Nouhou won’t serve any team-imposed suspension

RENTON — Nouhou will miss Saturday’s match as part of his two-game suspension, but he might return to the Seattle Sounders’ lineup not long after.

Somewhat surprisingly, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer indicated that the team will not levy any further punishment beyond what he’s already received and that his return to the lineup will be more of a soccer decision.

“He’s still a good player,” Schmetzer following Friday’s training session. “He’s still a nice kid. He made a mistake. He’s contrite, he’s trying to move past it and be better.”

In addition to have one game added to his mandatory red-card suspension after being ejected for throwing a ball at a fan, Nouhou was also fined $2,500 for making an “inappropriate gesture” when he showed his middle finger to the referee, seemingly as a way of explaining why he threw the ball. Along with a difficult talk Schmetzer had with Nouhou and some extra cardio work, the Sounders apparently feel as though he has served his punishment.

“He didn’t like having to pay the fine,” Schmetzer said. “He didn’t enjoy my conversation with him, and there’s peer pressure. Those are the things that usually change human beings’ behaviors.”

This is not the first time Nouhou has gotten himself in trouble either on or off the field. He had just finished serving a suspension for picking up a red card against the Vancouver Whitecaps just before the Club World Cup and in the next game he got into an off-ball shoving match with a Botafogo player that resulted in a yellow card, leading directly to a goal off the ensuing free kick. There was an incident last year when he got unofficially suspended for a locker-room outburst after being pulled earlier than he liked form a match and he was benched for a game earlier in that year after missing a team meeting.

Schmetzer acknowledged those lapses have cost Nouhou a degree of trust, but also insisted the path to winning that back is relatively straightforward.

“Those types of things you’ll see based on my decisions,” Schmetzer said. “But the bigger picture is do his teammates trust him? They put a lot of work in. They put a lot of effort in the games.

“Seasons are long, your professional career is short. So, he has to not do it for me; he has to do it for his teammates. That’s who he has to regain the trust with.”

Rest for the weary?

In addition to Nouhou being out, Jackson Ragen will also be serving a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against the Rapids. That likely opens the door for Reed Baker-Whiting to get another look at left back, as Jon Bell will likely move to centerback to cover for Ragen. Schmetzer hinted at some potential rotation in the attack as well.

One area seemingly ripe for rotation is defensive midfielder, where both Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas have played more than 2,200 minutes already. Getting them time off is proving a little tougher, especially after the injury to João Paulo.

“Losing JP was a blow,” Schmetzer said. “We have talented guys on the bench; Danny Leyva has played a lot of MLS minutes.

“The idea for Wednesday was to get a lead and try and take some miles off Cristian and Obed. It didn’t work out as planned. For this game, we’ll see what happens. I’ll try and get some legs off them.”

Reflecting on the Rapids

Understandably, Schmetzer was pretty frustrated by the Sounders failing to win a game in which they led by at least three goals for the first time in their MLS history. The 3-3 tie against the Rapids not only cost them two valuable points in the standings, but it also slowed momentum they had been building since Club World Cup.

Schmetzer said that in reviewing the film, he wanted he and his coaches to focus on what they could have done better.

“We need to figure out how to close out games with less drama,” Schmetzer said. “We went through it as a coaching staff, first thing when we came back. We didn’t talk about the team, we actually talked about us. What can we do better? What didn’t we do? What can we learn from previous experiences and make sure that the trainings are good so that they’re prepared to play?”

Injury updates

• Stefan Frei remains in concussion protocol and is likely out at least until Aug. 10 when the Sounders begin MLS play after a brief break for Leagues Cup. Schmetzer said he had already promised Leagues Cup games to goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, which will also take some pressure off Frei to rush back.
• João Paulo is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair his torn ACL on Monday in California. The Brazilian has been doing some pre-operation workouts at Longacres and is expected to complete his rehabilitation with the Sounders, as well.