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Sounders part ways with head coach Sigi Schmid

Sigi Schmid Seattle Sounders 44

The Seattle Sounders have only known one head coach since joining MLS in 2009, however, that is about the change.

On Tuesday, the Sounders announced that the club has mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Sigi Schmid after spending the last eight seasons with the Western Conference side.

“I want to thank Seattle Sounders FC for the opportunity to lead this club over the past eight years, with particular gratitude to Adrian Hanauer, Joe Roth and the rest of the club’s ownership group. I’d also like to thank my coaches and technical staff for the support they’ve given me, and most importantly I want to thank my players for their tremendous effort throughout the years,” Schmid said.

“I’m proud of the success we’ve achieved in winning five major trophies in Seattle, qualifying for the postseason for seven-straight seasons. My only disappointment is that we were unable to bring home an MLS Cup to our tremendous fans, who have always been supportive through good times and bad. In closing, I want to thank the Sounders FC organization, the club’s fans and the city of Seattle for this amazing run.”

During his time with the Sounders, Schmid helped guide the club to four U.S. Open Cup titles, while also winning the 2014 Supporters’ Shield. Despite his great success, though, Schmid and the Sounders never reached the MLS Cup final.

In the interim, Sounders assistant Brian Schmetzer will assume the role of interim head coach ahead of Sunday’s home match against the LA Galaxy.

The 63-year-old Schmid previously coached the Columbus Crew and LA Galaxy in MLS, while also spending separate stints with the U.S. Under-20 national team.

The Sounders currently sit ninth place in the West, with 20 points in as many games. The club has never missed the postseason in their previous seven seasons in the league.

Comments

  1. Actually got to meet this guy once. Super nice guy. Wish him well, hope he coaches again somewhere. Maybe at my kid’s club!

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  2. The Sounders got rid of 27 goals and 12 assists from players who were sold, let go or transferred after last season. In return they got Jordan Morris who has 7 goals so far and 1 assist. You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Sigi is being used as a scapegoat.

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    • I think it was 27 and 14 if you are going with Pappa, Martins, Barrett, and Neagle. To be fair that group has 10 goals and 9 assists (Martins is listed with 3 goals on Wikipedia this season no listing for assists) so they aren’t exactly lighting it up either. Martins wanted out that’s why he left Seattle wasn’t shopping him, Sounders wasn’t going to pay him 6.5 million at 31. Lodeiro sounds like now will be tasked with making up the assists, but Morris has shown better than Neagle and Barrett who he actually was supposed to replace.

      Two 4ths, a 3rd, and a first place finish in the Western Conference the last four seasons and no MLS Cup Finals have had Sigi on the hot seat well before today. At the end of the day 4 US Open Cup titles and a Supporters Shield just wasn’t good enough for that club and its fan base.

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      • They have saved tons of money from letting those players go. Also, the Sounders have the second best attendance in the Western Hemisphere. They must have all sorts of cash they could spend. Why hasn’t Lagerway done more before this in getting players? It seems to me their troubles are more the fault of the GM than Sigi.

      • Can’t disagree that management shares at least part of the blame. The story today is Lodeiro was always their #1 guy so I’m not sure why it took so long. I guess they had to wait for the Libertadores to finish. That being said in MLS they are still in decent position for making playoffs with games in hand.

        On a side note Schelotto tried to make a move to Italy to manage might Seattle try to bring him in too? Not sure that isn’t a demotion from Boca Juniors to MLS, but maybe he doesn’t like life in Argentina.

  3. Not sure why it hasnt been posted here yet but Lodeiro landed on a plane in Seattle a while ago, the deal sounds like its done. If it is then its a really good signing for Seattle and the MLS as a whole, hes quality

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    • Okay, maybe now isnt his time but I hope he coaches the Nats at some point.

      At UCLA, he became one of the best college coaches ever, created a powerhouse, and won 4 championships. In MLS, he turned LA, Colombus, and (until recently) Seattle into powerhouses. He has won 4 suppprters shields, 2 league cups, and has the most coaching wins in league history.

      Most of all, he has an amazing eye for talent. He found some guy in Guatemala named Carlos Ruiz who averaged 20 plus goals a season for him. He found some kid in Colombia named Freddy Montero who became . At UCLA, he picked a small goal keeper named Nick Romando who ended up doing quite well for himself.

      He is a proven winner and knows our league and our players.

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  4. After seven years it was clear a change just had to happen. Sometimes change for the change of change is a bad idea but in this case it clearly had to happen. The Sounders this year have been a team with no bite and no clear direction. They are abysmal to watch, part of that is the players but part of it is coaching as well. Sigi did a lot of things well here but honestly it felt like he overstayed by a year or two.

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