Editorial: A Message To Sigi Schmid’s Seattle Sounders Detractors
Nov 30, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid (center) shakes hands with a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy after the Galaxy won the Western Conference Championship at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
I go on social media a lot. I have an active Twitter account, I have an active Facebook account and I have been reading tweets and Facebook posts on the reactions following the 2-1 victory for Sigi Schmid’s Seattle Sounders over Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy in the second leg of the 2014 MLS Western Conference Championship. A number of these keyboard warriors are calling for a managerial change. They want #SigiOut.
And my reaction to this is…well, first, I retweeted the posts containing the said hashtag, and then I did my act of diplomacy on Seattle’s Facebook page. And then, my thoughts were of disbelief and schadenfreude. How is firing Sigi Schmid going to happen when you’ve already won a domestic double? Really, how is that even going to be feasable?
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First off, the MLS Supporters’ Shield is the hardest to win. You have to gain the most victories across a lengthy home-and-away season to lift the Shield. In most leagues that don’t have a playoff system or finals series, this is it. Also, the U.S. Open Cup is another prestigious award that Seattle fans have won for years. Every U.S. Open Cup can be considered a “Seattle Sounders Invitational” because in their short history as an MLS team, this has been expected for the Sounders to win this.
I am writing this article from a Galaxy supporter’s perspective. To all of the fans who want a coaching change after losing on a rule that implemented all over the world, do us a favor and get real. You don’t realize how good you have it. I would love my team to have a double that you have.
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The Galaxy have won doubles before, in 2002, 2005 and 2011. D.C. United, Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City and the Columbus Crew also won doubles. So already, Sigi detractors, your club is in elite company and are in a position to possibly win a treble and a CONCACAF Champions League title. And you have an excellent front office, great leadership, and some very good players who will be back for another swing.
Not all the top trophies a team can win in this competition are going to come. I know this, you know this, we know this. I have come to realize that the Seattle Sounders are not for everybody, despite the thousands who pay their memberships (which we call in America “season tickets”) to come to CenturyLink Field and support their team.
You, the fans who want #SigiOut, are the most classless example of fans who do not truly support the Sounders. In fact, my reckoning is that you are the same detractors who want Adrian Hanauer sacked as general manager. Joe Roth is not Roman Abramovich. What happened to Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea after he won the UEFA Champions League is not going to happen to Sigi Schmid.
The day that happens is the day you finish bottom of the Western Conference, and this team that the Sounders have is too good to hit rock bottom, even with Sporting and the Houston Dynamo moving west. To you unsavory #SigiOut advocates, cancel your memberships, give your scarves to charity and take your passion and hard-earned cash elsewhere.
Here’s the thing: there are other teams where you can be a bandwagoner, a glory-hunter, a front-runner, or all three. Those teams are at the top of the best leagues in Europe. I’m talking about the Bayerns, the Man Citys, the Barcelonas, Juventuses and Real Madrids of this world. I’m talking about Liverpool and Chelsea and even Man United and Arsenal, once things get sorted out there. You can’t lose following those teams, and even they will hit rough spots every now and then.
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I’ll be honest with you, if the Galaxy don’t get the job done against Jay Heaps’s New England Revolution this Sunday at StubHub Center (kickoff: 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET, ESPN), it’s going to hurt for a bit because football hurts. It will affect lots of fans in the stands. But afterwards, you gain a sense of closure from it because for New England, the third time is a charm.
The Revs lost to the Galaxy in 2002 and 2005, and perhaps the third time will be a charm. But I would not clamor for Bruce Arena to be fired as manager of the team; the Galaxy did not finish rock bottom, like the San Jose Earthquakes. I challenge all of you Sigi Schmid detractors to come out of the woodwork and offer on this comments thread who would be worthy to replace someone who did help my Galaxy win an MLS Cup in 2002 and has given you your first double in 2014.
Convincing reasoning is what I am looking for, not outright petulance and faux outrage with no legs to stand on. And I will be willing to judge if you do have a point. Otherwise, take a back seat and settle down now. Unless you get a season where you win zero trophies and you hit rock-bottom, Sigi Schmid isn’t going anywhere.
You’ve had the best season in Seattle Sounders FC history and to discredit everything on a goal from Juninho evokes sheer petulance, a trait that ruins a football supporter’s mentality to no end, and a trait that must not be common among fans of any team, Seattle Sounders notwithstanding. I conclude this editorial by raising you noisy detractors these two hashtags: #SigiIn and #InSigiWeTrust.