Multiple man marks from RSL lead to a stagnated Sounders attack that couldn't accomplish anything from deep areas
The Seattle Sounders' 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday was disappointing. Mired by injury already with the loss of Stefan Frei and Brad Evans, a tilt in Rio Tinto was always going to be a defensive challenge for the Sounders. However, it was on the offensive side of the ball that the Sounders really struggled, as Jeff Cassar's tactics easily took Clint Dempsey out of the game entirely.
RSL's defensive approach was predicated on two features: (a) man-mark Clint Dempsey into oblivion and (b) keep Andreas Ivanschitz in front of the the defensive duo of Sunny Obayan and Kyle Beckerman.