Brian Schmetzer is that rarity, a true “no-excuses” coach

Brian Schmetzer at Lumen Field in Seattle
Photo: Paul Kahl

Soccer is full of coaches who have a war chest of excuses for a defeat. From Sir Alex Fergison’s famous wrong colour jerseys to blaming the referee, the pitch and the ball, fans have heard everything. Sometimes they too latch onto those excuses and sometimes they see through them.

Therefore, it is especially refreshing to interview a coach that makes no self-serving excuses, even when a courteous interviewer perhaps holds out a branch to grasp and pull himself out of the mire.

One such man is current Seattle Sounders FC head coach, Brian Schmetzer.

For purposes of transparency, it’s only fair to reveal to newer readers that I started covering Seattle Sounders FC in the USL days before they arrived in Major League Soccer. Schmetzer was the Head Coach of that side and his post game interview one night in September 2008 has stuck in my mind for over a decade.

It was September 20th, and it had been a particularly torrid evening at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila.

His side had lost 3-2 at home to the Vancouver Whitecaps who, as a bonus, took the Cascadia Cup out of Seattle’s grasp in the process.

Sebastian Le Toux had given the home side a 10th minute lead and Seattle were in full control. However, replies from Eduardo Sebrango, Justin Moose, and Jeff Clarke put the game out of Seattle’s reach before a decent USL crowd of 4,401 folk.

After the game, a clutch of three writers, as that was the level of interest in those days, waited for Schmetzer outside the locker room. The Sounders had been on a short run of poor performances after a mostly successful season and this game had looked very likely to turn the tide.

The first question was a fairly obvious one ..”what went wrong?”

Schmetzer’s answer surprised all of us.

“I don’t know. What do you guys think? I really have no answer. “

My memory of that day 17 years ago forgets whether he used the words ‘perplexed’ or ‘baffled’, but such was his honesty in admitting he didn’t know, rather than find reasons or excuses, was an insight into the honesty and integrity of the man.

History changed his path though as MLS arrived in Seattle and he took a role as assistant to one of America soccer’s true managerial legends, Sigi Schmid.

Schmetzer then took over the reigns of the club after Schmid’s dismissal in 2016 and led the club to an unlikely MLS Cup in his first season. One thing was clear about the side’s sudden change in form. He had the locker room willing to bust a gut for him.

Forward the story 17 years.

Two weeks ago, I was in Seattle covering a game in the Emerald City for the first time in 12 years.

Schmetzer was naturally somewhat surprised to see me sitting in the press conference room but far more on his mind was a tepid though not disastrous performance against a Houston Dynamo side of limited ambition on the day, who hadn’t won and have still never won an MLS match in Seattle.

The match finished goalless despite Seattle’s domination.

I asked him whether he took comfort in a very traditional football pearl of wisdom that if a side creates enough chances, the goals will eventually come.

Rather than just allow the premise of the question to pass and imply his side’s fate lay in the lap of the footballing gods, Schmetzer demurred and explained that not all chances were equal.

His opinion was that his side did not create chances of sufficient quality for that adage to apply to his side. It wasn’t the fault of the footballing gods, it was on him. Just him.

As his ill luck would have it, he had to face my questions just two weeks later after his side’s fairly dismal 3-0 loss in San Diego.

There’s an almost unwritten tradition in MLS media circles that, if a side has been poor and lost, you offer up the “are there any positives you can take from that game?” as your opening question rather than assail the coach with a linguistic hammer.

And so, with an MLS coach all to myself as the only one in San Diego who had gone to talk to him, I threw that out in the knowledge to see where the conversation would go.

Schmetzer managed to say ‘no’ but admirably, without throwing his players under the bus:

“I’ll probably have to watch the film to see if there’s any positives, because right now the players don’t feel very good, and neither do I and the coaching staff, the support staff and everybody that puts a lot of effort into games.

“And I don’t think that any of our fans, because our fans were there. They were tremendous. I could hear them across the way tucked up there in the corner. I don’t think they’re feeling very good.

“So I’ll have to look at the tape to find some positives; (to see) what we can build on right now.”

San Diego were superior in all departments of the game but despite that, the possession statistic showed that Sounders had 57.1% of the ball. That’s a great deal of ball at your feet to produce just four shots on target and no goals.

What had disappointed him more then? The side’s toothlessness in possession or the glaring deficiencies in defence? Opening up a little, he omitted any bland response and spoke his mind:

“I believe it was a combination of both. I’ll say 50/50.

“My number one disappointment was the lack of vision and understanding of the game that was unfolding around them.

“The next layer is in attack and in defending.

“I don’t think we were good enough in attack. Again I’m not putting fault or blame on Georgi (Minoungou) who did a good job up front.

“Defending as well. Lack of vision, lack of understanding where the danger’s coming from.”

Many managers would cite the loss of a star player (and they almost unfailingly omit mentioning the opposition may be missing someone).

Jordan Morris is a talisman for his home side. He succumbed to a hamstring injury against Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, along with Paul Arriola, who suffered an ACL tear.

He is currently listed as Questionable in the MLS injury report.

Given his status as the club’s leading goalscorer in MLS and his local roots, it seemed reasonable to ask if his absence was felt off the field as much as on.

“Soccer’s a team sport. Jordan is obviously a very big vital part of our team but we have 28 really super talented guys.

“When a guy get injured, the next guy has to step up. That’s the way. That’s our mantra. That’s the way we’ve been successful for all these years.

“Right now I need some guys to step up until Jordan comes back but it will certainly be a lift.

“It will be a lift emotionally and soccer-wise when Jordan comes back, and also Pedro de la Vega. Reed (Baker-Whiting) was ok did a good job as a cameo but I thought Pedro came on and did a good job.”

In the end, he had found some positives before he utilized them as potential excuses.

The Argentinian de la Vega played half an hour and will surely be in contention for the trip to Dallas. April is not the worst time to have to play in the Texas weather either and their hosts have not played a competitive match since March 15th.

Schmetzer’s side are only three points off LAFC in 9th place, from where you qualify for the post season. While the Sounders’ eight goals in seven games is not good, only six of the other 14 sides in the West have scored more.

Not that Schmetzer will point those out, except as motivation and to raise the morale of his troops between now and April 12th.