Seattle Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer looks like he has brought something new at the helm of Seattle. With the 1-1 draw on home soil against LA Galaxy and the outstanding 3-1 victory on the road against Orlando City, the Sounders look like they are a revived squad.
Without question, U.S. International Clint Dempsey was instrumental throughout last Sunday's victory, as he registered a personal hat-trick.
Schmetzer feels Dempsey may silence critics
Yet, coach Schmetzer did not put Dempsey's hat-trick in the bigger picture. Instead, he wanted to congratulate with all his squad, as he underlines that finally, he is seeing his team playing collectively while understanding his schemes.
Seattle's new 4-2-3-1 tactical system looks like it is providing the missing piece to the squad, composure and eventually goals.
“I’m happy that Clint is maybe going to silence some of his critics,” Schmetzer affirmed during the post-match press conference.
“That’s exactly what we needed,” Jordan Morris explained. “To come here, get a win on the road and kind of turn the season around a little bit. From the front to the back everyone had a great game.”
Schmetzer's plan
Schmetzer remarked the fact that the Sounders have always been a good team on the road, and he is striving to bring back that tradition to the team, as he believes that road points sometimes are much more important than those acquired at home.
''We can be a good road team. We will be a road team. And we’re going to need to be a good road team if we’re going to have a chance at making the playoffs.”
However, to reach the playoffs, the Sounders still have a long way to go. Their next test is against Real Salt Lake at CenturyLinkField. A victory would be the certificate of the winning mentality that Schmetzer managed to instill in his players, in just three weeks.
To conclude with, Schmetzer's idea of collective football should be an interesting tactical system to watch if you are both a Sounders' fan and also an MLS fan. He may be new to Major League Soccer, but his idea of football can be something which lifts the Sounders from their alarming situation and put them on track in the playoff race.