Sounders hope turnaround begins tonight

Simply put, if a turnaround is going to happen for Sounders FC, it had better start soon.

Soon, as in tonight.

Seattle is exactly halfway through a season that can only be described as a massive disappointment through 15 games. A team with title hopes, Sounders FC instead has started its second season of Major League Soccer with a 4-8-3 record, good for seventh place in the Western Conference.

A climb back into playoff contention needs to start with tonight’s 7:30 p.m. home game against FC Dallas, one of many teams Seattle is chasing in the standings.

“We got to get points. It doesn’t matter what the other teams do. It’s a matter of us getting points,” Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said. “We need to win our home games, for sure. So we have got to come out with that desire and that fight this weekend. These three points are very crucial to our needs and our success for the rest of the year.”

As for where things went wrong, there are plenty of explanations for Seattle’s struggles. Early in the season, Sounders FC struggled to score goals despite dominating games, leading to frustrating ties and losses. Of late, however, the defense has been a bigger concern. A team that allowed a league-low 29 goals last year, Seattle has already given up 23 in half a season, including nine in its past three league games, all losses. Injuries have certainly taken their toll as well, as key starters such as forward Nate Jaqua, midfielders Osvaldo Alonso and Brad Evans, and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado have all missed significant portions of the season.

“Our injuries this year have been right up the middle of the field,” Schmid said. “Nate (at forward) and Kennedy in the back, Evans and Alonso in the middle of midfield, and that’s the heart and the nucleus of your team, that’s not where you want to have injuries.”

Seattle’s inability to cope with those injuries and with inconsistent play has put the team in a hole no one predicted heading into the season. With 15 games remaining, there is still time for Seattle to write a happy ending to the 2010 season, but as players have pointed out, too many games have passed to say it’s early and that things will turnaround.

After the team’s 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal Wednesday, Schmid indicated that he can no longer be patient with his starting lineup and hope that things improve. In two Open Cup wins, reserves who see little time in league games such as Miguel Montano and Mike Seamon have played big roles, and could see more playing time in league games starting tonight.

“The guys today put in a pretty good claim for getting on the field again,” Schmid said after Wednesday’s game. “… Obviously a lot of guys made a pretty strong case for themselves.”

And even though the Open Cup win came in a game featuring reserve lineups for both teams, Seattle hopes it will carry over into league play. Of course it’s worth noting that Schmid and his team were hoping for the same carry over last week after a midweek win over Portland, and ended up losing 3-1 in Los Angeles four days later.

“It’s a mentality,” Schmid said. “Losing becomes a habit, winning can also become a habit. Every game you win it becomes a better habit for your team, and that’s what we want to establish right now.”

A lineup change may spark a turnaround, but otherwise players say it starts with capturing the attitude the team played with in its two Open Cup wins.

“We’ve just got to come out with the same mentality we’ve come out with in the two Open Cup games where we really battle and fight for one another,” said Jaqua, who could return to the starting lineup for the first time since returning from a lower abdominal injury. “If we can do that, we can turn this around.”

With half a season all ready in the books, it’s a turnaround Seattle knows it needs to start tonight.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.