SEATTLEāFollowing the Seattle Soundersā latest disappointing loss, this time Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to New York City FC at CenturyLink Field, Sounders captain Brad Evans didnāt hold back in his evaluation of his teamās recent form.
Evans lit into his side in postgame remarks to reporters, citing a lack of effort and general air of complacency from the team during a stretch that has seen Seattle drop five of its last six league games.
āCertain guys are maybe OK with how itās going,ā Evans said. āMaybe theyāve been at teams before where losing is a tradition and you wait for next season to get a fresh start. But that doesnāt happen here. We donāt have losing seasons. Weāre not OK with it.ā
Saturdayās result was especially disappointing, Evans said, given that the Sounders were back at CenturyLink Field coming off last weekendās 2-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.
āIāve never in a game had to scream so many times for people to wake up to the point where I almost lost my voice,ā Evans said. āIt should be given that you have to work your [butt] off at home. Every ball, every bouncing ball, when you lose the ball, youāve got to track back and win it.
āThe givens arenāt there and thatās why weāre losing games.ā
The Sounders fell behind in controversial fashion after NYCFCās Frank Lampard had a 38th-minute goal upheld, despite adamant protests from Seattle that the ball had deflected off Lampardās hand.
Regardless, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said he was more concerned with his teamās stretch of listless attacking play that only continued on Saturday. Following the shutout against NYCFC, the Sounders have scored just three times in their last six games and have an MLS-low 13 goals on the season.
āI think [this stretch] has taken a toll on our confidence,ā Schmid said. āI think other teams know that weāre struggling getting goals, so theyāre playing it tight in the back and hoping they can get one, thinking itās going to be difficult for us.
āThatās just the way itās been going. Weāve got to find a way to create our own luck and pull ourselves up.ā