RENTON — The Seattle Sounders have played 44 games across all competitions this year. They have so far used 43 different lineups. They are guaranteed to use a 44th when they host Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Due to a combination of injuries, suspensions and international call-ups, the Sounders are expected to have just 13 outfield players available.
“Next man up,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said when asked about the roster situation. “You guys have heard me say that like 8 million times.”
Schmetzer then demured a little, acknowledging this situation is more extreme than previous instances of forced lineup rotation.
“Maybe this one in particular doesn’t look good,” he said with a grin.
For the first time this year, the Sounders will qualify for “extreme hardship” call-ups by MLS rules, meaning they have fewer than 16 available outfield players. That potentially allows them to sign as many as three players on short-term loans from Tacoma Defiance, despite the roster-freeze deadline having already passed. Among the players being considered based on their participation in Tuesday’s training session are defenders Leo Burney and Antino Lopez; midfielders Peter Kingston and Sebastian Gomez; and forward Yu Tsukanome. It was not entirely clear if Tsukanome is actually eligible, though, as he is an international and the Sounders don’t have an open spot.
More than likely, those players will only play reserve roles. The starting lineup will probably need to be cobbled together with at least a couple of players moving outside their normal position.
“We all know that the job still needs to get done,” said Alex Roldan, one of the players who may be deputized at a new position. “That’s one thing that we’ve been praising all year about this team is just the togetherness and having a deep squad where we can rotate players in and still have solid performances.”
Not mad at Albert
One of the reasons the Sounders are in such a tough situation is the red card Albert Rusnák received at the end of the game against Portland. It was the ninth time the Sounders have had a player ejected across all competitions this year. But unlike many of those previous reds, Schmetzer couldn’t really blame Rusnák for the effort.
“It was unfortunate, just a little late,” Schmetzer said. “He was trying to get in front of the guy … I’m not pissed at Albert.”
Much the opposite, Schmetzer was actually quite pleased with Rusnák’s overall effort, noting that the midfielder’s physical outputs were likely the best he’s ever had in his MLS career. Similarly, Schmetzer said the Sounders graded out with one of their best physical outputs of the season on things like sprint distance, intensity and ground covered.
“That’s a great way to to inch our way closer to the playoffs, playing in meaningful games like that,” Schmetzer said. “They were the right opponent at the the right time. Thank god we won.”
Kim kee-hee likely out
Despite some hope for a quick recovery from the calf strain that forced him out of the Timbers match, Kim Kee-hee was effectively ruled out for this weekend’s game.
“They’re doing further tests on his calf,” Schmetzer said. “They did an MRI. He’s got a mass in there that took him out. It’s kind of troubling that we can’t seem to get that to stay kind of normal.”
Stuart Hawkins returns to training
One bit of good news is that centerback Stuart Hawkins has returned to full training for the first time since suffering a quadriceps injury while doing postgame exercises on June 1. Originally expected to be out 6-8 weeks, Hawkins then suffered a setback during his recovery and has now missed more than four months. Prior to his injury, the 19-year-old had made three MLS appearances after establishing himself as one of the top young centerbacks in MLS Next Pro over the last three years.
“He looks good,” Schmetzer said. “There’s another body that I can maybe partially use.”
