Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sounders near full strength
Several players are back in the fold for game with D.C. United
TUKWILA -- Seattle Sounders FC is closer to full strength than it has been since early in the season, and the timing couldn't be better for head coach Sigi Schmid.
Seattle hosts D.C. United tonight at 7:30, marking the first time all season the team has played a midweek league game. Yes, Sounders FC has played a pair of U.S. Open Cup qualifiers between games this season, but in those games most of the starters are given a night off. Tonight, other than a few possible changes, Schmid plans to use the same core group of starters that played last weekend, and will be asked again to play when the team plays at New York on Saturday.
"There's maybe a couple of changes you make going into Wednesday, but you keep the nucleus of the team together," Schmid said. "And you do the same thing as you go into Saturday, you keep the nucleus of the team together.
"There are certain guys who recover quicker than others, and there are certain guys when they're fatigued who play better than others. That's something once you know your team, you know how to read that a little bit."
For whatever changes Schmid does choose to make, he'll have more flexibility than he has in a while. Injured midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who missed most of three games with a strained quad, returned to action as a sub in Saturday's win, and could start today. Also back are forward Nate Jaqua and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who were both suspended for the last game, Jaqua for getting two yellow cards in the previous game, and Hurtado for accumulating five this season.
Other injuries and suspensions have cleared the way for many early-season reserve players to make starts and play meaningful minutes. Only two players -- Steve Zakuani and Sebastien Le Toux -- have played all 13 games this season, and 17 different players have started at least one game.
With injured players getting back to full health and, for the first time in a while, no one sitting out with a suspension, Schmid will be able make the moves he feels necessary to keep his team fresh as it plays three games in eight days.
"When you play games like this in a short amount of time and then we also have an Open Cup week coming along later, it's good to have options to choose from, and healthy bodies to play, and sometimes just a matter of getting some fresh legs out there also," Schmid said. "So all of those are good for us to have those options."
Of course the return of injured or suspended players has a flip side. Some players who have seen increased minutes recently such as defender Patrick Ianni, forward Sebastien Le Toux and midfielder Stephen King could be the odd men out should Hurtado, Jaqua and Alonso all return to the lineup.
"It works both ways," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "Sometimes it's nice to have everybody, and sometimes it's nice to not have difficult decisions (like): 'Now we've got three centerbacks who have been playing and someone is going to come up short on that one and not be playing.'
"Those are difficult things. Sometimes when the team picks itself, it makes it pretty easy because of suspensions, and everyone has that confidence knowing that, 'Hey, I'm going to be playing one way or the other.'"
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
Seattle hosts D.C. United tonight at 7:30, marking the first time all season the team has played a midweek league game. Yes, Sounders FC has played a pair of U.S. Open Cup qualifiers between games this season, but in those games most of the starters are given a night off. Tonight, other than a few possible changes, Schmid plans to use the same core group of starters that played last weekend, and will be asked again to play when the team plays at New York on Saturday.
"There's maybe a couple of changes you make going into Wednesday, but you keep the nucleus of the team together," Schmid said. "And you do the same thing as you go into Saturday, you keep the nucleus of the team together.
"There are certain guys who recover quicker than others, and there are certain guys when they're fatigued who play better than others. That's something once you know your team, you know how to read that a little bit."
For whatever changes Schmid does choose to make, he'll have more flexibility than he has in a while. Injured midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who missed most of three games with a strained quad, returned to action as a sub in Saturday's win, and could start today. Also back are forward Nate Jaqua and defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, who were both suspended for the last game, Jaqua for getting two yellow cards in the previous game, and Hurtado for accumulating five this season.
Other injuries and suspensions have cleared the way for many early-season reserve players to make starts and play meaningful minutes. Only two players -- Steve Zakuani and Sebastien Le Toux -- have played all 13 games this season, and 17 different players have started at least one game.
With injured players getting back to full health and, for the first time in a while, no one sitting out with a suspension, Schmid will be able make the moves he feels necessary to keep his team fresh as it plays three games in eight days.
"When you play games like this in a short amount of time and then we also have an Open Cup week coming along later, it's good to have options to choose from, and healthy bodies to play, and sometimes just a matter of getting some fresh legs out there also," Schmid said. "So all of those are good for us to have those options."
Of course the return of injured or suspended players has a flip side. Some players who have seen increased minutes recently such as defender Patrick Ianni, forward Sebastien Le Toux and midfielder Stephen King could be the odd men out should Hurtado, Jaqua and Alonso all return to the lineup.
"It works both ways," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "Sometimes it's nice to have everybody, and sometimes it's nice to not have difficult decisions (like): 'Now we've got three centerbacks who have been playing and someone is going to come up short on that one and not be playing.'
"Those are difficult things. Sometimes when the team picks itself, it makes it pretty easy because of suspensions, and everyone has that confidence knowing that, 'Hey, I'm going to be playing one way or the other.'"
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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