Andy Rose’s trial at English side Conventry City has ended without a deal, but Sky Blues manager Tony Mowbray said this week the club will keep the out-of-contract Sounders FC midfielder on its radar for the future.
Rose, 25, joined Coventry City on trial earlier this month after his contract with the Sounders expired at the end of the season. Rose has appeared in 82 regular season games over four seasons in Seattle, and logged every minute of the team’s three-game postseason run earlier this year.
“He’s left us now but I think there’s a potential footballer there,” Mowbray said. “I’m not sure he’s ready now or could come and play in our team today. Positionally, he would have to learn a role, so I have left it with [Coventry City Technical Director] Mark Venus to see what his advisors are thinking.
“He might be too much for us, or he might want an opportunity. But I saw enough to think there is a footballer in there and definitely an asset.”
Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey said earlier this month that the club offered Rose a contract to continue in Seattle but that Rose wanted to try and find a fit in England, where he played in the Bristol City youth system before playing college soccer at UCLA.
"I think it was something he always wanted to do,” Lagerwey said of Rose’s trial. “We're happy for our players wherever they end up. Our door is open, either in the short term or long term."
Mowbray praised Rose’s athletic ability, attitude and willingness to learn – “he’s a lad who likes football, loves to talk about football and the tactics,” Mowbray said - but conceded that Rose would need to adapt to the club’s system if he hoped to land a contract.
