TORONTO – After a first half to forget, Seattle Sounders were ready to reset and defend their MLS Cup on Saturday night.
But in spite of his best intentions, Sounder head coach Brian Schmetzer was unable turn the tide during the 15-minute respite, as the halftime break came and went and Toronto FC resumed their pursuit of a first MLS Cup, ultimately emerging with a 2-0 victory at BMO Field.
Despite a 22-7 shot differential in Toronto’s favor and getting thoroughly dominated in the possession department, the Seattle coach instead focused on another stat that he believed was indicative of the way that his team fell to defeat.
“Throughout the course of the year I’ve always picked out one stat on the stat sheet that I feel is very important for success: and that’s duels won,” he said, alluding to the staggering 58-24 difference in that area in favor of the winning side. "…Normally, our team is very good in that department.”
Schmetzer added that Toronto’s midfield diamond formation, with Michael Bradley dominant at the base of that quartet, hadn’t come as much surprise, as it was the same formation used at times in TFC's Eastern Conference Championship win over Columbus Crew SC.
However, he could do little to slow Toronto’s march to the title, with Jozy Altidore setting the home side on their way with his 67th-minute goal.
Having chosen to stick with his starting 11 up until that point, Schmetzer then decided to roll the dice in favor of more offense, bringing on Jordan Morris in the 71st minute in place of Victor Rodriguez.
In hindsight, the Sounders head coach says he could have done things differently.
“Yes, you can always second-guess yourself as a coach: ‘Should I put him in three minutes prior to the goal? What would’ve happened? What was the outcome?,'” he admitted.
“Certainly, I’ll do some self-reflection on that and it’s one of those things that I’ll learn from as a coach.”
Playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro, finishing up his first full year in MLS after taking the league by storm after helping lead the Sounders to the title in 2016, said it wasn’t Toronto’s tactics that suffocated his team, putting the blame squarely on the Sounders.
“It’s not so much about what they did but … it was just about that we were not able to feel comfortable ourselves with the game, with the triangulations that we used to do, were not happening in the way that they have been happening and we were not able to find our rhythm,” he said through a translator.
Morris himself said that he was itching to get on and make a difference, particularly after an injury-hit year. However, he deferred to the decision of his head coach. “Obviously would have wanted to come on a little earlier if I could, but again … that’s coach’s decision,” he said.
However, goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who made nine saves in the loss, nearly an MLS Cup record, said the defeat wasn’t about the timing of a substitution or the starting lineup. Ultimately, he said, the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of the players.
“Whoever found themselves on the field today needed to do a little bit better,” he said. “It didn’t matter if it was a sub that came too late or too early, collectively as a squad we didn’t find a way.”
