Sometimes change follows a loss so ugly that it makes change almost unavoidable.
Change may be coming to the Seattle Sounders lineup, but in this case it would follow a 1-1 sigh-of-relief draw at Houston that came so late Sunday that it lightened the impact of the many problems revealed earlier.
“Ties come in different forms,” Seattle captain Brad Evans said. “… You go down, and you get one in the 94-plus (minute), it almost feels like a win.”
Seattle’s goal from defender Chad Marshall came with the Dynamo leading, 1-0, four minutes into stoppage time, and with the referee already having placed the whistle into his mouth.
“I was glad I could just go up there, throw my body around and luckily get one,” Marshall said. “… It took me back to the high school days — Rubidoux High School, senior year — I’d play forward against the bad teams and defender against the good teams. It was fun.”
Any kind of positive outcome seemed unlikely as the Sounders played listlessly through the first half. They fell behind in the 35th minute when Giles Barnes took advantage of generous space in the penalty area to redirect a cross up and over goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
For long minutes after, the primary mystery was how the high-scoring Dynamo (1-2-2) didn’t build on its lead, despite domination of the often-disinterested seeming Sounders.
Their attention improved after a halftime reminder from displeased coach Sigi Schmid. And things accelerated again in the 63rd minute when forward Oalex Anderson substituted on for Aaron Kovar. Anderson brought both a practical jolt of speed and a psychological jolt of energy. His pace quickly created gaps in the Dynamo defense, and his creativity seemed to remind his teammates how much fun it can be to attack.
“Oalex obviously using his speed,” Evans said. “From the first moment he got into the game he was springing on the long ball.”
The final crucial piece in the turnaround joined in the 79th minute, when veteran forward Herculez Gomez was sent on for his Seattle debut, replacing Jordan Morris.
Gomez was on the field less than a minute when he connected with Anderson, who couldn’t quite finish under close marking from the penalty spot. But from then on, the Sounders offense was active and dangerous.
“I thought Herculez was good,” Schmid said. “I thought the ball he hit that Oalex gets on the end of, and he finds Clint (Dempsey) to the far post, he hit a couple of good balls, and his running was good as well. I thought Herculez’s experience really helped us today.”
Gomez is 34. Anderson is 14 years younger, but his contributions also were noted.
“Oalex is still young,” Schmid said. “He has a tendency to sometimes make a good play and then he shuts down for a second or two, and we’ve got to constantly remind him off the bench. … But obviously he’s got marvelous talent and marvelous speed.”
Until now, Schmid has weighed those pluses and minuses and decided to use Anderson only late in games, where that speed must seem multiplied to tired-legged defenders.
However, Anderson’s increasingly dazzling performances must call for consideration of a larger role — especially as almost-as-young forwards such as Morris and Kovar have failed to produce goals. (Kovar came mighty close Sunday with a sizzling low strike in the 50th minute, which Houston’s Joe Willis managed to nudge wide.)
Similarly, Gomez’s debut may have been impressive enough to demand accommodation. He may not be 90-minutes fit yet, but it’s difficult not to wonder if 60 minutes of Gomez, followed by 30 minutes of Morris isn’t the better configuration for those players at this stage of their careers — and for the Sounders (1-3-1) as they try to build on back-to-back results Saturday when the Philadelphia Union visits.
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