Gonzalo Pineda never could stay away from the game, or Seattle, for long.
Pineda spent two red-hot years in Seattle at the tail end of his illustrious career, logging 56 appearances from 2014-15 while forming an incredibly efficient partnership with Osvaldo Alonso. While Alonso sat deeper and marked out the opponent’s most dangerous attacking forays, Pineda operated as a regista, springing breaks and finding runners from the deeper caverns of the midfield.
Pineda hung up his boots after the 2015 season at the relatively young age of 33, at least in retirement parlance. A week later he joined the Univision broadcast team as a television analyst out of its Florida-based studio. Pineda enjoyed his time at Univision, but for Pineda it only scratched part of the itch his exodus from the game had created.
Pineda wanted to coach. And now he has his shot.
This week, the Sounders announced Pineda as Brian Schmetzer’s newest coaching assistant just days before the start of the team's 2017 preseason. After a 12-year pro career spent with seven clubs, six of which were in Mexico, Pineda will be coaching professionally for the first time. The move will no doubt be enormously popular among Sounders fans considering Pineda’s outsize production while in Seattle and his humble, unassuming demeanor off the field. But it also tips Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer’s hand as to his stylistic preference.
The Sounders certainly won’t be abandoning their effective short passing game any time soon.
Pineda spent the last year plotting his next move. The moment he retired he knew coaching was an eventuality, but the timing wasn’t entirely clear. Should he stay an analyst for a few years while waiting for the right opportunity?
The Sounders had been in contact with Pineda since he left in early 2016, and the timing clicked into place this offseason perhaps a bit earlier than anyone anticipated. Former assistant Ante Razov left the club in early January to join new LA Galaxy coach Curt Onalfo’s staff, which opened up a spot at Schmetzer’s right hand.
It didn’t take Pineda long to realize this was his chance to start his coaching career in the place his playing career ended.
“I knew I wanted to become a coach,” Pineda said. “I think I needed to take a little break after my career and just rest a little bit with my family. I didn’t know that it could have been just one year. I thought maybe it could take a little bit more, like three years or something like that. But at the end of the day the opportunity I wanted since the very beginning came, and I can’t say no to an offer coming from the Seattle Sounders.”
Pineda spent some time in 2016 codifying his coaching philosophy. Anyone who watched Pineda carefully find his place in long, delicately crafted build-ups that sometimes reached upwards of 15 or 20 passes could guess Pineda hung his coaching hat on possession. He says he took something from each of his most influential coaches as a player, namely men like Ricardo La Volpe and Hugo Sanchez. But if you want to get a sense as to Pineda’s preferred coaching style, just flip on a Pachuca match in Liga MX.
Pachuca, which won the 2016 Liga MX Clausura title, is coached by a man named Diego Alonso. Pineda is good friends with Alonso after the two played together for a year at Pumas. Alonso’s quickly become known as one of the most brilliant attack-minded coaches in Mexico, and Pineda spent some time at Alonso’s practice sessions taking in his methodology.
“I want to win with the style I want, which is to build the game from the very beginning, to have a lot of possession, to be the team that dictates the tempo,” Pineda said. “I love that, I love teams like (Tottenham head coach Mauricio) Pochettino’s teams. That’s my style, a team that can overwhelm the opponent... I will try to help Brian, and if that’s the same mission he has, that will be a good opportunity for me.”
Pineda need not worry. Last year, the Sounders were among the most committed teams to building out of the back in MLS. Only Columbus Crew SC attempted more short passes per game than Seattle (i.e. passes under 25 yards), and after Nicolas Lodeiro joined in late July, the Sounders became even less direct. Pineda’s history as a possession-conscious central midfielder should also be a boon in particular to Cristian Roldan, who essentially stepped into Pineda’s former position full time in 2016. The two will no doubt spend some time together on the training field.
A lot has happened since Pineda peeled off his Sounders jersey for the last time. In 2016, Seattle endured their worst first half of a season in franchise history, secured one of the most influential Designated Players in MLS in Lodeiro, lost Clint Dempsey for the season to an irregular heartbeat, cobbled together one of the most improbable late-season charges the league has ever seen and won its first MLS Cup.
That’s helped energize Pineda, who moves down the bench a couple spots from the players’ area to the technical area as Schmetzer’s assistant.
“A lot of my friends say, ‘Hey, you have a lot of pressure, they won the MLS Cup last year and you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders,’” Pineda said. “And I say 'No, what can be better?' It’s a great opportunity. I could see almost every game in the (2016) season, so I know how much trouble they had in the middle of the season, the injury of Clint Dempsey, the Sounders signing Nicolas Lodeiro who was a great signing. I know this team, and I’m going to try to help Brian, but at the same time I’m going to respect Brian and I know the team will play in the style Brian wants, not mine.
“I have no pressure on my shoulders. I’m glad to be here, and I want to participate in this. I’m excited to come back to Seattle.”
