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MLS PLAYOFFS MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 16, 2016Brian SchmetzerStefan FreiNew York, New York Q. Your initial thoughts about this game coming up against the Colorado Rapids? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Well, we're looking forward to a great match. Pablo has done a great job with his team. I think early on in the season when we played him, some of the commentary that we had in our coaches room after we played him was that was a team that believed they could win. They believed in the way they were playing. So we're happy that the first match is here at home. It will be in front of a really hyped up, fantastic crowd, and our preparation has been decent. Obviously there have been challenges with it being an international break, but the guys seem to be ready and just looking forward to a really good game. Q. Stefan, your thoughts on facing the Colorado Rapids as you head into the conference championship? STEFAN FREI: Yeah, excited to obviously get the opportunity to play in a Western Conference final. But like Schmetzer said, Colorado's a good team, a team that has a lot of belief in themselves and each other, so they're going to be difficult opponents. But also happy to be playing at home, and we have to make sure to make it count. A lot of people have been saying, the away goal rule plays an important factor. So we'll have to repeat what we've done against Dallas and get a good result at home, and try to keep that shutout and set us up for a good second game in Colorado. But looking forward to it. It should be a good crowd as always, and I can't wait. Q. I'm curious about the challenge of breaking down a team that's been so defensively strong this year and is so committed and disciplined in their shape? What kind of challenge do you think that presents and how do you plan on breaking them down? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Well, I think the same way we've kind of done it since our coaching staff, the new coaching staff has taken over. We like to be a possession-based team. We like to make sure that we find the right balance of playing direct through Jordan Morris's strengths and finding that possession, that extended possession in our opponent's half of the field to create opportunities. That way I think you also have the set piece dynamic. I think with Chad Marshall and Roman Torres, I think we have really some effective weapons. You add into that Brad Evans who is very good in the air. You have Nelson Valdez who you've seen can score a couple goals with his head, and we have a formidable team on set pieces. The delivery, of course, with Nico has been tremendous. So, look, we know Colorado is the best team in the league defensively, we certainly expect that, and we will just go out there and try to play Seattle Sounders soccer. If we create enough opportunities, I think we have the quality that we will be able to finish one of those opportunities. Q. Real quick follow-up, you mentioned Jordan. How is he progressing with his injury? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Good. Every day he's getting a little better. So my mantra has been with all of our injuries that we've had as of late, it's all hands on deck. If he's healthy, he's going to play. So we are just keeping the fires burning, trying to get him on the field as quickly as we can. Q. Brian, there's been a lot of high-pressure games that the Sounders have played over the years in MLS and even before that. How does this one compare? Because you've done enough to win the job. You've made this sort of late-season surge, you've got a lot of momentum going your way. From afar, it doesn't feel quite the same way that it did the last few years. But I'm wondering what you're sensing in that regard? BRIAN SCHMETZER: If I'm clear on your question, I mean, here's the way I would answer it, I guess. Every game since we've taken over has been a must-win game. We were so far behind all the other teams that every single game that we've had so far to this date has had a big meaning behind it. I would say the games, the later they go in the season, that ratchets up even a notch or two because you see the goal, your ultimate goal of winning an MLS Cup is certainly within your reach. So I think that it feels around here in Seattle, it might not be in Philly, but here in Seattle, the fans out on the streets, the people that I talk to, my friends here and around the Seattle area, I mean, it's a big deal because people are excited about some of the turnaround, the story of the turn around, losing Dempsey, losing our best player, there's a ton of good story lines here. So I think it's a big match, and it arrivals. Maybe it's not a cup final yet, but it rivals some of the very tough games we've had against Portland. It's rivaled some of those games against L.A. I mean, it's a big game for us, at least from where I'm sitting. Q. You mentioned the international break. Because you're on such a great roll, what's been the message this week? What are you trying to emphasize because you don't have a game until next Tuesday? Are you worried that guys will, from a lack of competition, they might be a little bit off edge, despite the fact that it's a big game and a big crowd to kick off the next round? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Well, the messaging, and perhaps more importantly the way we train, I think those two are simultaneous. So the messaging has been we're going back to work. I like to give the guys their time. After big victories I like to say, hey, let's live in this moment. Let's enjoy this moment, but tomorrow we've got to get back to work. That's been one of our mantras. So the messaging has been, yeah, we've got to get back to work. The way we train, how we train, the intensity of training has been good. I think that will help us. But you're absolutely right. You don't know with such a long break. I know that every single player on our team probably would prefer to just keep playing, because when the games are coming fast and they were really into everything, the team performed and they did well. So we'll see what happens coming out of the break. But the messaging and the way we train, we've done everything we can to try and get them sharp. Q. Coach, following off that question, is there, within a two-week break, do you feel that with the players or the coaching staff you have to fight an inclination to maybe overthink Colorado where you can spend too much time since you know, you've seep everything out of Colorado you're going to have a chance to before the match happens, that maybe you spend a little too much time looking at film or overthinking things? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Well, from that standpoint, it gives you more opportunity to dig a little deeper. I mean, the devil's always in the details. So, yes, the staff, our sports science staff, our coaching staff, we've been able to pour over film. That's just more good information to make decisions. I don't think we're going to overthink things. We always worry about ourselves first and we're not going to change to other teams. So we'll just take the information that we gather and apply it to how we play, and I think that's important. I agree that coaches can get ahead of themselves at times and try and do things. That's human nature. But we're trying to do the best job we can to fight that inclination. Q. I was curious, Colorado this season has been tremendous at home; they haven't lost a game all season. Defense has been particularly good. Does that put extra pressure on Tuesday's match to get a result at home against the Rapids? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Not really. I mean, okay, they're a good home team. You can tell by the statistics of every team in the league, that MLS clubs win more at home. That's a given. Some of the things, I think we stopped ourselves 28, 29, some ridiculous number of home wins. When Lamar Neagle scored a goal late, I think the Galaxy were undefeated at home earlier this year. I think they had a bunch of draws when we went down there and got a road result of 4-2. I think that we'd like to play at home in front of our fans. I think that sparks the guys, and if we can get a result at home, that's going to be great. But if the result doesn't get -- if we don't get a result at home, I mean, we're not afraid to go on the road and have good performances. Early on against Orlando, we won 3-1. I talked about the L.A. score, 4-2. We went up to our arch rivals Vancouver and round out a result missing a bunch of key guys. So I think when it comes down to this time of the year, I think the teams certainly have a little edge playing at home. But I'm not so sure it's as noticeable as during a bigger sample size of a regular season. I think these games are going to be extremely close, and it's just going to come down to which players on whatever team make plays. Q. With Zac being back in goal for them, do you view that as much of a drop of, if any, in terms of losing Tim and going back to him? BRIAN SCHMETZER: He had a .69 or .67 goals-against average, so I'm not taking anything for granted or anything lightly. And I have to remind everybody this is a team sport, and I know Stef would echo my comments that he's a tremendous goalkeeper. Stef's had some very, very good games for us. Kept us in a ton of games, but he would be the first one to give credit where credit's due to some of his defenders and midfielders, and even the forwards to track back at times to help him out. So with MacMath in the goal, we're taking it as Colorado is a good team. Again, I can answer that again. We lost our best player and we still found ways to win games. Colorado certainly lost a good player, but it's a team sport, and they will try and regroup and play. I fully expect them to play with confidence and it should be again, like I said, it should be a good match. It should be a good series. Q. Stef, any part of you feel for Zac with the position he's being put in kind of inserted into the heat of the battle at a very pivotal juncture of the season? STEFAN FREI: Yeah, it can be a difficult situation, but he's a veteran. So he knows how to prepare for him for the moment. He's obviously had a terrific season up until the point where the team has shown up. I'm sure, like I said, he's a veteran, and he probably knew that even though he wasn't the first keeper anymore, that he needed to make sure he was ready when he was going to be called upon. So I'm sure he's been preparing for it all these months, and now's the time. Now he's going to have to go through it, mentally go through it, and make sure that when he shows up here at CenturyLink, which he's done before, like I said, he's a veteran, he knows what to expect. He knows what the crowd's going to be like, what the energy on the field's going to be like. I think that's going to help him. I have no doubt that for them, like Schmetzer just mentioned, it's same thing for us that we've been preaching that defense is a whole team effort. It starts with the strikers atop, kind of shuffling the play over to one side, allowing the defenders and midfielders to kind of feel where the ball's going to be or the possibility of where the ball's going to go, and that makes our job a lot easier in the back. And I think Colorado their success has been the same defensively. It's not just the one-man show. It's the whole team that needs to buy in defensively, and that's proven them to be a very, very good team defensively. But like I said, he's had a fantastic year, and with all his experience, I don't expect him to struggle too much. Hopefully, we can make him uncomfortable as soon as possible as soon as the game starts, and not really let him have too much time to find a way into the game. But he's the goalkeeper. Q. With you being the goalkeeper that you have and probably one of the best goalies in the MLS, I want to get your perspective behind Tim Howard and his career, and what he's meant for U.S. Soccer if maybe this is a terminating injury for his career? STEFAN FREI: I mean, if you look at his career, he's had an unbelievable career. It's something that I think a lot of young kids especially in America can look up to and kind of learn from. It's funny you mentioned Tim Howard. I had a small interaction with him before I was professional. I had a chance to go to Chicago when he was still there and doing the North American tour for the preseason. And I trained with him for a little bit, and my mom actually ended up taking a picture of us training together which I had him sign. But I remember him signing it and writing on it dream big, and that's something that always stuck with me. So even in a moment where I was already very close to the brink of becoming a professional goalkeeper, I was in college at that point, he still gave me extra motivation and made me feel like this is a guy that helps me to make that next step. So he's been tremendous, I think, for the sport in general. Obviously, his career speaks for itself. It's going to hurt a team if a player like that goes down, no doubt. But he's been a professional throughout, and I don't know what the extent of his injury is, exactly, but I'm sure he's going to work his butt off to come back as quickly as possible. And as we know, goalkeepers can play a bit longer. So I expect him to be coming back healthy and be the Tim Howard we all know. Q. Brian, can you talk about what you expect, we all talk about the game being won and lost a lot of times in the middle of the field. And everybody knows how much Lodeiro's changed the team. But you were talking a few times about Ozzie Alonso has raised his game during the stretch run. Kind of talk about what that that midfield battle will be like considering colorado's central midfield has obviously been an important component of their success as well? BRIAN SCHMETZER: Sure, I'll start out by giving a shout out to Mr. Mike Azira who has done a tremendous job for them. I'm really happy for Mike and the way it's turned out in Colorado. You add Cronin, Jones, they have a very formidable mid-field trio, so it will be a game where a lot of those plays that can make a difference in a game, a lot of it will hinge around which group of three can kind of maintain tempo, dictate tempo, make some plays, get their team involved, get their teammates involved. So as much as I love Mike, I love Ozzie, I love Cristian, I love Nico, they're tremendous players. Each one of them would be deserving of an interview on their own. But since you asked about Ozzie, I'll tell you that Ozzie is having an MVP type of season. I think he has really refocused, really I think he's dedicated himself to being a pro on and off the field, and it shows in his play. I made him captain in Brad Evans absence. He's taken over that role very well. He cares about the team. This is a team that we signed him initially in '09. So he and Brad Evans and Zach Scott have been the three guys that have maintained that continuity since '09. So he's a big, big part of our club, and he has made a big resurgence. You obviously see in the press about Nico and the talent that he has. One of the guys that has made Ozzie a lot better, has been the play of Cristian Roldan, and even Erik Friberg when he's filled in there for me. So I think that group as a whole has done really well for the club. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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