TUKWILA, Wash. - After starting the season with three straight losses, things seem to have evened out a bit for the Seattle Sounders.
Following Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over Columbus Crew SC at CenturyLink Field, the Rave Green are now 3-1-1 over their last five matches, and 3-0 in their last three home games heading into a match against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (7 p.m. PT; Q13 FOX/Univision-Seattle/KIRO 97.3 FM/El Rey 1360 AM).
But to hear goalkeeper Stefan Frei tell it, there’s still plenty of work to be done before the Sounders can entertain the notion that the season is fully back on track.
“I have no doubt that there’s not one guy on this team who doesn’t think we can play much better football than we have,” Frei told the media following Seattle’s training session on Monday. “Guys are not just saying we have more to show, but that we need to improve.
“We need to get better a little bit. It’s a long grueling season and I think the moment you start sleeping and thinking, ‘We’ll somehow find a way,’ that’s when other teams will overpower you or out-hustle you.”
One factor that would certainly accelerate the process would be more standout play from rookie forward Jordan Morris. The 21-year-old has broken out after going scoreless through Seattle’s first five games, and has now scored in three straight matches after tallying the 88th-minute game-winner against Columbus on Saturday.
“Really happy for [Morris],” Frei said of his young teammate. “It sets him up for a good season. I can only imagine what goes on in his head. It was a big signing for us and he probably put some additional pressure on himself. You have the media and his friends and fans that hype it up even more. For him to finally find the back of the net is huge.”
Morris’s recent surge is an encouraging sign for the Sounders, but Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid must also must contend with the reality that Morris and some of his other key contributors are in line to miss time in the coming weeks due to national team duty.
Schmid confirmed on Monday that any players who make the final rosters for their national teams for the Copa America Centenario this summer would be in line to miss at least two MLS matches – and perhaps more than that, should their teams advance to the knockout round.
Players that could be impacted by this development include Morris, Clint Dempsey and Brad Evans, as well as Paraguayan international Nelson Valdez. The Sounders play at New England on May 28 and at D.C. United on June 1 before MLS goes on a two-week break to observe the tournament.
“It’s just the way it is,” Schmid said. “Our guys that get called in will probably miss the New England game and the D.C. game. Then we’ll see. It depends how far the team goes and that’ll determine the other situations for them. It was something we knew was going to happen. We weren’t going to be able to stay completely clear of that.”
