RENTON – Ever since the start of the season, the Seattle Sounders have talked openly about targeting the Supporters’ Shield. The Sounders have only won the award for best regular-season record once in their history, and that was way back in 2014.
Through the first nine games of the season, the Sounders have kept themselves solidly in the race with 20 points. Although that’s currently eight points behind Shield-leading San Jose, that deficit would be cut to just two if they win both of their games in hand.
“I think the Supporters’ Shield is very much on for us,” Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnák said following Tuesday’s training session.
How long that remains the case will likely be heavily influenced by how the Sounders perform during their final four games before the World Cup break. Those matches will all be played against Western Conference opponents, three of them will be at home and two of them are against fellow Shield contenders.
Usually one to stick the mantra “one game at a time”, even head coach Brian Schmetzer acknowledged the importance of the bigger picture.
“It’s a block of tough games,” Schmetzer said. “Every single opponent is good. Every single opponent is a little different.”
The first of those matches is on Saturday against San Diego FC, a team who narrowly missed out on the Shield in its expansion season last year but who is currently mired in an eight-match winless run.
On its face, those struggles are similar to what Sporting KC was going through heading into last Saturday’s game. But Rusnák isn’t buying that.
“They’re a really good team,” Rusnák said. “I don’t think it changes anything that they’re winless for a few games. It’s the same personnel they had last year. The results just aren’t going for them.”
Missed chances
After re-watching the film of Saturday’s 1–1 draw with Sporting KC, Schmetzer said he was mostly happy with the overall play but couldn’t shake the feeling that points were dropped.
“The team played well from back to front, but in that 18-yard box where the games are won and lost …” Schmetzer said before listing off several chances on set pieces that could have had better finishes. “There were lots of good things, but it was super frustrating.”
Health updates
Nearly everyone but Yeimar Gomez-Andrade and Pedro de la Vega appear to be just about fully back in training. That includes Kim Kee-hee, Stuart Hawkins and even Ryan Sailor, who might still be another week or two from full participation.
