SEATTLE \u2013 Perhaps, it\u2019s only fitting for the Seattle Sounders to be in this spot.<\/p>\n
In a season in which the Sounders went the entire summer without winning a game and set franchise records for longest losing streak (eight games) and longest winless run (13 games), it\u2019s probably appropriate that they enter the final two-game stretch of the season with qualification for the playoffs very much an open question.<\/p>\n
It did not have to be this way, though.<\/p>\n
As recently as two weeks ago, the Sounders seemed to be coasting to a playoff spot and the only real question was how good of a seeding they could secure. By simply taking care of business at home, they were all but assured of skipping the play-in round. In theory, that would have been effectively wrapped up by now.<\/p>\n
After Wednesday\u2019s shocking 1\u20130 loss to the Houston Dynamo, though, the Sounders will now likely need to find a way to claim at least a couple of points from a road game against the Vancouver Whitecaps and then a potentially do-or-die season finale at home against LAFC.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about that these last five or six games have been playoff games, and it hasn\u2019t been good enough to get results,\u201d Sounders captain Cristian Roldan said in the postgame locker room. \u201cWe have to correct the mistakes that we\u2019ve made on our own. That\u2019s been our Achilles\u2019 heel. We\u2019re shooting ourselves in the foot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have two really tough games to finish out the season, and it\u2019s not going to be easy. If you don\u2019t defend well in set pieces, if you don\u2019t put away teams, then you\u2019re going to be out of the playoffs really, really quickly. We might not even make the playoffs if we continue in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from the possible ramifications on the season, the Dynamo loss stings for reasons that go beyond one result.<\/p>\n
The Dynamo came into this game having never won a match at Lumen Field, carrying a record of 0\u201314\u20133 that dated to 2009. While still managing to hold onto the No. 5 spot in the West, they were on a seven-game winless run and had gone just 1\u20133\u20137 in their past 11. They had also chosen to leave two of their best players \u2013 Guilherme and Hector Herrera \u2013 at home. Nothing about their form and quality suggested they should have expected much from this match.<\/p>\n
The Sounders seemed to recognize this and came out with plenty of energy. They were effectively counter-pressing and virtually all of the match was played in the Dynamo\u2019s half.<\/p>\n
But it was the Dynamo who managed to score first. On their first corner of the match, the Dynamo sent in a ball that barely floated over the heads of both Dejan Jovelji\u0107 and Sebastian Gomez; fell just between Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Jackson Ragen; and bounced perfectly for Lucas Halter, who lost Hassani Dotson on a clever pick play.<\/p>\n
The Dynamo didn\u2019t seem particularly inclined to take chances before that goal, but were clearly content to put 11 behind the ball for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n
While the Sounders\u2019 effort was clearly there, they never really showed the kind of quality that would break down a committed defensive block. Until the 89th minute, the Sounders managed just five shots from inside the box, and none of those had caused Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond much trouble.<\/p>\n
Over the final five minutes or so, the Sounders finally did manage to increase the pressure. During that stretch, the Sounders took seven shots \u2013 all from inside the penalty area \u2013 that accounted for more than 1.0 xG.<\/p>\n
Add it all together and this was one of the Sounders\u2019 most statistically dominant games of the season. They had their highest average point of confrontation of the season, forced the Dynamo into 66 clearances, held a 21\u20132 shots advantage, and finished with the most xPoints (2.64) of the season. Not that any of it mattered. The Sounders simply lacked the quality when they needed it most.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the categories we\u2019ve been better in, except the most important one, and that\u2019s the goals,\u201d Sounders midfielder Albert Rusn\u00e1k said. \u201cAt this stage of a season, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s more important, our results or the way you play.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s not really worth talking about whether we played well or not. It\u2019s just the simple fact that we didn\u2019t win. We lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
This has been one of the Sounders\u2019 most frustrating seasons ever. They have endured some of their lowest-ever lows, but have also shown themselves to be competitive as long as they\u2019re healthy.<\/p>\n
Health is no longer an excuse, though. The Sounders have two more chances to try to make something of this season. They\u2019ve already wasted several.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the way sometimes this sport is,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “It\u2019s very cruel. It\u2019s cruel for the players who put a lot into stuff. It\u2019s cruel for the fans that have to sit through that and watch that.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight wasn\u2019t very easy to take. We\u2019re running out of runway.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2013 Perhaps, it\u2019s only fitting for the Seattle Sounders to be in this spot. In a season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-899535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}