SEATTLE – A year ago, Seattle Sounders majority owner Joe Roth stood in front of his season ticket holders at the club’s 2013 Alliance Annual Business Meeting and apologized for his team’s late-season collapse and early playoff exit.
Fast forward to the 2014 edition of the meeting that took place at the Paramount Theater in Seattle on Saturday. This year, Roth’s team has another US Open Cup championship, a Supporters’ Shield trophy, and is currently preparing to take on the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Championship, starting next Sunday (5 pm ET; ESPN) with the chance to play for the franchise’s first MLS Cup on the line.
The Sounders owner and prominent Hollywood film producer (above, right) met with the Seattle media prior to his appearance at the Paramount and discussed, among other things, his club’s turnaround, the decision to retain head coach Sigi Schmid, and the recent headlines surrounding US men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Roth said the decision to retain Schmid came after a lengthy evaluation process and was close to going the other way. Following Seattle’s downward spiral and early playoff loss to the Portland Timbers last season, Roth said he and co-owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer met with Schmid in Los Angeles to discuss their next move.
“I was upset,” Roth said. “We sat for a couple hours and I thought, ‘You know, I could fire this guy who I think is one of the two best coaches in the league.’ But he’s won the championship in LA and Columbus. So I either have to fire him or fire the players. So I fired the players.”
The result, Roth says, is an improved team chemistry that has been instrumental in Seattle’s trophy-filled 2014 season. The club moved out such high-profile players as Eddie Johnson, Michael Gspurning, and Mauro Rosales, and brought in the likes of goalkeeper Stefan Frei, center back Chad Marshall, forward Chad Barrett, and midfielders Gonzalo Pineda and Marco Pappa, all of whom have made big contributions to the team's success this year.
“I’d seen what had happened inside the locker room – dissension between some of the guys,” Roth said. “I just didn’t want it to happen again…Right now I feel like we’ve got a team that will go out there and run through the wall. That wasn’t the case last season. ”
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Regardless of how the rest of the postseason plays out, Roth says, he is happy with the team's progress and Seattle’s chances at remaining a Western Conference power in subsequent seasons. He pointed to this year's Supporters’ Shield as one of his proudest achievements since he took over ownership of the club in 2007.
“It’s right up there,” Roth said. “I’m old fashioned. In every country in the world except the United States [the Supporters’ Shield] means we won.”
Speaking of every country except the United States, Roth also weighed in on the recent news surrounding Klinsmann and player development. The USMNT manager has been in the news this week for his sentiment that MLS is not an ideal setting for the form and development of USMNT players and reports that he has encouraged young players in MLS academies to move to European clubs. Roth echoed MLS Commissioner Don Garber's assessment of Klinsmann’s comments as "incredibly detrimental" to MLS.
“I think [Klinsmann] is devaluing the league,” Roth said. “I don’t think the US coach should devalue the US league. Period. I fully support [Garber]. I think it’s wrong. I don’t even think [Klinsmann] is accurate. But I think it’s wrong, just on its own merits.”
