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In the privacy of their offices, it's easy to imagine the Seattle Sounders front office cursing Jurgen Klinsmann's name. By most reports, Jordan Morris would already be a Sounders Homegrown Player without the interference of the United States national team coach. If not for he and Andi Herzog's connections in Germany, there's a decent chance there never would have been on Werder Bremen trial.
But that's not the world we're living in, and at least publicly the Sounders continue to do their best to remain above the fray. Speaking to Ives Galarcep, Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid refused to bad-mouth Klinsmann and even managed to voice optimism that Morris will still end up signing with the Sounders.
"We've given Jordan a wide berth, and the timelines are agreed to. I know they came out in the German paper and said he was going to extend his trial and go back to Bremen, but that was always the plan, that wasn't anything different. We knew he was going to be there up until the 20th and then he was going to come back and make a decision.
"We've given (Morris) our offer, he knows what it is. We feel good about what we're able to do for him. Now he's just got to go through the process for himself and make the decision that he feels good about."
That might not be enough to calm the increasingly frayed and frustrated nerves of Sounders fans, but it's at least another reminder that nothing is over until a contract is actually signed. As of this moment, Morris remains a free agent with what appears to be two competitive offers to choose from.
Schmid also made sure to make a reasonably good case for Morris choosing the Sounders, at least to start his professional career.
"All I know is that, in general, when you look at the statistics, players who have had success in Europe have generally played in MLS first," Schmid told Goal. "The MLS route is not the worst route. We're not going to stand in somebody's way. We didn't stand in DeAndre (Yedlin's) way when the offer came and the opportunity was right. If he wouldn't have had those two years with us, allowing him to develop, I think it'd be much different for him right now."