SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders may have procured a point from their 0-0 draw against Columbus Crew SC at CenturyLink Field on Saturday, but in the postgame locker room after the match, the mood felt more like they had just lost 3-0.
Playing without star playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro who was sidelined for the match with a foot injury, the Sounders attack was listless, unable to net a goal despite playing up a man for the majority of the contest after Crew SC midfielder Pedro Santos was issued a straight red card in the 15th minute.
That may have been one thing had Seattle generated enough meaningful chances during the match to blame the result on poor luck. But it was actually Columbus that had the better chances on the afternoon, finishing with a 2-1 advantage in shots on target.
“We’re disappointed in the result. It’s not good enough,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said after the game. “We certainly missed Nico but I think we had enough players out there that are capable of breaking lines. It’s just a question of do we have the quality, do we have the ideas to make sure that they come to fruition.”
Schmetzer said the hope is that Lodeiro will be able to feature in Seattle’s upcoming matches next week against Toronto FC and the Portland Timbers, and that the Uruguayan will be evaluated “day by day,” although he did also call the foot injury “significant.”
“The player is certainly, when he has a significant injury, it’s his call,” Schmetzer said. “Nico has been a very, very positive influence on this club so we’re sad he isn’t playing but we’re going to continue to evaluate him and try and make good decisions for this club.”
As for why the Sounders couldn’t break through against Columbus despite playing with a one-man advantage for 75 minutes, Sounders forward Will Bruin said part of the issue is that the team was “too predictable.”
“We didn’t even try to play through the final third,” Bruin said. “I think everybody in the stadium knew we were going to try and push it wide and try to cross it. You’ve got to find other ways try create chances. We just haven’t been able to do it. We’ve got to be willing to take chances. We’ve got to get some creativity, some flair, we’ve got to move the ball quicker, we’ve got to pass and move, we’ve got to try things.
"I think we’re too caught up with playing the simple pass and [saying] ‘Oh, I’m not going to make the mistake, I’m just going to move it to the next guy,’” he added. “You’re not going to score like that. It’s so easy to defend. That was a prime example today. We need to find a solution to this because if you can’t tell, I’m pretty frustrated right now.”
The result moved Seattle’s record to 1-4-2 on the season, tying them with two other teams for the fewest points in MLS at five. Their five goals in seven matches also puts them in last place in the league and they won’t be afforded any breaks by their upcoming schedule.
The Sounders hit the road twice next week, first in a rematch of the last two MLS Cups against Toronto at BMO Field on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET | FS1; Full TV & Streaming Info), followed by a Cascadia Cup bout with Portland at Providence Park on Sunday.
“We’re going to look at film tomorrow and I hope we look at ways we can exploit Toronto and ways we can attack them,” Bruin said, before trailing off and pausing.
“I just hope we can generate some goals.”
