No one likes to lose a match 4-1. It’s especially painful when the loss comes against a team you’re measuring yourself against. There’s no reason to pretend that the Seattle Sounders’ loss to Los Angeles FC was anything short of a thorough dismantling.
I do think it’s possible to overstate just how important this loss was, though.
It’s not just because the Sounders were forced to give Harry Shipp and Román Torres their first starts of the season, although that contributes. Torres was arguably the Sounders’ worst player, and while Shipp was generally fine, that doesn’t really explain why virtually every Sounders player seemed to have an off night.