‘Not good news’ on Nouhou injury

Nouhou has missed the Seattle Sounders’ last three games after suffering an adductor injury shortly after returning from international duty with Cameroon. Despite being classified as day-to-day ever since the injury, progress has apparently been stalled.

“That’s not good news,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer told KJR on Tuesday. “He’s still day-to-day, but it’s been a thorn in our side. He plateaued. We’re trying to push him over the edge. Everything is day-to-day with him.”

Schmetzer did note that Nouhou has been healthy enough to run around the field, but the problem is “he has to kick a soccer ball.”

Still, Schmetzer wasn’t quite ready to rule out his top defender for Sunday’s match against the Colorado Rapids just yet.

“Knowing Nouhou, there’s a good chance that he’s 50/50,” Schmetzer said.

In Nouhou’s absence, the Sounders have given Abdoulaye Cissoko his first three MLS starts. Cissoko has mostly performed well, although he did get beat for speed on the Vancouver Whitecaps’ first goal last week.

Somewhat compounding Nouhou’s absence is that Xavier Arreaga has also been out while with Ecuador at the Copa America. Ecuador recently advanced to the knockout stage, where they’ll face Argentina in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Arreaga has not yet played at the tournament and could potentially be available for the July 7 match against the Houston Dynamo if Ecuador are eliminated.