In many years as a football fan and going to games something unique happened. The ownership put their money where their mouth was and gave season ticket holders their money back after the 0-4 loss to LA yesterday. The game got ugly; there is no question that after the third goal the sounder stopped playing, heads went down. For a team that uses the phrase “full 90” so much that was unacceptable.
The general manger Adrian Hanauer said
“The only thing that was good enough was our fans. So we decided that we’re going to give our fans their money back for that game”
“We’re in this for the long haul. We need them [the fans] to be in it for the long haul. That was not Sounder soccer and it was quite frankly embarrassing, humiliating and they don’t deserve that.”
He then talked about treating the fans they was we’ve treated the club. Earlier this year Wigan refunded the ticket cost for fans that travelled to London to watch the team loose 9-1 at Tottenham, but I’ve never heard of a club refunding tickets to it’s home fans after a poor result.
To be clear the second half of the game was atrocious to watch. From the stands it was clear who gave up and who played the entire 90.
The first half was actually rather good, an early Seattle goal was called back for offside, the replay clearly showed the player was onside when the ball was played. An error, but Seattle looked to have decent control of the game at that point and were doing a good job in the middle of the field.
It all changed after the most productive player in green, Alonso, was taken off with what has been reported as a quad strain in the 35th minute.
The LA first goal was a mistake by Keller a few minutes later, he misjudged the flight of the ball, it happens occasionally to the best of keepers and with the number of times Keller has kept us alive we’ll allow him the occasional klanger.
The sides came out for the second half and Seattle’s play went downhill fast. Offside calls kept coming, the passing was imprecise and the second effort to win back lost balls was all but gone. LA looked in total control and played the entire game at their pace.
The Sounders seemed to loose heart after the second goal. The poor performance was a combination of poor defending by Seattle and midfield domination by LA. Zacuani, Montero and Ljundberg were anonymous and until the introduction of Montano there was very little creative play by the forwards.
There were times that Seattle’s defending, especially was atrocious. On the third goal the two centerbacks missed the runner and allowed an unopposed header from 6 yards out. Lapses like this are inexcusable at this level. Landon Donovan’s boast that LA could have scored 5 or 6 seems realistic.
There was one bright spot for Seattle, the introduction of 18-year-old Miguel Montano. He added significant pace and a work ethic that was seemingly missing from the rest of the team.
Sigi was clear after the game that there will be changes before next weeks match in New York (who also lost 4-0 this week).
Finally, a big appreciation to Hanauer and the rest of the ownership group for showing an understanding of what it’s like to be a fan. Looking at clubs around the world it’s a rare moment. Thanks.