The Raul Ruidiaz era has gotten off to a scorching start in Seattle.
Since Ruidiaz made his Sounders debut, his side has won five straight, part of their eight-match unbeaten streak. It would be foolish to suggest Ruidiaz is the sole reason the team's form, but the early polls for his Sounders career are overwhelmingly positive. He's already the feature of a mural in his new city.
The Peruvian featured for his country at the 2018 World Cup and seamlessly transitioned to his new club after signing in mid-July. In five games, Ruidiaz has a goal and an assist, both late game-winning efforts.
Ruidiaz has given head coach Brian Schmetzer attacking options and flexibility. Schmetzer can still play with one striker, as they have done each game since Ruidiaz signed, but the club has found success in the limited minutes that Ruidiaz plays next to Will Bruin. In the 33 minutes they have played together, the Sounders have scored three goals.
Bruin benefits when Ruidiaz is his strike partner rather than running the lines alone. With another striker, Bruin has enhanced freedom of movement rather than having to occupy the center backs as much as possible to leave space for Nicolas Lodeiro and co. When the two play together, Bruin is allowed to be a bit more unpredictable with his movement because Ruidiaz gives opposition defenders more than enough to worry about on his own.
The pair forms a classic tall-small strike partnership, ostensibly giving Seattle the best of both. But Bruin and Ruidiaz are modern, well-rounded strikers adept at multiple styles and situations. They are more nuanced than only having Bruin act as a target man and Ruidiaz running the channels; each can do both roles, adding subtle variance and unpredictability.
In their last-gasp 2-1 win over Minnesota United FC, Ruidiaz flicked a header through for Bruin to run onto and score the winning goal in 90+6'. Conventional wisdom might suggest the 6-foot-2 Bruin would be the one winning the header than 5-foot-7 Ruidiaz, but those are the types of basic chances playing with two strikers can create. All goals count the same, irrespective if it's a 27-pass combination or a long ball, header and finish.
As Matthew Doyle so eloquently analyzed two weeks ago, Ruidiaz creates space for Bruin and vice-versa.
They haven't started together yet.
Bruin was in the XI as Ruidiaz entered from the bench on his debut and the Peruvian has started the four games since, but they've played together at times when Schmetzer alters from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 mid-game. Maybe the pair soon will get a full run out from the opening whistle, but even if they don't, they present Schmetzer with the vital ability to change up the tactics.
As Ruidiaz continues to acclimate himself with his teammates and the league, his goalscoring numbers will kick on. He led Liga MX in scoring in 2016/17 and is a proven goalscorer in his native Peru. More goals will come with minutes. But as long as Seattle is picking up points, that's all that matters.
At the moment, Ruidiaz and Seattle are focusing on a visit from LA Galaxy on Saturday (4pm ET | ESPN — Full TV & Streaming info) with vital points on the line. A win would (momentarily) draw Seattle level with Real Salt Lake for the final playoff place in the Western Conference and take them above the playoff line on PPG, as well as above the currently-4th place Galaxy on PPG.
How many more wins in a row would it take for Ruidiaz to get another mural?
