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Sigi Schmid to remain Sounders head coach in 2016

Photo by Jennifer Buchanan/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Jennifer Buchanan/USA TODAY Sports

Despite falling short of the ultimate goal, the Seattle Sounders won’t be making any drastic changes on the coaching front.

On Thursday, Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey announced that Sigi Schmid will return to the club as head coach. The announcement comes in the aftermath of the Sounders’ playoff exit at the hands of FC Dallas, as the club still remains in pursuit of an elusive MLS Cup.

“Let me put something to bed: Sigi (Schmid) is our coach,” Lagerwey said at Thursday night’s Alliance annual business meeting. “Sigi will be our coach. Sigi is my coach.

“Sigi, you cool with being partners for another year?”

The Sounders have reached the postseason in all seven seasons under Schmid, who has posted a total record of 222-153-111 throughout his MLS career. The 2015 season saw the Sounders post a 15-13-6 mark in a season that was riddled by injuries to virtually every major contributor.

“I actually think our coach did one of his best coaching jobs this year, because I probably would have hanged myself,” owner Joe Roth added. “It was a very, very difficult year to coach this team, given all the injuries and the ups and downs. I thought he did a great job.”

What do you think of the Sounders’ decision? Glad to see Schmid back? How will the team fare in 2016?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. FWIW, Portland also plays on turf. There are NW Pacific coast realities some of the purists aren’t considering. Do the purists really expect smooth continental European soccer on grass field mudpits chewed up in the rain there?

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    • Most of the season is in the Summer, when the Northwest gets much less rain than most of the country. The early and late part of the season would be wet, but 1) if they control the stadium, don’t let anyone else on it during that time. 2) It rains a lot in England, if they have figured out how to keep the grass all winter, we surely can. Obviously for youth teams that are using the same fields everyday, then turf becomes a better solution, but for a stadium, it is not the weather, just that NFL team that mandates the turf. Obviously getting the Sounders out of that stadium is a lot more complicated than just getting natural grass, but grass in the Northwest is not impossible.

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      • Sounds nice in theory but typically the teams try and make back their construction debt service, and pay the rent, by having other tenants or hosting games as a neutral site. FCD is a HS stadium and neutral site, Dynamo are the home of TSU football and neutral site, etc.

  2. He should go; he provided no coaching during the injuries! They went on a sustained losing streak! They started winning again when Oba and Deuce came back..stlll the same problems: headers to nowhere, poor backline, lack of cohesive Offensive/defensive strategy (i.e. passing on the GROUND), age, he has shown again and again – when other teams have time to scheme in the playoffs he gets beat! Lagerwey! What the Hell?

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  3. What are they going to do about that vomit-inducing cancer causing turf they are forced to share with the NFL franchise?

    In addition to myself, I know at least 4 other football fans who would simply turn off the tv if a game is televised from Seattle because of that abomination of a field. It really is that bad. I am surprised since they have a solid following the fans aren’t more vocal about the situation.

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    • I’m a Sounders fan, and I too would like natural grass. But it’s simply not realistic here.

      It’s all well and good for people to tout the benefits of a soccer-specific stadium, but the Sounders always draw 40k, and they can hit 50-60k for rivalry matches without trying too hard. A new stadium that size in Seattle (or the suburbs) costs $500 million … *if* you can find the spot, and *if* you can convince a populace weary after recently building two big stadiums (for American football and baseball). That’s completely unrealistic economically and politically. Never gonna happen.

      I get people criticizing the turf, I really do … but saying “don’t use it” is tantamount to telling the biggest fanbase in MLS: “Get bent.”

      –Dave.

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    • There is the health issue and it also raises the question of whether Sigi (or anyone else) can build a team that has to play on turf half the time and then adapt to grass style play other weeks. Sigi’s previous winners were on grass and I don’t know if that is a model you can Xerox to turf bounces. Plus x number of interested players probably blow them off over the surface, affecting the ability to sign people up.

      That being said, I think we both know why they are there. Do they pay any rent? People don’t like Seahawks, people don’t like Gilette, but the Dynamo pay rent for their SSS. Between that — the necessities of Pacific NW weather — and the fact the cookie cutter MLS SSS they would likely get wouldn’t hold 50k a game like their present location, the idea of their own stadium is somewhere between complicated and dense.

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  4. Morris played on field turf for youth club soccer and high school, and wants to play for the Sounders. I doubt the surface is giving him any pause.

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  5. From all reports, the Sounders need to get younger and more dynamic, which was pretty obvious when watching them against Dallas ( a young and dynamic team). Here are some possibilities I see:

    1. Give Cristian Roldan starts immediately next season and see if he can handle it.
    2. Do whatever it takes to get Jordan Morris in the fold and play him immediately.
    3. Maybe do something like bring in a Luis Gil, who is probably done with Real Salt Lake. He has talent, but is inconsistent; I think a change of scenery will do him good.

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    • Bet Morris can’t wait to play on that crap turf. That turf (not the fans and atmosphere) certainly hurts during the recruiting process.

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      • Yeah
        He grew up in Seattle so he has probably never played on turf before
        Ok, not100% of his games
        Ok 100%. But he hated it like all kids
        Alright alright every kid loves the turf, but pretend he hated it because the trolls want him to have hated it.

  6. Seemed like an easy decision. Nothing screamed change. And other than Jason Kreis’ availability, it’s not like there’s clearly better choices “out there”. The GM and Sigi need to find some new players, however…and deal with an aging and fast-curmudgeoning Deuce.

    Reply

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