SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders lost their third straight league match on Saturday night against Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC despite once again controlling the pace for the majority of the 90 minutes.
“Not pleased with the result,” head coach Sigi Schmid said after the team’s 2-1 loss at CenturyLink Field. “I thought we controlled the majority of game. I thought we were the team that was on the attack the most.”
The Sounders did indeed control the match, completing 83 percent of their passes while outshooting Vancouver 19-9 in the loss. They also controlled 60 percent of the possession, but struggled to find the final touch to earn the draw or all three points at home.
The Sounders have still only scored one goal from the run of play in five games across all competitions, and that was a rare finish from Osvaldo Alonso last week.
“That final execution just isn’t there right now,” Schmid told reporters. “The imagination in the final third still needs to get better.”
Not even Sounders star forward Clint Dempsey is exempt, as he put wide an uncontested shot from inside the box in the 80th minute that would have tied the game.
“We had a great run by Joevin [Jones],” said Schmid. “He made a cut back to Clint, he’s got an open net and that’s one that he doesn’t miss, usually.”
Despite the uncharacteristic start from the Sounders - the first 0-3 run to start a season in in their MLS history – Schmid said he wasn’t been disappointed with the team’s performance on Saturday night.
“It’s not like I can say that the other team is steamrolling us, I think what we’re trying to do is good,” Schmid said. “I can’t walk into that locker room and say, ‘You guys didn’t put an effort in.’ I can’t walk into that locker room and say, ‘You guys didn’t control the pace of the game,’ because that would be lying to them.”
Veteran defender Zach Scott stepped in for the injured defender Brad Evans on Saturday and echoed Schmid’s statements after the game.
When asked about the frustration of losing a match after controlling so much of it Scott replied as optimistically as he could.
“Yeah, but isn’t that the joy and the frustrating part about soccer?” he said. “It can go so quickly against you … Something that just ruins a perfect game for you but that’s why we love it as well … I have no doubt that we’re going to get over this.”
