John Spencer Blasts Sigi

Rather than moving on to their next game against Columbus, Portland Timbers Coach John Spencer took a few moments to blast Sigi Schmid on Tuesday. They were the kind of comments that makes Soudners fans hate him more; the type that makes ACES fans love the Timbers more; and the type that make him a deity in Portland. Personally, while the guy annoys me, I can't say I was all that pissed off by them. Let's go through some of them (all credit to Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian):

Sigi said: “I think the weather suited them a little bit more in the sense that they go direct and try to knock it up to their big men and they were a bit better at that than we were."

Spencer responded: “But then that’s their prerogative. I think if it is too wet up there for them to play soccer then they may want to move that franchise because it pisses down rain nearly every time I’ve been in Seattle. Obviously to say that the conditions suit us more than they suit them just blows me away. It seems to me they had 50 excuses before the game written down as to why they never beat us 3 or 4 nil at home.”

My take: Look, I understand what Sigi was trying to say. Different teams play different styles of soccer and sometimes the field and elements will give an advantage to one of them. I get it, but I also get the fact that in these situations he is either unwilling or unable to change his game plan. I was worried that Portland would come in and steal a point precisely because they were willing to do whatever necessary to get the point. Not many people will want to admit it, but I do think Sigi often has a bag full of excuses. We just need to get it done. However, I will note that Spencer was incorrect in his assessment of the rain. In two years with the Houston Dynamo, Spencer visited Seattle 4 times plus now an additional 2 times with Portland. Prior to that, when playing with the Colorado Rapids, he never played in Seattle. Out of those 6 times, it has rained once - I looked it up. So either he vacations up here, scouts up here or was over-exaggerating a bit.

***
Spencer said: “The next time we go up there we’ll take plenty of towels for them so we can dry off the field before the game. Maybe take plenty of tissue paper so they can dry their eyes after the game.”

My take: I don't appreciate being called a whiner, but I can't fault him for it. Portland has a complex when it comes to Seattle. They don't like us yet they want to be like us. Right now the Timbers are in a position of power because they came to Seattle and drew the mighty Sounders on the road. He is taking advantage of the situation and saying what all Timbers fans want to hear. It is music to Timbers' fans every where. He is no dummy.

***
Sigi said in response to the free kick goal: “That’s what their danger is. That’s what they live for. The referee gave them quite a few. It seemed like our fouls happened for us on our end of the field and theirs happened on their end of the field.”

Spencer responded: "I think there was 11 goals this weekend scored from set pieces in Major League Soccer. I think we're going to call the league as soon as the training's over and ask them to deduct David Beckham's goal and Landon Donovan's penalty kick and the other set pieces that were scored, because it seems Seattle are not happy that teams like us can score goals from set pieces."

My take: To me, it sounds like Sigi was trying to say that they are dangerous off of set pieces...but his displeasure with the officiating made it seem like he was dissing how the Timbers scored their goal. The fact is, complaining about a team being good a set pieces is like complaining that a baseball team won because they only hit home runs or that a basketball team won because they only hit three pointers or foul shots. Set pieces are part of the game and one that the Sounders are TERRIBLE at. Portland happens to be good. As a team, we need someone to mark Futty Danso (terrible job by you, Nate). Simple as that.

***
Sigi said: "Losing a player like Evans changes it. Losing (Erik) Friberg as we prepare for the game certainly changes things as well for us. When you add it up and you have Friberg, you have (Brad) Evans, you have O'Brian White, you have (Mauro) Rosales, you have (Steve) Zakuani, that's a lot of pieces to be missing. They're not really missing any pieces."

Spencer said: “We’ve always said from day 1 that they arrived in Portland, ‘don’t make excuses'. If you’re out there and you’re on the field and wearing a Portland Timbers jersey we expect you to play well and win the game. Different teams maybe have different philosophies, I don’t know.”

My take: This is fine, he just better make sure when injuries start mounting for Portland that he doesn't ever mention it in a press conference. Injuries are a part of the sport. Coming into the year, we didn't know who would be starting for us, but we knew there would be tons of competition and that we would be better suited for Champions League play than we last year. However, within a three week period all of our depth was gone because of injuries. You can complain about it or you can move on and hope that the guys you are paying $40k a year can step up and take advantage of the opportunity. At the end of the day, if we don't win MLS Cup because of injuries, it won't be any different than not winning MLS Cup because we weren't talented enough. Neither means a damn thing without that trophy.

***
So yeah, overall, I don't take too much issue with what he said. I'm sure part of him feels that way, but really I look at this as a publicity stunt. He is saying what Portland fans want to hear. He is drawing a line in the sand and daring the Sounders to respond verbally. He is placing an even bigger chip on his players shoulders. He is pushing the right buttons. I don't enjoy agreeing with him, but the fact remains that we should have won. We didn't and now we need to improve so it doesn't happen again. Excuses don't help -certainly not for the Sounders, MLS' most hated team. Come on you Sounders!