As the Sounders fall further down the MLS standings, should coach Sigi Schmid keep his job?

The Sounders have been in MLS since 2009, which makes this their eighth season at the highest level of American soccer. Sigi Schmid has been the coach for that entire duration, a feat not to be ignored in an age of rapid-fire dismissals at the whims of trigger-happy owners. He’s done some remarkable things with the Sounders, whose five major trophies are the most of any expansion club in league history. But under his leadership, this season has been an utter disaster.

Is it time for Schmid to go? Let’s examine both sides.

The case for firing Schmid

• This has been the worst season in club history, full stop. And it has happened on Schmid’s watch. Some things can be chalked up to bad luck, poor refereeing, etc. Individual losses can be blamed on those things, but great teams are good enough to surge past the little setbacks and find ways to win despite them.

• There has been a growing contingent of fans calling for Schmid to be fired for years now, but only amid the catastrophes of this season has that opinion become popular. Fans are getting tired of the same excuses, especially when the results aren’t changing. Support seems to be waning based on this season’s results and decisions made by the front office. Firing Schmid could show fans that the club means business.

• Sure, the Sounders sold their best player in Obafemi Martins at the beginning of the season, which was not Schmid’s fault, but the team is still full of solid players that should be getting better results. Far too often, Schmid has stuck with strange lineups that have been forced into awkward tactics that aren’t getting the best out of the team or individual players. And was it his decision to leave most of his best players at home for Seattle’s U.S. Open Cup loss to Los Angeles last week? Because it didn’t look like the extra rest did the team much good. The first-choice XI got decimated 3-0 in Kansas City on Sunday.

• Despite Schmid’s seemingly bad decisions and inability to get results, until recently it seemed like the players were still behind him. Sunday’s match showed a deflated team that couldn’t even score on Kansas City’s backup center backs. The players weren’t fighting for their coach, and they lacked any sort of real confidence for 90 minutes. When you’ve lost the dressing room, there’s little you can do to get it back.

• Firing Schmid and kicking off the remainder of the season on a clean slate could reinvigorate the team and the fans. Players like Clint Dempsey that are clearly not playing their best could see their form return with a fresh voice and fresh tactics. A late surge of confidence, new signings and positive tactics could catapult the Sounders into an unlikely playoff berth as the sixth seed.

The case against firing Schmid

• Firing a coach, especially one that has been tied to a club for so long, is a big decision that is not to be taken lightly. Schmid’s fingerprints are all over the club, and it could be very difficult for a new coach to come in and change things so deep into a season. Houston fired head coach Owen Coyle at the end of May and has gone 2-3-5 since. The Sounders need a full cleansing at the end of this season, not just the stopgap that firing Schmid would amount to.

• This is Schmid’s team and he’s molded it in the way that he wants. And with reinforcements likely coming this week, there’s the chance that he could reassess with a bolstered roster and get things back on track.

• There are still players that seem pretty loyal to Schmid, especially those that have been with the club for a long time or who played for him elsewhere. If Schmid left, crucial players like Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso may not gel with whatever coach who replaces him.

• Speaking of new coaches, who could the Sounders possibly get at this point in the season? There are a handful of European coaches out of a job right now, but it’s unlikely that the Sounders could snag one of the better ones. Schmid is one of the most decorated American coaches of all time, and any other MLS coach aside from maybe Bruce Arena is going to feel like a downgrade. The most likely scenario would entail assistant coach Brian Schmetzer taking over for the rest of the season. He’s been in that position since the Sounders entered MLS (he was the head coach prior to expansion) and is rooted in Schmid’s methods.

• If there’s truth to the rumors about Schmid wanting to go back to Southern California and take a management or front-office position with expansion club LAFC, why not let him ride this season out and then let him leave?

• Removing a cog like Schmid from the Sounders’ machine could cause it to fall further into disarray. The Sounders will be lost, confused, and without the leader many of them have been with for years. The new players that Schmid signed off for may not be dealt with correctly, and the team could be at the bottom of the league with a bloated, ineffective roster.

Both make for compelling cases, and it’s hard to know just what the front office is prepared to do. But if the Sounders are going to do anything, I think it’ll be within the next week or two. If Schmid is still the manager at the beginning of September, he’ll probably be the manager until the end of the season.

It’s going to be an interesting August for the Sounders.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.