By Steven Agen
Last week an article appeared on the official Sounders FC club website entitled “Five critical referee decisions that have impacted the Seattle Sounders’ season” which appeared to shift blame for the club’s poor start onto referees. No one put their name to it, but it pointed out five games in which a refereeing call went against the club and cost them points. It came in the wake of Frank Lampard’s controversial opening goal in Seattle’s lifeless 2-0 loss to NYCFC several weekends ago.
An article blaming referees for a club’s poor performance may be suitable for a fan site but for this to appear on the club’s official webpage was highly unusual. The article continues a disturbing trend in the direction of Sounders FC official coverage that has included articles of this nature in the past along with others playing on transfer speculations surrounding the club.
This latest article supports the notion that the club’s official website has become an instrument of blame shifting in Seattle’s most tempestuous and error-ridden MLS campaign to date.
It is naive to believe that a fan base that has now seen seven top flight seasons of soccer wouldn’t be able to see that Seattle’s issues on the pitch run far deeper than the odd questionable decision here and there. It was the responsibility of the front office to field a competitive side this year from March on and so far they have not.
The switch to a 4-3-3 formation and a younger lineup coupled with the departure of star striker Obafemi Martins shortly before the season began have proven too much for Sigi Schmid and his side to cope with through three months of the campaign — as of now, they languish in last place in the Western Conference following Houston’s draw in Orlando and have scored the fewest goals in the league. Through 16 matches, Seattle are seven points out of their eighth consecutive playoff berth.
Club “speculation” on Obafemi Martins’ departure.
These problems were not created by five refereeing decisions. They were self-inflicted. To try and shift responsibility onto the officials is akin to sticking one’s head in the sand. To do so on the club-official website is a much bigger misstep. The fans are done, and have been for along time, blaming the referees for every bad result. They’re wiser. It seems a shame that the club has not grown up with them if this piece is any indication of Front Office thinking.
After winning five trophies in seven seasons and experiencing truly unmatched success off the field, Seattle and their fans have an obligation to take their transitional season with an air of grace. That isn’t to say that a new Designated Player (Lodeiro, maybe?) couldn’t salvage Sounders’ campaign yet.
It’s just that Seattle have led a charmed existence in their latest incarnation. MLS is based on parity and Sounders have somehow always found a way around the league’s great equalizer. They are in the top three in total points accumulated since they joined MLS, and their four Open Cup titles represent more than half of the total number available to them at this point.
The club should hold itself accountable the first time things go completely wrong. Seeing the opposite posted on the club website should be unacceptable to the common sense of the fan base. In the end, it’s an attempt to pull a fast one on their fans – “It’s not us, it’s the refs!”
The vast majority of the fan base knows better than that.
“These problems were not created by five refereeing decisions. They were self-inflicted. To try and shift responsibility onto the officials is akin to sticking one’s head in the sand.”
The article not only attempts to shift attention away from the real cause of Seattle’s struggles, it perpetuates a culture of whining and false controversy that has pervaded almost every slip-up the club has had.
Sigi Schmid, more so in his earlier years than in Seattle than now, used to hardly miss an opportunity to play a controversial decision his way. He must be commended for largely holding his tongue this season and focusing on his players, even if he did use Lampard’s goal as a crutch.
It is irresponsible for club site to not reflect Schmid’s new-found wisdom of discretion and personal responsibility. Even though the website staff has turned over since those days, they have an obligation to understand the club’s history and to recognize that their tone impacts the club as a whole.
For frustrated Sounders supporters trying to figure out what to make of the officiating in their matches this season, there’s hope for a more positive and empowering alternative:
Neutral Chaos Theory
- MLS referees are below-average in the scope of world football.
- As such they’ll make more errors than a top tier referee would. Games may be routinely altered by a goal, two goals, or even more by bad calls.
- In the long run these bad decisions roughly even out league-wide.
- Therefore MLS referees are a neutral chaos.
(Golf provides us with a good comparison. Just as golfers can’t control how the wind will blow when they play a hole compared to their competitors, MLS clubs can’t control how a referee will affect them on the day.)
- Therefore there are two winning conditions involved with MLS matches — beating your opponent, and overcoming the neutral chaos.
- Clubs are aware of the winning conditions and have agency over their own roster, lineup, and performance.
Conclusion: Poor refereeing is no excuse to not win a match the vast majority of the time.
Neutral Chaos Theory isn’t new and it’s been written a lot of different ways – it’s the tactful way to hold the club accountable and get the very best out of them as a result.
SoundersFC.com and its staff must consider what message they wish to send both to their fan base and the rest of the league. The unprecedented difficulties faced on the field make it a watershed moment in the club’s history and evolving culture.
They must decide if they want to be the club known for whining when the going gets tough or the one known for being a top-class organization in every aspect, including grace, humility and agency.
So far they aren’t off to a particularly bright start.
