Why Alex Roldan is about to make his first start at centerback

Jeremiah Oshan -

RENTON — With just one healthy and available natural centerback this week, the Seattle Sounders will have to get a little creative on defense.

Alex Roldan has played all over the field during his eight professional seasons, but is expected to make his first-ever start at centerback against Austin FC.

Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei has played hundreds of games with Roldan and seems confident with the decision. His belief was further bolstered during the 20 minutes he cameoed there against Paris Saint-Germain after Jon Bell exited.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Frei said following Friday’s training session. “He’s a smart player. I think he’ll do great. I have 100% confidence in him.”

How they got here

Confident as Frei might be, starting Roldan at centerback only even became a possibility because of a nearly impossible-to-safeguard series of incidents.

At the start of the season, the Sounders were so deep at centerback that they elected to trade away Josh Atencio, who they figured was no better than fourth or fifth on the depth chart after the team signed veteran Kim Kee-hee. At that point, they had six natural centerbacks on the roster, which didn’t even include Nouhou.

Just before the season started, the Sounders also decided to loan Homegrown signing Leo Burney to the Tacoma Defiance for the full season in order to open a roster spot.

But injuries have been dogging that position almost ever since.

  • Burney has been in and out of the Defiance lineup with various ailments and is currently out with a hamstring injury, which is why he wasn’t considered for a short-term loan.
  • Yeimar Gomez-Andrade is out with a calf injury, which he picked up while rehabbing a hamstring strain.
  • Kim Kee-hee was deemed fit enough to return for the Club World Cup opener only to come out at halftime after looking ineffective and has not yet returned.
  • Stuart Hawkins has made three MLS appearances this year, but then suffered a quad strain while doing postgame drills in his most recent appearance and is out for several more weeks.
  • The Sounders are also without Jon Bell and Nouhou this week since they received red cards in the final match before the Club World Cup.

The Sounders could have theoretically bolstered the position group by signing someone on a short-term loan from Defiance, but that Demian Alvarez and Tino Lopez have played only sparingly.

The situation surrounding Kaito Yamada, who has the most centerback minutes for Defiance, is a bit more complicated. Since he’s with Defiance on loan from the J. League’s Vissel Kobe, the Sounders would have to had to work out a separate loan during the 10-day transfer window that preceded the Club World Cup. On top of that, he would also occupy an international roster spot that the Sounders don’t currently have.