Looking forward to rematch with Timbers
May 18, 2011, 10:33 AM | Updated: 11:41 am
Editor’s note: Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid will blog weekly for the Sounders page on 710Sports.com. Check in each week to see coach Schmid’s thoughts on the team.
I am looking forward to our game in July in Portland. We were disappointed to only get a tie at home but that will make the win on the road just that much sweeter.
The atmosphere on Saturday was great. Seattle has the best fans in U.S. soccer. You guys are the loudest and the most loyal and you come out in numbers every week and have been doing it now for three years. Qwest is the best soccer experience in the country.
Losing a starting midfielder based on a pre-match fitness test and then losing another one during the game made for a difficult match. We missed Friberg and Evans. That is not to mention Zakuani, White and Rosales. Our depth is being tested and it is responding. Carrasco, Levesque and others have stepped up and filled in and kept our team in the hunt for wins every time we play.
This week we play Sporting Kansas City. They are no longer the Wizards and also slightly changed their colors. KC is in the midst of building a new stadium and has chosen to play a lot of games on the road to begin the season. We need to take advantage of that.
We need to see during this week if any of our injured players will make it back. It will be nice to have an idea and train with the group that should play on the weekend. I am a coach who believes in using the abilities of the players you have. I do not want robots out there. But when you have injuries you have to adjust a bit and use the skill set of the players who are on the field. Doing it this way allows the soccer to be more entertaining and skillful. Over the long term players are better, but in the short term there are some drawbacks from just having a rigid system that does not allow personal strengths to play through as much.
I cannot wait for Saturday. We want to get back into the grove of grabbing wins. See you this weekend. Join us in a three-point celebration.
Sigi