SAN JOSE, Calif.—Most of the Seattle Sounders showed up at training on Tuesday to the news that head coach Sigi Schmid had mutually parted ways with the team, but two members of the squad found out the news from afar, having traveled 800 miles down the West Coast to partake in the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star festivities.
Though Sounders star Clint Dempsey did not talk to the media following the MLS All-Star practice on Tuesday afternoon, fellow forward Jordan Morris – who will be participating in Wednesday's Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game – offered up a few thoughts to MLSsoccer.com earlier in the day on the coach’s departure.
“Obviously he’s a great coach and it’s sad to see him go,” said Morris. Though he preferred not to elaborate, he did say that it would be strange to go back to Seattle and not see the man that has been so integral to the club’s MLS history on the training field.
“Yeah, of course [it’ll be weird],” he added. “He was a great coach and a great, great person so it’s sad to see that. But I’ll talk about that later.”
Schmid was, until Tuesday, the only coach that the Sounders have known in their MLS history, which dates back to their 2009 expansion season. In that time period, he took the club to the postseason in each of his seven seasons at the helm, won four U.S. Open Cups, and guided the team to its first Supporters' Shield win in 2014.
But the Sounders have struggled mightily in 2016, and currently sit in ninth place in the Western Conference, 10 points out of a playoff place. They do have two games in hand on the sixth and seventh place teams in the the Conference, Cascadia rivals Portland and Vancouver, but with 14 games remaining, Seattle nonetheless have a lot of ground to make up in an increasingly short window.
Despite the grim outlook, Morris believes that the team has what it takes to turn things around and make a push for the top six, which would see the team continue its perfect record of postseason qualification.
“Yeah of course,” he replied when asked if the Sounders still had what it takes to make the playoffs despite a continuing string of poor results. “You’ve got to believe that. Teams have a few games in hand on us and I think the road results haven’t gone our way, but if we string some wins in, get some wins in a row we can get up closer to the red line and hopefully get over it.”
The Sounders can certainly help their case by strengthening their squad, which seems almost a certainty at this point. Uruguayan international playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro is rumored to be imminently signing with the team, and would represent their first big investment in talent after the team sold prolific forward Obafemi Martins in the offseason. Lodeiro’s compatriot, former Sounder Alvaro Fernandez, has also been strongly linked with a move back to the Emerald City.
“It’s always good to add quality players,” Morris said. “I’m not sure who they’re bringing in yet or what or when, and if they do it’ll be great, and it’s always good to have more quality on your team.”
