RENTON — After missing Saturday’s game due to “precautionary” reasons, Pedro de la Vega has been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s match against Real Salt Lake.
“He’s super close,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said following Tuesday’s training session, in which de la Vega was a partial participant. “I might lean toward being a little more cautious. He’s got some lingering feelings in there. I’m going to sleep on it. It will be my decision.”
The Argentine midfielder has been limited to just three appearances and just over 100 minutes while dealing with a series of hamstring injuries. He had recently ended an 11-week absence — playing about 15 minutes against the Vancouver Whitecaps — before missing the St. Louis City match.
When asked about de la Vega following the St. Louis match, Schmetzer indicated that one of the main reasons for leaving him off the roster was that the team wanted to focus on having him ready for home games. The Sounders’ next home game after RSL is on June 15 against Minnesota United.
Atencio returns
Josh Atencio was back into full training and will be available for selection, Schmetzer confirmed. Atencio left the U.S. Open Cup match against Louisville City with a hamstring injury and has missed the Sounders’ last five matches across all competitions.
In his place, the Sounders seem to have settled on a central midfield partnership of João Paulo and Cristian Roldan.
If one of those players is to rotate out, it could end up being João Paulo. Although the Brazilian remains one of the top passing central midfielders in MLS, he’s no longer as active of a defender nor as reliable of a 90-minute player. João Paulo has only gone 90 minutes in one of his nine appearances and only played a half the last time he started a midweek match.
