Attendance is down and Cristian Roldan understands why

Jeremiah Oshan -

RENTON — Cristian Roldan gets it. The Seattle Sounders have been mediocre, at best, this year. They’ve been even worse at home.

The Sounders are just 1-1-5 and — perhaps more frustratingly — have scored just eight goals in their first seven home games. They’re on pace to have their worst-ever home record, a low they set last year when they claimed just 27 points and scored just 19 goals in 17 home games.

It’s perhaps predictable that the Sounders are also on pace to have their lowest home attendance ever. Their current average of 30,159 is lower than any season not impacted by Covid, about 700 fewer than they averaged in their inaugural season of 2009 when their capacity for the first half of the year was about 4,000 less than it is now.

Roldan says the Sounders have only themselves to blame.

“I think it means we have to do better,” he said. “It’s the reality of things. We’re not in a spot where we want to be, we’re not in a spot where [fans] want to be. The reality is we’re not playing exciting football, we’re not scoring goals, we’re not doing a lot of things they want us to do.”

Saturday offers the Sounders a chance to change some minds, though. With the backdrop of their 50th anniversary celebration — which will apparently feature a gathering of dozens, if not hundreds, of former players — the biggest crowd of the season is expected to be in attendance when the Sounders face Minnesota United.

Might the the crowd help turn things around?

“We need to get out of this together, we definitely need their support because we’re better with them,” Roldan said. “Can we get out of this? Yes, absolutely. Will we get out of this? I believe so. But we need to use this energy even if it’s 30,000 or less.”

Injury updates

  • Pedro de la Vega trained on the side Tuesday, is still day-to-day and seems doubtful to feature this week. “I need him to strike a couple of balls and really get into it," head coach Brian Schmetzer told gathered reporters. "I want him in two weeks of full training. Let me get him through this week of full training and we’ll see.”
  • Jon Bell (hamstring) and Nathan (quadriceps) are both expected to resume full training at some point this week. Bell is apparently a bit closer to returning.
  • Nouhou played all 90 minutes for Cameroon in two World Cup qualifiers, including Tuesday’s 1-1 tie with Angola. Schmetzer said “Nouhou assures me he’ll be back.”
  • Léo Chú is still dealing with some pain but will be available against Minnesota. “He’s excited to play,” Schmetzer said.