Brian Schmetzer says his responsibility during the Seattle Sounders' dismal winless run is to remain "steady and pragmatic", ahead of Saturday's meeting with the LA Galaxy.Seattle have not tasted victory in MLS since beating the San Jose Earthquakes in mid-May, going 11 games without a win, with the first of those being a 2-0 defeat to the Galaxy.A goalless draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday was Seattle's third straight stalemate, after they also collected a point apiece against FC Cincinnati and the Chicago Fire. The Sounders have tumbled to 13th in the Western Conference, though they are only three points adrift of the playoff places with two games in hand on many of their rivals.And though Schmetzer realises panic has set in among pundits and supporters, he knows he must stay level-headed. "You guys know me by now. There are highs and lows, but I'm pretty steady and pragmatic," Schmetzer said."There are good conversations in the coaches' room. They like to challenge me because the definition of insanity is banging your head against a wall and things keep happening."You take everybody's opinion, you look at the data, and then you try to make good decisions."A point apiece. pic.twitter.com/5cFH54SghF— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) September 6, 2026The Galaxy are one place and two points above Seattle, albeit having played three additional games, following a 3-0 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday.Greg Vanney's side had beaten the New England Revolution 2-1 in their previous match, and defender Jakob Glesnes wants to get that winning feeling back as quickly as possible."I think we saw, on Saturday, how the feeling is when we are winning and how much better that feeling is. We need to have that hunger every day, and I feel like we have it. "I know that it's a hungry group out there that want to win every single game. Hopefully, we're going to start on Saturday, and we can build some momentum and some confidence out of that."Because it's not many days since we saw that totally different feeling, compared to what we're sitting with [after the Vancouver loss]."Focus shifts to Saturday at @dignityhealthsp pic.twitter.com/cRK3xIbANz— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 10, 2026PLAYERS TO WATCHLA Galaxy – Pablo RuizRuiz led the Galaxy for both shots (three) and touches (100) in Wednesday's loss to Vancouver. It was the second time since the beginning of last season that a Galaxy player had an MLS match with at least 100 touches and three shots (Gabriel Pec against FC Dallas last October).Seattle Sounders – Dejan Joveljic Joveljic scored against the Galaxy in two matches for Sporting Kansas City earlier this season. The last MLS player to score against a single opponent in three or more games in a single campaign while doing so for multiple teams was Kei Kamara in 2016 versus CF Montreal (three games with the New England Revolution, one with the Columbus Crew).MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WINThe LA Galaxy's 2-0 victory over Seattle on May 16 was just their third win in their last 23 regular-season meetings with the Sounders. They have not posted consecutive league wins over Seattle since winning the first two meetings of the 2015 season.The Galaxy's midweek defeat to the Whitecaps was the fourth time they have been held scoreless in an MLS match since the World Cup break. The Galaxy had gone 24 straight MLS matches dating back to August 2025 without being shut out prior to the hiatus.But they still appear primed to take advantage of Seattle's struggles. The Sounders' current 11-match winless streak started with a defeat against the Galaxy in May (D3 L8).Over the last five seasons, the only teams to have longer league winless streaks within a single season are Toronto FC (12 in 2026) and the Galaxy (16 in 2025).OPTA WIN PROBABILITYLA Galaxy – 44%Seattle Sounders – 31.9%Draw – 24.1%The post Schmetzer staying ‘steady and pragmatic’ amid long winless run for Seattle appeared first on SoccerNews.