TUKWILA, Wash. — The Seattle Sounders enter Wednesday night’s match against the Houston Dynamo (7:30 p.m. PT; JOEtv, KIRO Radio 97.3FM, El Rey 1360AM) having won four games in a row for the first time all season. A fifth would secure a postseason berth.
Ever since interim head coach Brian Schmetzer took over in late July, the main focus has been to tackle one game at a time, a necessary albeit difficult task while occupying the Western Conference’s basement. Yet one by one, the team has strung an impressive run together and catapulted into the playoff picture.
What matters more to Schmetzer is the players' efforts and how they prepare, and the results are taking care of themselves.
“It’s their job now to take that preparation and believe in what they’ve done over the week,” Schmetzer said. “The last two training days have been really good.”
The club has gone 7-1-3 under Schmetzer and despite being a near-lock for the playoffs, he knows the club still has work to do. Where it will be seeded and who it will play in a potential postseason fixture is far from the focus.
“As a human being I look [at the standings] and it’s the coaching staff’s job to think about some of those things,” Schmetzer said. “We’re not looking ahead, not even for one second.”
