Porter Claims Players Can’t Find Their Feet

Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter says that the players are finding it hard to find their feet once again after a bad 4-2 defeat against Seattle Sounders. The club came into the match on a good run of form after having been unbeaten in the last three, but they were unable to stop Sigi Schmid’s team from going on a rampant spree. They managed to go 3-0 in the match with less than 20 minutes. Even though Portland managed to pull back to goals and finish the match in a respectable fashion, it has been seen as a very poor result for the club.

It is also result that hits hard on their aspirations to finish in the top six that would guarantee them a place in the play-offs. The three dropped points has allowed the likes of Vancouver Whitecaps and Colorado Rapids to close the gap on Portland. Even though Portland have a decent four-point advantage over Colorado Rapids, they are just one point above Vancouver Whitecaps who also have a game in hand. Hence, there is a danger of dropping out of the play-off places with only a handful of matches remaining in the season. Reflecting on this possibility, Porter said that he is working hard to ensure that the next match against Vancouver Whitecaps ends in a positive way.

“We obviously took the loss hard against Seattle. Every game is the same, but there’s certain games you take harder than others. That being a rivalry game, there’s a lot of reasons we took it hard. So I think it took a couple of more days to get over it, but the message to the group today was, we have to get over it. We’ve got to stay positive. We have to keep fighting and grinding like we have all season. We have to stick together,” said Porter.

Sounders Draw Match

The Seattle Sounders ended their exhibition this season on a decent note without the Carolina Cup, but without any loses either. Sounders coach Schmid seemed pleased with the team’s performance as they drew the game 2-2 on Saturday against D.C United at the Blackbaud Stadium. D.C united took home the Carolina Challenge Cup, with leveled score with the Seattle Sounders at 1-0-2 but triumphed due to goal differential.  The Sounders finished exhibition play at 6-0-3.

Post the match coach Schmid commented that they don’t like losing games that’s an obvious, and he wasn’t at all please that the Sounders took 2 goals at the game. He assured that they won’t be repeating this mistake during their match next week. On the 8th minute of the match, Fabian Espindola scored a penalty kick on behalf of D.C United as Chad Marshall got whistled for hitting a hand ball. Next the Sounders equalized as striker Kenny Cooper scored his first goal in the twenty fourth minute. Cooper commented that Dylan Remick, who has been performing impressively in the pre season, put in the ball amazingly it is just by good luck that he kicked it in the net.

In the fifty third minute, United jumped back into the game with Espindola’s fabulous cross was perfectly played by Kitchen. The Sounders did not give up as yet, as they tied the score once more as Marco Pappa got a goal on Evan’s pass during the sixty third minute.

Schmid while praising the midfielders commented that Evans and Alonso performed quite well. He added that Marco Pappa too added to their effort by giving time to Dylan to go ahead.

Earlier coach Schmid had said that this playing lineup will be quite similar to the team who will be playing the Major League Soccer this weekend.

LOWE COMES IN

Seattle Sounders recently brought in Damion Lowe in the Superdraft and the defender is expected to be a major part of the club’s plans over the next few years. Still just 20 years old, he has a long time to develop his game and become one of the best defenders in the MLS. Manager Sigi Schmid said that the club was looking to lower the age of the defenders in this transfer window and they have done excellently that after the arrival of players like Lowe. Jalil Anibaba was also brought to the club for the eighth spot.

At just 25 years of age, Jalil Anibaba also has his best years ahead of him. Lowe said that he is extremely delighted to join a club like Seattle Sounders, which also means that he will get to play alongside great names like Clint Dempsey. Lowe has also raised expectations by claiming that he has always been starting matches. Even though he accepts that it will not be easy at a club like Seattle, his expectations are already at starting the matches rather than being used as a backup. Seattle Sounders only manage a fourth place finish in the table last season, while they were knocked out in the play-offs by Portland Timbers.

“Our guys were pretty much gone at that stage. [Patrick] Mullins was still on the board, but we had made a lot of moves for forwards in the offseason. We felt we had enough depth at that position that made sure we provided ourselves depth and youth in the back. We were staring to get a little bit older there. We think he’s a young center back with a bright future. We think he has great potential. We were happy with that,” said Schmid have to the club completed the signings of Lowe and Anibaba.

SCHMID STAYS

Joe Roth, the owner of Seattle Sounders, has made it clear that Sigi Schmid will not be terminated from his post of manager.

Seattle had performed very poorly towards the end of the last season. Out of their last 10 games, they had managed to win just 1 and at the end of the season, there were speculations that the boss Schmid might face the axe, but, the club owners seem to have got a lot of confidence in the 60 years old German manager and they have decided to keep him at the club for another season.

Schmid has been in charge at Seattle Sounders since the last 5 years and the team has achieved quite a lot of success under him.

Talking to the reporters in a press conference yesterday, Roth said, “We have evaluated Sigi’s work thoroughly and we have come to the conclusion that he should continue managing our side. Yes, we are disappointed with our performance in the latter half of the last season, but, Sigi is hugely experienced and we can’t just write him off on the basis of one poor season.”

“Under Sigi, we have qualified for the playoffs for 5 consecutive seasons and that’s a big achievement. Not many teams have done that. We have got full faith in Sigi and we are totally backing him. He will be provided all the resources and we are hoping that he guides the team to MLS Cup glory next season.”

Seattle Sounders played a total of 34 games last season out of which they managed to win 15. They got defeated in 12 games, while, the remaining 7 games were draws. They ended up at the 4th position in the Western Conference points table with 52 points.

LACK OF GOALS

Seattle Sounders have had a very poor striking combination in the form of Obafemi Martins and Eddie Johnson. Even though the duo have certainly not been good, the club are planning to stick with the partnership according to the latest interview given by manager Sigi Schmid. He has said that he believes Martins and Johnson complement each other well and they will eventually come good. The arrival of Clint Dempsey has certainly given a huge threat to the duo since the former Fulham and Tottenham player is capable of playing as a striker.

In the nine matches that Martins and Johnson have played together, they have contributed just five goals and one assist. Despite this poor form of the strikers, Seattle Sounders are currently top of the table. They can substantially increase clear advantage to 6 points if they win the two matches in hand over Real Salt Lake. After managing the 1-1 draw with LA Galaxy, which was a game that Dempsey missed due to injury, Schmid said that there were not many combinations between the two strikers, but they are improving with every minute.

Former Newcastle United striker Martins has a great reputation of scoring goals, but he has so far failed to produce magic at Seattle Sounders.

“I thought last game was better than the game before. The game in LA there wasn’t a lot of combinations. The last game there were a lot of combinations. I think it’s something that, with game time, it improves all the time. That combination can work when we play that combination. When Clint [Dempsey] gets into the mix, it changes things up again,” said the manager about the striking options at the club. Seattle Sounders have another big match in the form of a home encounter against New York Red Bulls in the next match.

WINDOW CLOSES

The summer transfer window will be closing in the next few days for MLS clubs, and Seattle Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer has revealed that he is still hoping to bring in a few new names into the door. Hanauer is one of the experienced members in his role, and he has said that he would not take any transfer for granted unless it is signed the contract. He has said that the club this actively looking at a couple of players, but he is not willing to give too much away because of the fear that the deal may fall through.

Fredy Montero was recently involved in a transfer to Sporting CP. It was reported by Seattle Sounders as a loan deal, but many of the Portuguese media are reporting it as a full transfer.

Hanauer has clarified this situation by saying that it is technically a loan move, but from a structural point of view, it is a full transfer. The league is still working out on the deal according to Hanauer, who has failed to disclose the details of the money that will be exchanging hands. Seattle Sounders have some salary cap still available, which will permit them to bring in a couple of names.

“We are actively pursuing a couple of different angles. But as you guys know by now, it’ll be done when it’s really done — signed, sealed and delivered. I’ve been doing this enough to know that if you’re too confident in this stuff it’ll fall apart on you. I’m hopeful that we’ll get something done, but I think ‘confident’ is a little too aggressive of an adjective. From a practical standpoint, we’re thinking of it as a transfer, but from the technical standpoint, it was structured as a loan,” said the Seattle Sounders general manager.