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Mired in a slump that has seen the Seattle Sounders claim just three points in their last five matches and six points in their last seven, it would be comforting to know that reinforcements are on the way. Unfortunately, it's looking increasingly likely that we'll have to wait another week before any significant additions are made.
Head coach Sigi Schmid did not sound particularly optimistic about getting back Obafemi Martins or Stefan Frei for Saturday's game against the Colorado Rapids and also seemed to indicate Erik Friberg needs a bit more time to acclimate as well.
Although Schmid said on Monday that Frei was "definitely a possibility" to at least make the 18, he was a bit more reserved in his assessment a day later, only saying he didn't know if his goalkeeper would be ready for the Rapids match.
Schmid also didn't sound particularly optimistic about getting Martins back: "His workload went up the last two days. What we're trying to do is plateau him a little bit, so we plateaued him the last two days. We'll plateau him a bit for two days and then we'll start pushing again on Friday."
Friberg, unlike Martins, has at least been a full participant in training. But Friberg was also in the midst of his offseason when the Sounders signed him. Despite the Sounders' current form, there doesn't seem to be any rush to get Friberg on the field.
"He's probably 75-80 percent fit," Schmid said about Friberg. "It's not just fitness, it's touches on the ball and timing. When you're getting tired, your touches and decisions aren't the best. He's working his way through that."
Meanwhile, there's at least a possibility that the Sounders could be getting Marco Pappa back from the Guatemala national team sooner than later. Guatemala will need to beat Cuba in tonight's group stage match in order to advance to the quarterfinals where they'd likely play the United States on July 18. One way or another, the Sounders will be getting players back ahead of their match against the Montreal Impact on July 25.