In many senses, I think we can say that 2011 marked the end of the first era of the Seattle Sounders in MLS. It was Kasey Keller’s final season, but perhaps more importantly, it was the year where the new-car smell had sort of started to wear off. The Sounders won their third straight U.S. Open Cup and finished with their highest regular-season points total while playing entertaining soccer, but it was also the year where frustrations over their playoff performances started to become more stark.
In fact, that’s exactly where LevyFilms’ documentary “American Football” picks up with the postgame locker room scene following a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals.