Dylan Remick, Leo Gonzalez injuries create squad rotation issues

Being three deep at every position group gives Sigi Schmid a lot of options when his club has to play three matches in nine days. There's just one problem with that though. What happens when two of those three are injured?

When Dylan Remick went down with an ankle issue in Saturday's match the planned Seattle Sounders FC squad rotation was likely thrown out the window. This is also part of why Sigi tends to play a full squad in the first match of a busy stretch, as injuries may force unplanned rotations.

Remick likely misses one to three games with his injury. Leo Gonzalez is not quite healthy, but will almost certainly be back by Sunday's game.

"He went hard at the end of last week," Sigi told media after Monday's session. "We didn't (have him dress) for the game with the eye of that he should be able to go this week. For sure we know he'd be able to go on Sunday, and whether he's able to start or not on Wednesday, or come off the bench, that's something we have to decide."

That forces Sigi to get creative. His options are simple. Brad Evans filled in last Saturday. Zach Scott has plenty of time as a left back, but is best as a center back. Michael Azira was a center mid with the Battery, a CDM/RB with Seattle, but could maybe play on the left too.

Last week Sigi said that he wanted to get each player in a position group two games in the three-match stretch. That will not happen at full back. Yedlin's pure righty. Leo and Dylan have injury concerns. Evans is normally a wide mid in Seattle's system, but he's also a great utility knife.

Wednesday's match against Dallas will probably be the hardest match for lineup guessing in the early season. Let's look at those position groups in a three deep starter role as used this year.

Forward: Dempsey, Martins, Cooper (all played Saturday)
Wide Mid: Neagle, Evans, Pappa (all played Saturday)
Center Mid: Alonso, Pineda, Rose/Azira
Fullback: Yedlin, Gonzalez, Remick
Centerback: Marshall, Traore, Anibaba

Putting together a starting lineup with the dual injuries and getting a couple normal members of the Ideal XI a rest is a bit difficult. Wednesday's game is against a division rival. Sunday's is off on the East Coast. That may have a small influence in rotation, but as we just learned injuries are a huge factor in these plans.