There are have been plenty of occasions where Brian Schmetzer’s decisions have been questioned. I’ve certainly done that plenty; you probably have, too. There are some — even among Sounders fans — who openly question if the Sounders would be better off with a different coach.
But for a third straight season, Schmetzer finds himself leading the Sounders into the playoffs with serious hopes of reaching the MLS Cup final. Each year has posed a different type of challenge, and he’s managed to navigate them all almost flawlessly.
This year, of course, he needed to figure out how to close an 11-point gap over the season’s final 16 games.