Brian Schmetzer: Interim Coach or Long Term Possibility?
Seattle Sounders New Found Acension Should Mean Job Security for Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer
But the current ultimate question is will it? The Sounders have had more than their share of dismal performances this season. As supporters, it is always easy to move those moments aside
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when our team hits a stride. Seattle demolished their most hated rivals, the Portland Timbers, last Sunday in a 3-1 route. It was glorious. And it was a vastly different performance than most of this season. That is, prior to the current reign of Brian Schmetzer. As the Seattle Sounders keep winning, the honest chance for a playoff bid grows. That ever so slim light at the end of this frustrating tunnel can be contributed to the flame that Schmetzer has rekindled in our players.
Schmetzer’s Post Match Interview, August 21, 2016
Clint Dempsey has found the back of the net more times in the last two games than he has all season long. Jordan Morris is making beastly runs. Ozzie is Honey Badgering all over the midfield. One of our newest signings has changed the entire run of play for Seattle in the most joyful way. We’ve been so on point since the appointment of Schmetzer that we haven’t even utilized the other signing, winger Alvaro Fernandez. Sure, not all of the positives can be contributed solely to the coaching of Brian Schmetzer, but if this run of excellent play continues and the Seattle Sounders make it to the playoffs, it would mean that Schmetzer pulled off the near impossible. Is that not good enough to secure a job as the head coach, at least for a season?
Why It Could Very Well Not Happen
There have been two aggravating sides to this season. First is how the team was doing on the
“My expectation is that the Front Office will want someone who not only has experience with a big name club outside of MLS, but someone that they believe will “wow” the supporter base.”
field. The Seattle Sounders have fixed that aspect. The second is the rather tone-deaf Seattle Sounders Front Office. Between not transparently addressing the on-field product and the mishandling of the security process upon entering the field, the Front Office has missed out on proving itself to the fan base.
Implementing even more ridiculous and stringent bag expectations is only one example of the misaligned view that the Front Office has of the supporters. Include quite possibly the worst mobile application that has ever been crafted, which was ever so helpfully ignored after its bugged release, the Front Office is apparently disinterested in living up to the expectations that the supporters rightfully expect. It is because of the Front Office that I worry Brian Schmetzer will not get the job, even as he turns this sinking ship into something miraculous. The Front Office loves a chance to make big name waves. Sometimes it works pretty well.
The Club lucked out with signing Clint Dempsey, finding a big name player who has fit very well
overall with the team. But they have also struck out big time, signing a player like Nelson Valdez, as a Designated Player. Valdez, who works tirelessly on the field, has never been much of a goal scorer. A bit of research into his career prior to the Seattle Sounders shows the sad truth of this. To say nothing of the rumors that the Seattle Sounders offered USMNT midfielder Alejandro Bedoya significantly less than they paid for Valdez. My expectation is that the Front Office will want someone who not only has experience with a big name club outside of MLS, but someone that they believe will “wow” the supporter base. The saddest part is that we already have a coach who has wowed us; Brian Schmetzer.
Related Story: Seattle Sounders versus Portland Timbers: A Breakdown of Cascadia
I could very well be wrong, and I sincerely hope I am. Maybe the Front Office likes the idea of a coach who has proven to be a Sounder through and through. Also, Brian Schmetzer will almost certainly be more cost effective than many of the other big name options. He has so far proven that he can coach through tough matches, and that the players respond well to him. And it would go a long way in connecting with the supporters to recognize what he means to the brand and the crest. While all of this plays out, I will be happily enjoying the good fortune and wins he has helped us get, meanwhile focusing ever so tempered on the illustrious MLS Cup. It has never been so far away, and yet I can’t help but feel that it is closer than ever.