CHARLESTON — “I don’t care about [preseason] results at all.”
That was Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei after their 1-0 loss to Columbus Crew SC on Saturday in the final match of the 2017 Carolina Challenge Cup. Niko Hansen found the back of the net in the 82nd minute for the game’s lone goal and sent the Sounders back to Seattle with a preseason record of 0-3-2 in Tucson, Ariz., and Charleston, S.C.
Frei started in goal for the first time since injuring his ankle in January while in United States national team camp, and he was eager to brush off a winless start to 2017.
“We have so many new players who need to jell, who need to get 90 minutes, who need to get fit, working on touches, working on shape, all these other things that are way more important than whether you get a result tonight or not,” Frei said. “Preseason is all about getting fit and getting ready.”
There’s certainly merit to that point. The Sounders did not trot out a single starter in the first half of their 4-2 loss to Atlanta United on Wednesday, focusing on getting younger players, reserves and guest players some quality playing time. The regular season is its own animal, and a long one at that, so having the ability to rely on depth late in the year will be crucial.
Preseason success does not necessarily translate to regular-season fortune in the same way that preseason hardships won’t always translate to regular-season struggles. Head coach Brian Schmetzer knows that while it may have been nice to pick up a win or two, there are far more important things to work on so that when the regular season does come around, his club is fully ready to go.
“We don’t enjoy losing,” Schmetzer said candidly. “Am I going to take stock in a loss or am I going to be more informed about how we lost, why we lost, why we couldn’t generate any more attacking movements and some of the things coaches do to get their team right? So to answer your question, do I take much stock into it? No, it’s preseason. It’s more of a learning aspect for those guys in the locker room.”
The Sounders faced a Crew SC team that finished ninth in the Eastern Conference in 2016 and is hungry to right the ship. The club employed a relentless high pressure from the opening whistle, and it took Seattle about 45 minutes to adapt.
“The first half wasn’t great, second half I thought we played better,” Schmetzer said. “We were able to create some chances, maybe [could have] snuck a goal in here or there. The overall editing of the game and showing them film and getting it right in training this week will be our top priority.”
Added Frei: “[Columbus is] a possession-based team that can pass you to death if you’re not in good shape…[We had] one mistake where we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. They’re a top side and going to take advantage of that. Erase that error and it was a decent effort.”
For now, the Sounders aim to start afresh on March 4 as they begin their title defense in Houston against the Dynamo (5:30 p.m. PT | Matchcenter). And with the preseason out of the way, the regular season brings a whole new perspective.
“That [mentality] changes next week, obviously,” Frei said. “It gets flipped around completely. I’m not going to care if we play pretty as long as we win.”
