The most sympathetic analysis of the Seattle Sounders’ performance over the last six months of the season has been that they were simply a team that could find different ways to win. While they may not have been at their best, they were getting results when they needed them. It didn’t make for attractive and certainly not stress-free soccer, but it was getting the job done.
The optimist would say they were biding their time. The pessimist would say such a pragmatic style was fine as long as the Sounders were playing teams that lacked a clear identity of their own — like against Real Salt Lake in the conference semifinals — but that it would be less successful against a team with a clear sense of self.