Seattle Sounders coach Schmid happy with pre-season showing

Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid says the club’s second pre-season is going well but he is intent on ramping things up a bit as the season kick-off date gets closer.

The Sounders are back training at Qwest Field and Schmid says the fitness of the squad is at a good level but wants to really improve other areas of training.

“I think fitness-wise we are pretty much where we want to be at this stage,” he said via a team release.

“In terms of our attacking rhythm and play with the ball I want that to get better. But I think we are also making strides in that direction and I expect it to be better when we play on Thursday and then better again when we play in Colorado. I think we are getting our understanding down and our sense of how to play with each other."

And Schmid is keen to really build on the great attacking style the team showed last season.

"Obviously we are a team that is built around quickness and speed, especially on the offensive part of field,” he added.

“With Nate [Jaqua] we have sort of a bigger target guy when he is out there and somebody who can hold things off. But really the essence of our game with [Freddie] Ljungberg, [Fredy] Montero, and [Steve] Zakuani and people like that is their ability to get isolated and use their quickness and use their individual skills and abilities and create space and make plays that way.

“When things are going well for us it means the ball is moving quickly and it means we are getting the ball early to our front runners and giving them some time and space to take people on."