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Matt Pentz is an award-winning sports reporter who writes weekly columns on Sounders FC for Prost Amerika. Matt’s work also appears on the Guardian, ESPNFC, FourFourTwo and Yahoo
Could a roaming Roldan change Sounders narrative?
Schmetzer has a few options, according to Pentz
By Matt Pentz
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer looked more frayed than usual at his post-match press conference on Saturday, emotions rising closer to the surface.
Seattle’s 2017 has played out in a loop reminiscent of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day: Dominating possession, week in and week out, but with few clear-cut chances and a susceptibility to opposing counterattacks.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Toronto FC at CenturyLink Field was just the latest example of this recurring narrative. The late barrage of goals salvaged a 3-3 home draw against New England the previous weekend, but familiar forces had dug them into that early hole, too.
“That storyline is getting very old, very fast,” Schmetzer said after the TFC game, describing a Sounders locker room full of “a lot of frustration.”
This isn’t a new trend. Former coach Sigi Schmid described the Sounders attack as a “blunt razor” shortly before he was fired last July, and that metaphor is apt at the moment.
“(We’re missing) the final pass, final movement, a little luck,” Schmetzer said. “A little bit more desire to get in the box and make stuff happen. Guys have to make plays.”
First-year forward Will Bruin was even more blunt: “We were getting in decent spots but we didn’t have any conviction on the final pass to finish. That was the difference, one-nothing.”
Curing what ills the Sounders isn’t likely to be a quick fix. Below, though, is a list of modest proposals that could make a big difference into turning ball control into tangible gains.
1. Speed the game up
It’d be harsh to suggest that other teams have figured Schmetzer’s Sounders out. There is, however, now ample film from which to study their strengths and weaknesses.
Schmetzer deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation shortly after taking over from Schmid last summer, building a spine around the reliable partnership of Cristian Roldan and Osvaldo Alonso in defensive midfield. Besides a few some minor tweaks, Schmetzer hasn’t deviated from that system since.
Toronto followed what has become the standard template for slowing Seattle down, especially at CenturyLink Field: Pack numbers behind the ball, congest the midfield and make the hosts break you down.
One way to combat that strategy is to break forward before the visitors have a chance to get set.
“I think we just have to play a little bit faster. Once teams bunker in, it’s hard for any team in this league,” Schmetzer said. “Getting out in transition, creating half a chance a little earlier … we need to stretch teams vertically before they’re able to bunker.”
2. Look up
Seattle is certainly capable of controlling tempo. Against Toronto, it had 63.5 percent of the possession; versus New England, a staggering 74.4; even on the road against Los Angeles while holding a lead, 57.7.
The Sounders are attempting and completing more passes than any other team in MLS. Too often, though, those have been side-to-side rather than the kind that actually create danger.
“When we change the point of attack, we need to change it in a quicker fashion. We’re giving teams time to shift a little bit more,” Roldan said. “We do five-, 10-yard passes. Yeah, it looks nice on the stat sheet, but it’s not really an effective way to go about the game. That’s one way (to open teams up).
“Another is passing a little bit more vertically to Clint (Dempsey) and Nico (Lodeiro). Instead of going side to side, pass it to them in those soft areas and let them do what they’re good at. We can also play over the top to Will (Bruin) and Jordan (Morris).
“It’s a little bit difficult to do all those things in a game at the same time, because of the way teams are playing us right now, but we have to be more effective in that way.”
Could a more expansive role for Cristian Roldan be on the cards
Photo: Matt Warso
3. Free Cristian.
Roldan is a decent barometer for how aggressively Seattle is playing on any given weekend. During last year’s title run, he pushed forward into the attack more often than at any other stretch of his young professional career. When he’s sitting more deeply in front of the back line, the Sounders as a whole typically lack incisiveness.
It’s not an exact science, of course – it isn’t always the case, and the latter role can be important, as well – but it helps explain why Seattle has so lacked bite in 2017.
“I think it’s a little bit of a different year,” Roldan said. “I think we’re doing a really, really good job of taking care of the ball. I think our possession stats are really high. That’s why I’m not breaking into the attack, as much, because we have the ball and then are 10 guys behind it. It’s been a little bit difficult in terms of space opening up in front of me. It’s just a matter of doing my duty, and hopefully that little extra will come when we’re on the break.”
4. Patience can be a good thing too
It’s far too early to suggest that the Sounders require a major overhaul. As last year’s midseason turnaround showed, sometimes all it takes one missing piece or an uptick in chemistry for everything to click. The core of a championship team remains.
“If you look at the statistically stuff, even against Vancouver … we’re murdering teams with our possession,” Schmetzer said. “But we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot every single game in a different fashion.
“It’s not like the team has been in a funk and has played horrible. I don’t think our first 45 on Saturday was great, but again, in the second half, we turned it up a little bit and just couldn’t find the equalizer.”
Has the coach considered any significant tactical changes?
“We’re nine games in,” Schmetzer said.
“We’ve kicked it around. Just because the results haven’t been going our way, and the games haven’t been going our way, I’m still thinking Ozzie and Cristian, building the team around that … we’ll figure it out.”
While most are still relatively relaxed about the situation, a two-game road swing beckons this weekend. If there aren’t some signs of improvement, the pressure for answers could get turned up sooner rather than later.
