RENTON — The Seattle Sounders’ injury list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter just as fixture congestion starts to become very real.
The latest name added is Hassani Dotson, who is now in concussion protocol. Dotson was able to play all 90 minutes against St. Louis City but apparently noticed some issues afterward. He had previously been removed from the game against the Colorado Rapids two weeks earlier but was cleared to resume playing the next week without having to enter concussion protocol.
That comes along with news that Yeimar Gomez Andrade’s hamstring injury is bad enough that the MRI results have been sent to a specialist in England in order to provide more insight. While there is not yet a timeline on Yeimar’s recovery, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer noted “it’s not good” when the team is inclined to seek an outside opinion. A very conservative estimate would suggest Yeimar is out at least until after the international break, which would keep him out for at least the next four matches.
With Kim Kee-hee still nursing a calf strain and both Ryan Sailor and Stuart Hawkins out for at least a few more weeks, Schmetzer said they are planning to use some short-term loans to add bodies to the defense.
The one piece of good injury news is that Paul Rothrock was able to return to training on Tuesday and “will be on the field” when the Sounders play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series.
Frustrated as he may be with growing list of absent players, Schmetzer re-asserted his confidence in the Sounders' process.
“I know our club does a good job of trying to prevent injuries,” he said. “I know it seems silly of me to say that when we have eight guys injured. I get it. I understand it. But [injury prevention] is on the forefront of our entire organization. That’s always a consideration.
“It’s a tricky situation. There’s ebbs and flows. There have been seasons where we’ve not had a lot of injuries.”
Back to basics
While Schmetzer admitted that the tape of Saturday's 1-0 win over St. Louis City showed some areas from improvement, the coach insisted he was mostly very happy with the performance.
"It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "But we were able to manufacture a goal and defend well.
"I keep telling you guys, we need to find the right balance because I think this team can score goals. But defending, getting a clean sheet, especially on the road, those are things that really factor a lot when you're going over the course of a long MLS season, multiple competitions, all that sort of stuff."
Hands full with Vancouver
The Sounders will head into Thursday's match against the Whitecaps as likely underdogs. The Whitecaps are coming off a campaign in which they tied for the most points in the Western Conference, won the Canadian Championship and played in both the CCC and MLS Cup finals. They are also off to a 3-0-0 start this year.
Schmetzer is ready for the challenge.
"We're going to put our best squad out there and we're going to fight tooth and nail," he said. "It's a rivalry match. We'll see what the outcome is over two games. It's a two-game series, remember that."
