The Flooded Aquarium

PORTLAND - Six matches in a row. The losing streak continued in the worst possible venue on Saturday night, though as we learned a couple weeks ago, not in the worst possible way.

Unless the Sounders absolutely throttle the Whitecaps in their two still-to-come MLS matches, Saturday night all but nixed the team's chances at a Cascadia Cup. The Derby went 7-2 in favor of the Timbers. Enough has been said about that first match, but the second wasn't a cradle-to-grave massacre.

No. Instead the Sounders had hope. Even when the Timbers equalized late in the first half and took control of the game for much of the second, Seattle could at the very least still come away with a draw in Providence Park and end the five-match losing streak. The weight off the shoulders would be something, at least, to cling onto.

When Brandon Bye rocked his game-winner through a gaping hole in the formation that had been there for 15 minutes, that hope evaporated. It was replaced by exhaustion, rage, despair, and almost delirious confusion. Brian Schmetzer's beleaguered filter barely held against a tide of pent-up frustration in the postgame up until The Seattle Times' Jayda Evans asked if the loss induced panic in the team.

The word stuck in Schmetzer's mind for minutes after. He brought it up again, unprompted, after a question about roster construction. But when Evans brought up panic, he started off with a bit of Schmetzer kitsch before launching into the strangest tirade I've ever heard from the usually level-headed and insightful coach.

It's not exactly clear whether he means the tifo itself that Timbers Army produced, which was a visually striking piece of horror-movie inspired artwork (see below), or a sign held up in the stands as the tifo was drawn down that implored the hosts to gut the fish.

Either one would be baffling, but the statement itself is an insight into the broken state of the team's collective psyche. For professional soccer players to be distracted and broken up by rivalry banter, something has to be seriously askew mentally. Portland was especially loud and joyous as they shouted "fuck Seattle" over and over again, sure, but that chant isn't anything new. Neither is the "gut the fish" slogan. Neither is Portland's predilection for horror-themed tifo artwork, this time giving homage to the Hellraiser movies.

I'm just as clueless as everyone else as to why the tifo seemingly affected Schmetzer and the Sounders so profoundly. I don't know if he would have brought it up had he not heard the word panic in the presser. I don't know why he would ever bring it up unprompted.

I have some inkling to why his filter was so tattered: the six gut-crushing losses his team had suffered in succession by a combined score of 14-3. They came into this stretch of the year 7-1-3 and are now 7-7-3. They haven't gotten themselves a point in more than 11 weeks.

And they're injured to hell and back.

It's hardly possible to gut a fish that's already been gutted. The Sounders availability report could fill all 10 field positions! Granted, it would be a center back-heavy Pep Guardiola-esque selection that wouldn't work super well with Schmetzer's usual system, but it's a lineup.

It should be said that "questionable" is doing a lot of lifting there. Kim Kee-hee started on Saturday, after all, though the ranks of the injured swelled quickly when Paul Arriola dropped to the ground in the seventh minute and Peter Kingston's dead leg at halftime forced another switch, this time Seba Gomez for the midfielder.

But the injury situation has hung over the losing streak as a reminder that the team has at least some cavalry coming. It's scarcely a comforting one to anybody, though it is something that can be used to weakly deflect what is as apparent as ever: this team needs a real, consistent striker.

Nobody has stepped up into that role and it's August. The team has been tied to 26-year-old Danish forward Casper Tengstedt, currently playing for Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Netherlands, as well as Senegalese FC Zurich striker Philippe Keny - but until a deal is done, the tension hangs in the air about the team's inability to add the pieces they need in the transfer window.

Right now, to say that the Sounders have been gutted is an inaccurate metaphor. To say they have been drowned is more accurate. Whales aren't fish (take that, Rip City!), and like us they drown in water, but it takes a lot of time for a whale to run out of air. Maybe 11 weeks?

Seattle took an early lead then squandered it in the first half.

Unlike most of those other losses, the Sounders actually had some control of the game early on. They still couldn't do anything in the air against the Timbers, but when they kept it on the ground and kept their cool, they could do real damage to their Cascadia foe.

Nouhou was clearly more comfortable without the captain's armband - that belonged to Rusnák on Saturday - returning to the high work rate he had earlier in the season and, when the final whistle sounded, he was the main reason why it didn't get out of hand earlier than it did and why it didn't get worse than one goal of difference. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, in early for an injured Arriola, looked leagues better than he was in the first match between these two sides, much more able to plug the space behind him when Portland looked to exploit it. And when they managed to get past him, there was Kim Kee-hee, initially slated to be on a 45-minute restriction.

Peter Kingston looked much better as a six than as the right back he has been relegated to during much of his minutes, showing plenty of energy on defense despite some shakiness in actually controlling the ball. Of course, the latter fact was deleterious to Seattle's ability to bring it through the middle, but his ability to switch lines when needed and press Timbers ball handlers close up was one of the best things the Sounders had going for them in the first 24 minutes.

But Kingston was shown a yellow in the 25th minute, forcing him to cool it on the defense. It wasn't why he would eventually leave the game (that being the aforementioned injury), but it made him less of a factor as the game lurched forwards.

For the time being, however, Seattle was still on the front foot. To that point, however, several of the team's budding chances had gone to waste thanks to a predilection for flying the ball leftwards to Paul Rothrock, who - like the rest of his team - wasn't able to win any aerials. In the 27th minute, however, Albert Rusnák decided to go to Rothrock on the ground, easily finding Seattle's left winger before going up to the endline to get a return ball. Rusnák chopped the ball backwards for Osaze de Rosario, who lost the aerial - but the ball went back for Kalani, who whacked it past James Pantemis for the first goal of the game.

Had Nouhou's near-heroic header found the back of the net in the 32nd, I venture to say the entire game would have been vastly different. Nouhou, after all, is allotted by God one worldie per season, and he's yet to score this year. It was the culmination of plenty of Seattle pressure and shots, and it was a sight to watch from the box: Nouhou leapt up to a ball five feet in front of him and heated it on a gorgeous arc towards the top of the net. Pantemis was nearly flummoxed, but he recovered in time to bat the ball behind the endline.

Okay, it wasn't the culmination of the Sounders' lead in the strict Clausewitzian sense (there were more chances up until roughly the 40th minute) but it was the point at which heroism - that mythic quality that defined the way the Oba and Dempsey era Sounders would do the impossible against the Timbers time and time again - was clearly going to be insufficient to put this one away.

The first shoe dropped when Snyder Brunell took too passive of a role defending against the Timbers' left during a transition moment in the 41st minute. This allowed Kristoffer Velde to find an opening through the air towards a sea of Sounders and Kevin Kelsy, the latter of whom won the aerial and sent it past a diving Andrew Thomas into the net. Kim or Stu Hawkins could have lurched upwards and forwards to prevent the ball getting that far, but no such savior would materialize.

Rothrock was out of position for a chance eight minutes beyond 45 (there was a lot of first half stoppage) as Rusnák booted a cross his way with few Timbers in to defend; the ball sailed past him and Seattle had to regroup. Rusnák ended up having an opportunity soon after, but he reacted late near the right post and hit the ball with his right foot instead of his left, getting a worse curve on the ball and hitting it off the outside netting.

Inevitable disaster struck in the second half as Rothrock fell out of position one too many times.

Seattle began the second half with the Kingston-for-Gomez substitution, and while Gomez did a decent job, he didn't show the intensity that Kingston had earlier in the match. The yellow and, of course, the injury made those points moot.

The Sounders did manage to create an early chance. Though the initial service on a 49th minute corner was repelled, Kim found a long ball for Jesús Ferreira to smack a dangerous left-footer at point-blank range. Pantemis' late recovery prevented a Sounders go-ahead goal, howevber, and although Ferreira shooting the ball helped him beat the Alex Wennberg allegations a little bit, Seattle's chances would be few and far between from then on.

Rather, the game became a mixed affair for the ensuing 20 minutes or so. Portland had an excellent chance with Velde steamrolling Kalani in the 58th minute, but the secondary got belted into the State of Jefferson and the score remained knotted. Play caromed between the ends of the pitch with little big chances to speak of over the following few minutes, with Miller continuing to pay his yellow no heed and aggressively pressing advancing Sounders. Hawkins repelled a briefly dangerous ball in the box in the 63rd and Seattle brought the ball up to the final third in the following transition but couldn't break into the box, though Portland broke away and again nearly had a pristine shot on net were it not for yet another last minute Seattle clearance. The ball went back up again, and this time Nouhou made his second attempt at a worldie. No dice - it went wide right.

Other periods of the game saw more subdued swings than that, but it's an accurate picture of the middle second half as it relates to the lack of sustained momentum on either side despite definable opportunities.

Kim had a big clearance in the 69th minute after Velde was left wide open on Seattle's right, though after another one in the 71st, he began motioning to the sidelines. He had, after all, gone 26 minutes more than his planned restriction. A minute later was when the Sounders made two more subs, bringing on Alex Roldan for Kim and Danny Musovski on for Osaze. Despite not scoring a goal, Osaze had been pretty active in front, but Schmetzer put him in all the same.

Seattle began to flirt with danger as the half wore on. Bad clearances, muffed passes in their own half, and a definite window opening on the Seattle left whenever Antony would attack from the Timbers right and draw either Rothrock or Gomez to double-team alongside Nouhou. The left back, by the way, made an incredible steal mere feet from the Sounders net in the 78th, but accidentally tapped it behind the endline for a Timbers corner seconds later.

You can only play with fire for so long. That opening on the Sounders left came home to roost in the 82nd, with two men on Antony and a gaping hole for Bye to scorch a ball inside the far post. Thomas was too late to stop it. The Timbers led 2-1.

Unlike the other times that hole had formed, Antony didn't have the ball then. Rothrock seemed to be moving over pre-emptively as the Timbers wheeled the ball to their right, and Bye made them pay. Schmetzer explicitly noted Rothrock falling out of position.

Worth noting is that, after the presser, Schmetzer had a talk with Rothrock in the hallways of Providence Park.

Thomas had seen that hole appear quite a bit, with Bye and Cole Bassett often trading off runs into the space, but the thing he most regretted about the play was the fact he didn't get to the ball in time.

"Yeah, I feel like Bassett ended up in that position during the game, too. That sort of pocket is always gonna be a little bit tricky, and you know, he hits it clean. Wish I'd got there, I shoulda got there," Thomas said. "Just one of those where like I kinda want it back and try to get a bigger push and see if I can get something on it by the post ... just frustrating, because I feel like that's one that isn't an easy save but it's one I know that I'm good enough to make."

The Sounders didn't have the precision on the ball to create real chances to equalize at the end. A great cross from Nouhou - whose already heroic work rate only seemed to increase in those final minutes - went nowhere thanks to bad touches in the crowd. Alex Roldan roared up the right a minute later but didn't offload to a running Musovski in time for it to matter.

Lopez prevented further disaster on a 90th minute breakaway, but they would need a chance in front to come away with a point. Nouhou made yet another heroic stop early in stoppage, yet Portland continued suffocating the Sounders as time ticked away.

Finally, in the fourth minute of stoppage, the Sounders got a free kick - yet Albert only found a wall of dark green with his boot. It was the last real chance Seattle got.

The streak gets longer, and so do the faces.

When the Sounders lost 5-1 to the Timbers in Seattle, Brunell's rage was barely hidden behind his face. He described the need to "kill them" in Portland. Rusnák frustratedly told reporters he and his teammates "[didn't] give too much of a shit" how the Sounders would finally win three points after loss number four in Austin. Introspection was evident after the fifth straight, when Hassani Dotson espoused the need to be braver.

Multiple times have Sounders players brought up the gut feeling that every edge case breaks against them. Rusnák again made mention of it after the game, though he touched on nearly every point he and his teammates have brought up. Ultimately, one phrase stuck out: "until we get a win, there's no words that will put this right or make this any nicer."

The Sounders' mental collapse is best exemplified in the words he ended with. That MLS going back on break - so soon after the World Cup break ended - is the biggest thing Seattle can hope for is a damning indictment of how the players' minds have been utterly broken by their current rut. But they do need to clear their heads. Brunell still needs to recall his ability to be creative and lethal in more than just words. Rothrock still needs to find his touch on the ball. They will be on the road in Toluca on Wednesday, so perhaps the old negative-plus-negative-equals-positive factor will shock them back into shape. Their other two Leagues Cup group stage matches are in Seattle, but a single loss in a Leagues Cup group stage can spell disaster if it befalls the wrong team.

Sometimes squads really do compartmentalize by competition. I'm a Tottenham fan; I should know. But it's hard to say that the six straight losses won't be on their mind as they travel south of the border, or when they return to Lumen Field. The losses will definitely be on their minds as they take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Aug. 16.

Seattle clearly needs help up top.

There's no other way to put it. They can't depend on the personnel they already have to turn things around on offense. Sure, maybe Osaze will find something, maybe Musovski will find that something again. Maybe Jordan Morris will turn back the clock. Maybe Pedro will find a new stride when he returns. But the Sounders can't rely on someone to turn a page. They must add someone they know will do so.

Again, there are reported connections to Casper Tengstedt and Philippe Keny. Tengstedt is estimated to have a $3.5 million transfer value according to Transfermarkt while Keny's transfer value is estimated at $2.5 million.

Schmetzer once again got quite heated when he was asked about this at the end of the presser. While the overall gist was roughly the same as his previous comments about making the right decision, the words he chose were much more combative.

Perhaps "ill-advised" might be a better way to describe his spur-of-the-moment word choices. He probably realized it to a degree in the moment, too: choosing the more self-deprecating adjectives - old and stubborn - after saying "I'm too smart" was probably a brief self-correction. Half a minute later, of course, he uses the word smart again.

But if they don't bring in those reinforcements, if they let perfect be the enemy of good, then how will this approach pan out? Schmetzer is right that they can't panic buy, but there are plenty of guys who will work that also won't be perfect, because no player is perfect.

Schmetzer, as he has for a while, openly acknowledged the need for someone to come in, even though it would likely be one addition. Rusnák, meanwhile, was dismissive of a similar question, but that one was phrased as regarding multiple players.

"I mean, if instead of 12 injuries or whatever we have, if we had three, you wouldn't be asking that question," Rusnák said. "I don't think it's the right question to be asked right now, because we're aware that our fans want to see new signings and stuff, but at the same time, we have a lot of big players that are missing. So, if you look at it from a team perspective, if you do sign new players, then you get everybody back, then some big players will not even be able to make the squad, 'cause we'll have over 30 players."

Having more better players is, obviously, a good thing to have. And we already know that any addition would be something on the order of one addition, so the idea that it would push out team stalwarts is unfounded. Given that Rusnák was asked about the team adding "some new players", plural, perhaps he was imagining something on the order of four or five additions. But as with Schmetzer's anger, it didn't lend itself to sounding great.

That's to say the very least.

The Sounders are barely in the play-in at exactly halfway through the season.

Before this losing streak started, Seattle was a Shield contender that needed to start scoring more but was otherwise in a good spot. Now, they need to fight like hell just to get a guaranteed home playoff series.

The top four teams by points and points per game in the Western Conference are the Whitecaps (34, 2), LAFC (34, 1.79), the Quakes (33, 1.83) and Houston Dynamo (29, 1.71).

Assuming Dynamo maintain 1.71 points per game over their following 17 matches, they would wind up with 58 points for the whole season. Seattle, currently at 24 points, would have to log 34 points in 17 games (two points per game) to tie that figure. They would have to get at least 10 wins over their following 17 games to accomplish that feat.

Earlier in the year, when the Sounders were doing well, it was unsustainably so given their underlying offensive production; in order to get back on the horse, they can't rely so much on luck. Such makes the need for addition up top even more paramount, but it also makes the need to better service the strikers just as important.

Finishing the season where they currently are - ninth - would be bad enough. Falling even further would be catastrophic.