Foxborough, MA – Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said following last weekend's defeat at the Portland Timbers his club has reached a "crossroads."
Seattle's club-record winless run reached seven MLS matches after the 2-1 loss in Portland, and Schmid wanted to know whether the Sounders team that won five straight from mid-April to early May could re-emerge.
"I don't feel good about these series of games," Schmid said. "The team in the locker room has to decide what team is the Seattle Sounders.
"They are at the crossroads where they have to make a decision which team they are."
Seattle (7-5-4) continued its success in U.S. Open Cup play Tuesday with a 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, and will try to find early-season form when it visits the New England Revolution on Saturday.
Sounders FC is just 2-2-3 on the road and will have mixed emotions after their loss to the Timbers, as Fredy Montero was sent off late in the match and will miss this week's match.
"We have to try and take the positives out of this game with our chances. We can't keep putting ourselves into these positions," Sounders FC striker Eddie Johnson said.
"We're still learning as a team with the new faces. We're going to get better if we keep making these chances. Yeah we haven't won in six or seven games, but we're making chances for ourselves and that's a good sign."
Seattle has yet to lose back-to-back matches during its winless stretch and it is just eight points off the top of the Western Conference in fourth. Its trip to Gillette Stadium will be important, though, as it cannot drop full points this week.
New England (5-7-3) sealed an important road point last week with a late rally against Toronto FC, as Blake Brettschneider scored in the 71st minute and then Chris Tierney added the tying goal 4 minutes into stoppage time of a 2-2 draw.
It was the first time this season the Revolution earned a point when trailing at halftime.
"We're happy to fight back and we'll take the point, but these are the games we want to start to be able to win consistently," Tierney said.
New England will try to build on the tie at home, where it is 4-1-2 this year. Kevin Alston will miss the match with a hamstring injury, meaning Flo Lechner will likely fill in at right back.
Shalrie Joseph is also a question mark after missing the Toronto match with an adductor strain, but Clyde Simms returned last week for the first time in four games after being sidelined with ankle tendonitis.
Despite its horrible away record, 1-6-1, New England sits seventh in the East and just two points out of playoff spot ahead of the midway point of its year.
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