In a broad sense, I think most people understand why the Seattle Sounders effectively “parked the bus” against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. The Sounders were, after all, traveling clear across the country on just three days’ rest and had only had time for a single training session between matches.
In addition to those vaguely obvious challenges, there were a few more things the Sounders had to worry about. The big one was that they were already somewhat short-handed. Gustav Svensson, Victor Rodriguez and Chad Marshall — all starters when healthy — were out with injuries.