The Sounders plenty of times the past two early seasons held the ball 60 percent of the game or more without doing much with it. What made last Saturday's opening victory a welcome change was the four goals they scored off their 64 percent possession rate.
A comment by goalkeeper Stefan Frei moments after last week’s season-opening victory over FC Cincinnati epitomizes the more aggressive approach his Sounders are taking early on this campaign.
Frei’s team controlled possession of the ball for 64 percent of the game; a very good statistic but hardly rare for a Sounders squad that for years has embraced the concept of keeping the ball away from opponents so they can’t score.