It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled will dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. This week, we’re sinking our teeth into the Sounders’ latest triumph, FC Cincinnati’s misstep, Riqui Puig’s present, and more.
Winner: Seattle Sounders and their player pipeline
Brian Schmetzer couldn’t help but crack a smile.
The longtime Seattle Sounders coach had just been asked about managing his players’ emotions ahead of a meeting with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in Sunday’s Leagues Cup final. “Messi is arguably the best player the world has ever seen,” Schmetzer said. “But we have Paul Rothrock. We have Jackson Ragen and we have Snyder Brunell and we have Andrew Thomas and we have Pedro [de la Vega]. We’ve got good players, too.”
Sure, Schmetzer’s tongue was at least halfway in his cheek with that they’ve got Messi, we’ve got Rothrock crack. But then again, it wasn’t more than halfway in his cheek — because more than anything else, the Sounders’ 2025 season has been defined by their incredible depth.
