Prost Amerika’s Alan Hinton shared his thoughts in the video below on the loss of Obafemi Martins and its impact on the Sounders’ offense. He went on to address head coach Sigi Schmid’s comments about the lack of leadership after Seattle’s recent loss to Colorado.

This week’s announcement vindicating Liverpool’s “Hillsborough 96” families from blame prompted Hinton to reflect on their 27-year ordeal.

Sounders’ tepid offense and leadership gap

“It’s not difficult to see what the problem is…We’ve only scored seven goals…We’re missing Obafemi Martins.”

The Prost columnist identified a tepid scoring attack as the reason for Seattle’s poor start to the 2016 campaign. Hinton pointed to the seven tallies in seven matches as the main reason for the Sounders’ last place standing in the Western Conference.

According to Hinton, the club misses Obafemi Martins scoring ability and his partnership with Clint Dempsey. He felt Martins’ contract issues should have been addressed sooner to prevent his departure to China late in the preseason.

Schmid chastised his side for lack of leadership after his team’s 3-1 defeat in Colorado on April 23. Hinton said the Sounders’ offensive veterans (Clint Dempsey, Nelson Valdez and Andreas Ivanschitz) needed to step up and take charge.

Vindication for Liverpool’s Hillsborough families

“Now, there can be some sort of closure.”

After a 27-year ordeal, Liverpool fans received the long-awaited news that the Hillsborough tragedy victims were unlawfully killed.

Hinton noted with sadness the 96 losses would be a “heartbreaker forever.”