By JOSE M. ROMERO
Last year was such a success, and this season was expected to be even better.
Sounders FC increased its stadium capacity and sold even more tickets. It opened Year Two much the same way it started its inaugural campaign, with a dominating win. Its appeal to the Emerald City only grew.
The fans are still there. Only the team isn't giving them much to cheer for, and isn't taking advantage of the best home-field advantage provided in Major League Soccer. The Sounders are dead last in the MLS Western Conference with nine points in eight games. They are having trouble scoring and in a more recent and perhaps more disturbing development, defending.
The team moved to address the defensive shortcomings by signing veteran Jeff Parke Thursday. But the Sounders are coming off the worst loss in the franchise's brief history, a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the L.A. Galaxy last Saturday.
Seattle lost to San Jose 4-0 last season in a road match. The Galaxy loss, in front of 36,273 at Qwest Field, was so embarrassing to team management that it refunded season-ticket holders, crediting them with a free game off next year's season ticket package.
A great gesture by a team that cares about its fans and product on the field? Yes. But the word out of Seattle is that the front office decision doesn't sit well with every player, notably designated player Freddie Ljungberg, a team leader.
If only Swiss international Blaise Nkufo could play now. But he has World Cup duties after just completing his season in The Netherlands, and won't join Seattle until July. By then, unless Seattle gets it together, his arrival might not be enough to help the club get back to the playoffs. The team is also without forward Nate Jaqua and defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, its glue in the back line.
And there is discontent brewing in scoring striker Fredy Montero, who was subbed out of the Galaxy game in the 57th minute, tied for the earliest he'd ever left a game in his Sounders career. The future looks bright for teenager Miguel Montano, who replaced Montero last week, but Montero himself is still very young and said he was hurt that coach Sigi Schmid took him out that soon.
Benching Montero this week could be one of the personnel changes that Schmid and GM Adrian Hanauer hinted would happen. Is this a desperate times/desperate measures scenario in the Northwest? Debatable, but adversity is something the Sounders are experiencing for the first time in franchise history.
If you read Hanauer’s statements leading up to the refund, he flat out said that if there is blame to go around, the buck stops with him and he’d take his share of the blame.
I hope that the refund doesn’t hurt player morale and, while it was potentially a great move, it also potentially creates some issues. I hope no negative consequences come of it. Time will tell if it was a good call, I guess.
As far as Ljungberg’s opinion of it, frankly who cares? Just like I wouldn’t want the FO making the line-up decisions, I don’t want Ljungberg’s input on the business end of things. That ain’t his line of work.
I swear to god, if Vagenas starts again I will tear what little hair I have left on my head (in this case that means eyebrows and goatee), and sign up for a freaking Ironman or something equally stupid. This is ridiculous.
Your response to the comment was hilarious. Very, very funny.
Although I really enjoy the implication of our humbleness before beating New York, RSL, Toronto, San Jose, Colorado, Houston, LA, DC, Columbus, KC, and Dallas. And oh yeah, dropping Poortown in 42 seconds in the Open Cup while starting 7 reserves.
As for this game, any game we play without Alonso will be a struggle.
I don’t recall a single fan asking for their money back…
I second both of your wishes. Nkufo will work wonders, but that guy in the middle of the park that can put his stamp on a game… that’s what we’re missing. I’ve been asking management to sign Riquelme to do that job, since Alonso can handle the defensive duties on his own if we retain more meaningful possession.
-10,000 for thinking Vagenas has any use other than dropping the ball back under pressure (kidding, almost).
That’s hilarious, SBI.
(SBI-Care to share what on earth you’re talking about? We didn’t write that fans requested refunds.)
“If GM Hanauer is making out the starting line-up, the Sounders are in deep do-do.”
Agreed.
“I can see why Freddie is pissed as the statements from Hanauer and Sigi dumped all the blame on the players, Sigi and Hanauer accepted none.”
Not agreed. Sigi and Hanauer accepted plenty, but it’s the guys on the field who bear the ultimate responsibility for their performance.
the red bull crowd reaction for jeff parke will be far warmer than the reaction for khano smith this past wednesday.
but red bull will still win. 2-0 is my guess.
I’ve been a Sounder fan since day one. My friend new to soccer jumped on the wagon with both feet. By the end of the year, after going to three scoreless home games she quit. “I can’t watch this” anymore, “what happened” she said. I don’t know, but the team certainly morphed around the middle of last year. You can talk about loyalty, great fans, innovated management, but in the end they’re playing soccer. In Seattle many will still go for the experience, but many will not. They want good soccer, not marketing geniuses.
Jeffe Parke will force the defense to tighten up or lose their starting jobs so I think the defense will recover but the big need is still the missing target forward and until either Jaqua gets healthy or Blaze comes in from the WC, the Sounders will continue to have trouble scoring goals. But I fully expect once they do start scoring, they will come in droves and a run of wins like Dallas had last year; just hope it’s not too late to make the playoffs.
JW wrote:
“If they would not have blown it in stoppage time during the RSL, Dallas and Columbus games they would be sitting in 2nd place with 15 points.”
I remember saying the same type of thing last year about the NY Red Bulls last year and look where they ended up.
Hope you Sounders fans, who come, like our new stadium…
I dunno… they’ve had their struggles but top to bottom it’s still a quality MLS side. They need some tinkering but it’s not a complete overhaul.
But as the comments said above, it shows you the difference between certain MLS markets and what’s acceptable on the field performance.
This could happen in certain places and the local “fan base” collectively rolls over and yawnns
Let me guess–Portland has supporters and not customers?
Heh.
“Sounders are in dead last” …. yes it sucks if you are a Sounders fan like me but the Sounders are only one point back sitting in last place while there are like four teams in front of us all tied for 2nd to last. The Sounders have had some really fantastic halves of several games. If they would not have blown it in stoppage time during the RSL, Dallas and Columbus games they would be sitting in 2nd place with 15 points. Besides the one goal in the first half of the LA game, the Sounders pretty much controlled most of the fist half and looked like they were in better shape to win. They just disappeared in the second half and eventually got spanked.
So, “climbing out of last place” probably won’t take much if they manage a few wins coming up. If they can actually start converting some of these chances they keep creating, they can turn it around. On top of that, it will be interesting to see where LA is by the end of the world cup since they will be without Donovan and maybe Buddle.
Montaro has to keep onsides! He was booked 10 times last game. Seattle has had some bad breaks and total out played teams and lost the game in extra time. Some time the ball as well as life takes some bad bounces….
Keep up and heal up Seattle!
I have good case of schadenfreude. Let them lose at least one more.
Peter Vagenas is one of the few players we have that can keep possession in the midfield. He’s not flashy, but at least he can get the ball up the field.
If I don’t get banned before Saturday night it’s gonna be a blood bath! 😉
Don’t front like you don’t see my winky emoticons dude!
Sheesh, I hate the Metro Cows too dude.
Equal opportunity hate here.
You’re worse than China with this censorship dude.
Seriously.
(SBI-How about you stop trolling every time there’s a Seattle post and I’ll stop deleting your comments. Trolls aren’t welcome in any message board, so why am I wrong for telling you to stop? Either bring more to the table than childish trash talk or move on.)
Montero has looke uninterested, and Pete does little that justifies them keeping him on the team as more than an occasional sub, except that he has started just about every game.
Seattle is great between the boxes, but I think Sigi said it correctly when he said no one goes all out in the box.
On Saturdya I saw little to no movement by the forwards.
Yeah because we walked out screaming we want a refund. Ah Portland home to those that think they are they greatest fans that know everything. I seem to remember a lot of Seattle only drew 3k MLS will never work
“Seattle’s winning is inversely proportional to their fans’ internet-posting arrogance.”
Stupidest comment of the week.
(SBI-Being an anti-Seattle troll on a regular basis isn’t “just having some fun”. You’ve done it for some time and it’s pretty pointless. Find a new hobby.)
Don’t hate–we’re a second year expansion team.
I know my team’s shortcomings, but I have faith that the club’s in it for the long haul.
Wish #1, a healthy target center-forward who can structure the attack.
Wish #2, a mid-fielder who can square the ball and switch the attack.
…and no prolonged injuries for Alonso!
Oh please. We may admire you at times, but TFC fans have a good chuckle over your weird, pop-culture mix of football tradition and college sports theatre.
Seattle players are learning what Toronto players have learned in recent years: it’s a lot tougher to lose when the crowd gives a damn. That’s a whole new level of pressure for this tier of football.
Wasn’t Ljungberg’s last goal in June 2009? I am not really interested in what he thinks and whether he is offended by the refund. I am interested in scoring goals, winning games and collecting trophies. I didn’t ask for a refund–I asked them to play their best football–what we saw on Saturday at RBP wasn’t it.
Up the Sounders, beat NYRB.
Only customers demand or accept refunds. Supporters are there through the good times and the bad. Freddie should be pissed. This isn’t Dominoes Pizza guaranteeing your pizza will be there in 30 minutes or it’s free.
There are customers and there are fans. Seattle just proved which one attends their matches.
(SBI-Spoken like a true Portland fan.)
Right, just like every other MLS fan suffers from Seattle-Soccer-Loving-Envy. You wish you lived in a place in which people actually care about soccer. The fans here have every right to be proud about what we have here.
Seattle’s winning is inversely proportional to their fans’ internet-posting arrogance.
Well in my opinion Ljungberg can go hang out with Joe Johnson for all i care those fans deserved better, they paid to see their team compete not get spanked, and show no fight, fans always say they paid to see the players not the front office, so you can’t have it both ways, the front office in my view is holding up their end, the players right now aren’t come July there might be some surprise cuts.
Great to see Park back in MLS. He deserves to be here.
The sounders have two issues, they don’t have a target forward to hold up play and they need a solid center back, the middle they are fine, the wings they have great speed and talent they just can’t score. One thing I can’t stand is the sulking on the team, Fredy Sulks then he doesn’t get back on defense, Freddy complains way to much,Brad evans has caught on to whining, its ridiculous. They might make the playoffs but they don’t make it out of the first round.
“Benching Montero this week could be one of the personnel changes that Schmid and GM Adrian Hanauer hinted would happen.”
If GM Hanauer is making out the starting line-up, the Sounders are in deep do-do.
“… the front office decision doesn’t sit well with every player, notably designated player Freddie Ljungberg, a team leader…”
I can see why Freddie is pissed as the statements from Hanauer and Sigi dumped all the blame on the players, Sigi and Hanauer accepted none. Ljungberg has been censored before by management, but I’d love to hear his take on the refund, and the player criticism.
NYRB showed weakness last week in central defense after going down a man. But Sounders don’t have anyone who attacks down the middle. Zakuani is his best option, but… I don’t see them pulling out a win here as they stay on the bottom.
Nkufo will make Montero better…unfortunately (as mentioned above) that’s not gonna happen for a while.
the best Seattle have looked all season was the 1st half against Toronto, sans Montero.
Sigi needs to take some responsibility for Seattle’s form this season. He hasn’t been putting out lineups that are capable of winning. Brad Evans, Peter Vagenas and Nathan Sturgis have been awful, and Montero keeps getting subbed out in the second half. Let him finish a game for once and maybe grab a game winner. He has no one to play off of up front, so the loss of Jaqua hurts, and now Osvaldo Alonso … They’ve got some work to do.