinations.