It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled is here to dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. Let’s get right to it!
Winner: Seattle Sounders’ silver lining
It’s been a tough stretch for the Seattle Sounders, losing eight-in-a-row in league play heading into the weekend. But the Sounders finally snapped their streak via a 1-1 draw away to FC Cincinnati on Saturday. If you combine the way earned that point with the pending addition of Dejan Joveljić as a Designated Player via a cash trade from Sporting Kansas City, maybe there's a ray of sunshine in gloomy Seattle.
Let’s start with the result. Normally, a 1-1 away draw wouldn’t be anything for the Sounders to get excited about. But given the context of the losing streak, plus their lineup, I’d say it counts:
Average number of MLS appearances for the Seattle Sounders among players in this starting XI: 23.7
— cata (@catabush.com) August 22, 2026 at 3:50 PM
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So, uh, that’s basically like starting a team of 2026 SuperDraft picks. Wild. It’s also unavoidable. Seattle had nine players on the injury report this past weekend, all of whom are either starters or close to it. The only regulars in the lineup were Paul Rothrock, Snyder Brunell, and Andrew Thomas. As a result, it was basically the Tacoma Defiance getting an earned result against a nearly full-strength Cincinnati side. Saturday evening, then, was a merciful bit of positivity for a team that’s been stuck in a death spiral and facing growing fan discontentment.
Now we come to the off-field news: the Sounders are reportedly signing Jovelic as a DP in a $6 million cashfer from SKC, which is a very good addition.
Is the 27-year-old striker going to fix everything that ails Seattle? No. But is this a good talent play in a position of need? Absolutely.
