RENTON — Ever since Jesús Ferreira first joined the Seattle Sounders, both he and Jordan Morris have talked excitedly about playing together.
Mostly due to Morris’ injuries, that hasn’t really happened. The two attackers have only started five games together and have only been on the field together for about 250 minutes this season across all competitions.
But one of the bright spots of the 2-1 loss to Austin FC on Sunday was how well Morris and Ferreira played off one another. Twice Ferreira played Morris into space, resulting in a pair of good looks. The first featured a slick backheel by Ferreira that allowed Morris to race into space, only for his shot to be right at Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver. The other was a ball in behind in which Morris fought off a defender and forced Stuver into one of his best saves of the evening.
“It’s good that other people can see the connection,” Ferreira told reporters after Wednesday’s training session. “I think that’s a friendship that we built outside of the field, that kind of correlates and relates to the field.
“I kind of know what his strengths are and what he likes, and he knows what I like. Whenever we’re on the field together, I don’t have to put much thought into it. I just put the ball into space knowing that no one is going to catch him.”
As encouraged as Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer was in seeing Morris and Ferreira combine like that, it came with an obvious caveat.
“Those are chances he needs to score,” Schmetzer said. “But he did put himself in those positions to score, they were good soccer plays.”
Ongoing frustrations
The main frustration with the Austin FC loss wasn’t so much that the Sounders’ played poorly, but rather that they once again failed to close out a game.
“I would say we haven’t played a complete game and that’s what bothers me the most,” Schmetzer said about the Sounders’ post-Leagues Cup performances. “The consistency that we had there for awhile has gone missing. That’s what we’re trying to fix.
“We’re trying to get our guys to play 90 minutes. The focus has to be there. We have a short runway left. We have to get our act together.”
Injury updates
- After not starting on Sunday due to some tightness, Ferreira was a full participant in Wednesday’s training session and declared himself 100% fit for Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
- Pedro de la Vega was also a full participant on Wednesday after not playing against Austin. His situation continues to be “week to week” as he deals with knee tendinitis, which Schmetzer deemed a “concern.” The winger did get a cortisone injection about 10 days ago and that may be starting to take effect. “I think he’s ready for minutes,” Schmetzer said.
