When the 2021 MLS schedule was released, the deck seemed to be somewhat stacked against the Seattle Sounders. In the first month, the Sounders would play six games. Of those six games, four were against 2020 playoff teams — two of them against perennial favorites LAFC — another against the retooled LA Galaxy, and the other against the highly unpredictable San Jose Earthquakes.
Just to add a level of difficulty, the Sounders were going to be learning a new formation without the benefit of a full preseason schedule after the pandemic limited them to just one 75-minute match against a MLS opponent and one full 90-minute affair against a USL Championship squad.