TUKWILA, Wash. – Freddie Ljungberg sees the warning signs in Seattle’s recent struggles.
Two consecutive losses after the World Cup break have put Seattle’s playoff future in jeopardy. A 3-1 loss to the Galaxy came on the heels of a 3-1 loss away at the Philadelphia Union, leaving Seattle stuck on 15 points after 15 matches.
According to the Swede, Seattle’s troubles have been evident on the field.
“I think the main thing is that if you look before those two games, we always dominated the games,” Ljungberg said. “Even if we had a bad result, we were dominating; we were better.
“I think in the two games against Philly and LA, we haven’t dominated the play, which is not really like us. That is the biggest problem, obviously.”
According to the Ljungberg, the Sounders changed their tactics in the past two games in an attempt to play more defensively, but didn’t have anything to show for it. The Sounders yielded three goals in each match and often looked overwhelmed, especially against Los Angeles.
Against LA, Seattle were outshot 15-9. Against Philadelphia, the tally was 14-6.
When asked about a potential solution, Ljungberg thought the club may opt for a more attack-minded lineup on Sunday against FC Dallas. Seattle have played an attacking lineup in their past two victories – US Open Cup matches against Portland and Los Angeles.
“That hasn’t gotten any results in Philly or in LA," Ljungberg said. "Maybe on Sunday we will go forward a bit again. We’ll see what we’re going to do. That is up to the coaching staff.
“Before when I was asked when we lost, [I could say] we had still dominated the games. Those two games we haven’t dominated. That is something we are going to have to try and fix.”
Seattle do have reinforcements on the horizon. The club expects to have midfielders Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans back before the end of the month. Starter Nate Jaqua has also returned from injury while Swiss striker Blaise Nkufo will join the team next week.
