Sounders’ frustrations grows with lack of scoring, results versus Timbers
Sounders finish three-game road stand with just four points.
SEATTLE — When the best thing you can say about a 0-0 home draw against your arch-rivals is that it stopped a four-game losing streak, you know you’re reaching for positives.
That's about what the Seattle Sounders could muster after Saturday’s scoreless draw against the Portland Timbers in a match that wasn’t easy on the eyes, and left the Sounders with a less-than-expected four points out of a possible nine in three consecutive home matches.
The draw leaves the Sounders adrift in the Cascadia Cup standings as well, though at this point there are bigger concerns. The Sounders haven’t scored more than one goal in a match in nearly two months, and as the Sounders hit the halfway point of the season, head coach Brian Schmetzer said that’s near the top of the list of things to address.
“That’s priority No. 1,” Schmetzer said. “The question I asked them, ‘did we really create enough chances?’ And I think the answer is maybe not.”
Schmetzer said he was mostly pleased with the performance of academy products Cody Baker and Reed Baker-Whiting on the right side, but said expectations should be tempered given their lack of experience.
“They're not finished products yet,” Schmetzer said.
The continued emergence of Léo Chú as an attacking option continues to be a bright spot, Schmetzer said.
“I was impressed with Chú, playing three games in a week,” Schmetzer said. “We just need to get him to have a bit more polish on his final pass.”
The Sounders’ lack of finishing has been impacted in no small part by injuries that affected the preferred starting front line, with Raúl Ruidíaz and Cristian Roldan just returning from long layoffs, and Jordan Morris still out with an adductor strain. Schmetzer said getting that trio on the field and fit will improve the Sounders' offensive prospects.
“Getting Raúl back, we’ll be able to extend his minutes for the next couple of things [so] things are looking up,” Schmetzer said.
Whether that helps the Sounders turn around their results against the Timbers remains to be seen. While the Sounders halted the four-game losing streak, they haven’t beaten the Timbers since 2021, and the last regular season victory was in 2017. Schmetzer conceded the drought is a “black hole” on his coaching resume.
“He [Timbers coach Gio Savarese] has my number since he started with Portland,” Schmetzer said.
Roldan, who made his return in a substitution role against the Timbers Saturday said the failure to be able to turn around the results against their rivals at home is a source of frustration for the team.
“It has been a frustrating four or five years of not winning at home,” Roldan said. “We wanted to change that today. We’ll have another opportunity later in the year but it does sting.”
Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who added another clean sheet — his 100th in MLS and ninth this season — to his resume, said the team put in a good effort, but thought the three-game week affected the team.
“We started on a high with a good three points against New York but midweek was frustrating [against San Jose],” Frei said. “With the quick turnaround, not just physically exhausting but a mentally exhausting week. The clean sheet shows we put in a lot of work. That was a good thing but I would have liked to have gotten the three points.”