TUKWILA — Maybe, with NFL teams playing their final regular-season games, this isn’t the time that Seattle is talking about the Sounders.
Saturday, however, marked the first time in a while that the Sounders talked.
This is an organization, remember, that’s coming off a historic season — it’s just up to fans to say whether it was a historic success or failure.
On one hand, the Sounders became the first Major League Soccer team to ever win the CONCACAF Champions League Cup — knocking off Pumas of the Mexican Liga to secure what might be the franchise’s crowning achievement. On the other hand, they missed the playoffs for the first time in the team’s 14-year MLS history. To celebrate or to sulk? That was the question. Here’s another one: Could the FIFA Club World Cup at the start of February be sending them on a similar path?
Take whatever hype surrounded the CONCACAF Champions League Cup last year and multiply it by 10 for the Sounders. They were playing continental competition before, but by winning CONCACAF, they’ll be on the world stage in Morocco next month, sharing it with other champions such as Real Madrid.
Yes, the Sounders would have to win their first game to guarantee three more — and it is not yet known who that initial opponent will be. But despite the drop-off after last year’s Champions League result, Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer plans to go all-in in Morocco, too.
What kind of team are you going to field in Morocco? Schmetzer was asked.
“This is a competitive tournament,” he said. “We’re not going there on vacation. I’ll tell you that.”
You can’t blame Schmetzer for trying to seize an opportunity that may never come again. And my guess is if you polled the fan base, most would sacrifice a trip to the playoffs for that FIFA Club World Cup.
The following title might not be acknowledged by the rest of the planet, but by winning such a trophy — you can say you’re the best club team on Earth.
However, this doesn’t have to be an either or for the Sounders, who have new faces on the roster and the front office. Most notable on the personnel side is forward Hèber, a veteran acquired from New York City FC with over 100 career goals. On the brass side is general manager Craig Waibel, who replaced Garth Lagerway last November after Lagerway became president and CEO of Atlanta United.
But there are also familiar faces — such as homegrown forward Jordan Morris, who played for the United States in the World Cup last fall. And though he’s as eager as you might expect about this opportunity in Morocco, he knows the pitfalls it can present.
“If we ended up winning that [Club World Cup], it would obviously be incredible. But what we want to right from last year is that we didn’t come out from Champions League and do a good job in the regular season,” Morris said. “We were curious to know why we went from such a high to such a low and I think the guys are motivated to not let that happen again.”
Schmetzer attributes much of that drop-off to human nature. He wonders if the Sounders were a bit full of themselves after becoming the first MLS team to win that CONCACAF Champions League title. And what’s a surefire way to ensure a team gets beat? Have its players convince themselves that they’re unbeatable.
In his preseason meeting with them Friday, Schmetzer challenged his players on why they might have skidded last season after feeling so elevated. He emphasized that the team did not take missing the postseason well despite their unprecedented accomplishment beforehand.
“This is a proud franchise,” Schmetzer said. “We will come back strong.”
That is to be determined. The Sounders have a profound history of responding well to adversity — struggling in the early part of the season before surging near the top of the standings and finding themselves in the MLS Cup. This wouldn’t be an in-season turnaround so much as a next-season turnaround, but it’s in the club’s DNA to do it.
Before that, though, comes Morocco and a chance to make even more history. It’s OK to get excited. This is big — and the Sounders are going all in.
They just have to remember that no matter what they prove in Africa, there will still be plenty to prove back home.