Cristian Roldan will be rested against LA Galaxy

Cristian Roldan was left off tonight’s gameday roster with what the Seattle Sounders dubbed a left athletic pubalgia, or what used to be called a “sports hernia.” Roldan was healthy enough to participate in Thursday’s training session, but will be re-evaluated next week. These types of injuries often result in players missing 1-3 weeks.

Roldan has historically been a sort of ironman for the Sounders, having never missed an extended stretch of games with an injury. This year, he is the co-leader in all-competition minutes played, having logged 2,595.

But Roldan has also been in a bit of a slump recently. Although he has five goals and 12 assists across all competitions, he has just one goal in his past eight matches. Roldan was also uncharacteristically pulled from the Real Salt Lake match after 77 minutes on Sunday. It was the first time since Feb. 25 — a Concacaf Champions League match that the Sounders were leading 4-0 when he was pulled — that Roldan failed to finish a match he started this year.

In addition to his club play, Roldan has also been a regular fixture with the United States men’s national team, even if he hasn’t logged a ton of minutes with them. The Sounders’ 2021 campaign ended on Nov. 23 and Roldan was called into an international friendly about a month later. He got about another month off before being called into the USMNT’s World Cup qualifying camp in mid-January and has been going nonstop almost ever since. Roldan has now made 76 appearances for club and country since the start of 2021.

“He’s got a lot of wear and tear,” Schmetzer said when asked about Roldan’s removal. “The internationals, we just have to be a little smarter with our substitution patterns to make sure they end the year strong as well. We’re reducing the volume, but raising the intensity of our training sessions. That’s all part of the bigger plan. I need everybody.”