Some time has passed. The pain has not. Not completely.
Sigi Schmid was relieved of his long-time duties as Seattle Sounders head coach back in July, but he is still not completely over the way things played out. Schmid was let go after the Sounders endured a dreadful opening five months to the season, but just before Designated Player Nicolas Lodeiro arrived, Alvaro Fernandez was signed, and Roman Torres returned from injury.
Their introductions to the fold have coincided with Seattle's best run of form this season, as the club has gone 6-1-3 since Schmid's departure to move above the red line in the Western Conference.
For Schmid, it is all a case of what could have been.
“I would have liked to have had the opportunity to work with those guys, Lodeiro especially,” Schmid recently told the Seattle Times. "If I would have worked with all those guys and we still wouldn’t have succeeded, then I would have said, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s time to move on and change the coach.’”
The 63-year-old Schmid attended the Sounders' road win over the LA Galaxy this past Sunday, but did not find it easy to stomach seeing his old side compete without him coaching on the sidelines.
“It was still painful,” said Schmid, who had guided Seattle to the playoffs in each of their past seven seasons. “It gets less painful at times.”
Schmid opened up about more things pertaining to his final year with the Sounders in the Seattle Times piece, including his experience working with club general manager Garth Lagerwey. You can give the full story a read here.
