RENTON – Already depleted due to a seemingly ever-growing list of injured players, in the midst of some significant fixture congestion, and facing the reality that they may have already been eliminated from the Leagues Cup before they even take the field, head coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed the Seattle Sounders will likely field a heavily rotated lineup when they face Chivas de Guadalajara on Wednesday.
“We are going to be cautious with some guys that are carrying knocks or have had heavy minutes,” Schmetzer said during Tuesday’s press conference. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to get young guys on the field, and they’re going to give excitement and desire. We’re going to coach them up to be as good as they can, to meet the moment, and if the game needs it, I’m going to bring the veterans on because I want win.”
Chivas might well do something similar.
The Mexican giants have already been eliminated from Leagues Cup play after claiming just one point from their first two games, despite fielding relatively full-strength lineups in each game. Like the Sounders, they are also playing their fourth game in about two weeks and return to league play on the weekend.
Regardless of the stakes, the Sounders are still focused on putting in a solid performance after just ending their seven-game losing streak.
“We want to make sure that some of those good feelings and good vibes continue because we have to back it up,” Schmetzer said. “We can’t just have one game and say ‘the streak’s over.’ We want to put in another motivated performance, and then that’ll get us to the start of this.”
Ready for anything
Earlier this week, some Portland Timbers players were a bit alarmed when Club America fans effectively took over Providence Park for their Leagues Cup encounter.
It’s unclear if something similar could happen at Lumen Field, but the Sounders don’t seem all that worried if it did.
"Our fans have always shown up," Schmetzer said. "That's why maybe you get 50/50 in these types of games instead of 70/30 because our fans care about our team. That's what I’ve always appreciated about our fans. The atmosphere in the building when you have a large subset of visiting fans and our home fans that makes it exciting for the players."
Injury updates
- Although he won’t be available against Chivas, Cristian Roldan was able to participate in some full-sided drills for the first time since suffering a quad injury while with the United States men's national team during the World Cup.
- Pedro de la Vega underwent an MRI that confirmed he has a strained quad, but the team is waiting until he has a second test before determining the severity of the injury and how long it might take for him to return.
- Paul Arriola will be out at least four more weeks after suffering a calf strain against the Portland Timbers.
