Jordan Morris will be available for selection against Charlotte FC, Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed on Thursday. Morris had missed the Sounders’ previous two games with an adductor injury he suffered against the New York Red Bulls on May 27 immediately after scoring his ninth goal of the season. The original diagnosis was that he’d miss 2-3 weeks, which means his return comes slightly ahead of schedule.
Morris’ injury only exasperated the Sounders’ offensive struggles. In addition to failing to score in the roughly 250 minutes since Morris went out, the Sounders have only scored six goals in their past 10 games and have failed to score more than one goal in any of those matches. Once near the top of the league in scoring, the Sounders now rank 14th in goals per game despite leading the league in expected goals.
Among the top underperformers are forwards Héber and Raúl Ruidíaz, who have so far combined for just four goals on 8.9 xG. At the same time, Morris is the only non-forward to have scored more than one goal.
“Someone is going to start scoring, we have too many good players not to,” Schmetzer said. “I’m not just concerned with (the forwards) but we’ve always gotten goals from others. ... With our forwards not scoring, we need someone else to put one in, too.”
