Of all the standout performances from the Seattle Sounders’ 4-1 win over St. Louis City on Saturday, the player who seems to be getting the most attention is Ryan Kent.
The English winger came on in the 57th minute in place of Paul Rothrock with the game tied 1-1 and immediately changed the game, picking up an assist on Obed Vargas’ goal and then setting up Nouhou for the final tally. He finished the game by completing all 26 of his passes, creating three chances and generally fulfilling his promise to get “bums off their seats.”
Prior to his Sounders debut a couple of weeks ago, Kent had not played a competitive match in nearly eight months. The Sounders have been saying all along that they believed some patience was in order before placing too many expectations on him.
It’s now been about five weeks since he signed and head coach Brian Schmetzer says Kent is now capable of starting, even if he’s probably not ready to go the full 90 minutes. It’s now up to the Sounders to figure out how he best fits.
“He’s a super talented player,” Schmetzer said following Tuesday’s training session. “How do we get him on the field? How do we reward Paul for all his hard work? It’s a competition.”
After the match, Kent was practically beaming. The last time he’d played anywhere near that well was likely almost two years ago when he scored in his Fenerbahçe debut.
“My first couple of weeks, I felt like I had two right feet,” Kent said in the postgame locker room. “But as the weeks have progressed, I’m starting to feel sharp again. I’m starting to feel good with the ball.
“I need to show them I can come on in games like this and make an impact, show them I’m ready to go from the start.”
Injury updates
- Jesús Ferreira missed the St. Louis City match with an adductor strain and is still in limited training. Schmetzer said there was a chance that Ferreira could be ready for Saturday’s match against the Houston Dynamo, but that they are more likely looking at him to return either for the LAFC match on May 14 or the Portland Timbers match on May 17.
- Jackson Ragen appears to be a little farther ahead, but not by much. Ragen was a “modified” participant in Tuesday’s training session and could feature against the Dynamo but is more likely for the LAFC match.
