Sounders FC is poised for the longest road trip of the season next week when it travels to face the Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas, spending 12 days away from home while playing three vital matches. The trip marks the middle stretch of five matches in 16 days that starts on Friday when Seattle hosts Western Conference rivals Real Salt Lake. In anticipation of that busy portion of the schedule, Head Coach Sigi Schmid gave his team a few days off to recharge its batteries.
'“It allows us to catch our breath a little bit. We’ve got a heavy stretch coming up and from here on in, there’s no real breaks,” Schmid said when the Sounders returned to training on Sunday after three days away from the field. “It allows us to sit back, take a deep breath, watch everybody play and get after it again.”
The team came back to the training field on Sunday and Monday, but will have Tuesday off before the truly rigorous stretch of matches begins.
With so much at stake with a potentially pivotal match-up with Real Salt Lake and the U.S. Open Cup final against the Philadelphia Union in the immediate offing, Schmid sees a renewed vigor in his players.
“They're into it. They know what’s going to happen next week,” Schmid said, also noting that the team hasn’t gotten too far ahead of itself. “As a player, you’re not looking too far down the line. We’ve got Salt Lake up next at the end of the week and then we’ve got Philly after that. I don’t think they’re looking much beyond those two games and the real focus is on Salt Lake. That’s the one that’s important to us to stay in first place and stay in front of the Supporters’ Shield race as well.”
Having the weekend off also afforded Schmid the opportunity to extend some extra time off for DeAndre Yedlin and Clint Dempsey. Seattle’s two World Cup standouts have had limited time away from soccer all season.
Yedlin has been among the top five field players in minutes played this season despite missing six matches while away at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He returned to training on Monday, taking Sunday’s training session off to spend time with his family.
Meanwhile, Dempsey has already played nearly a full season worth of matches with his time on loan with Fulham and with the U.S. National Team compounding a rigorous Sounders FC schedule.
Dempsey played seven matches with Fulham in league and cup play and has eight appearances with the U.S. National Team to go along with his 18 games played for Sounders FC this season. In addition to Seattle’s friendly with Tottenham Hotspur and the All-Star Game against Bayern Munich, Dempsey has 35 games under his belt since January, so Schmid has extended him the opportunity to take a few extra days off on occasion. He is slated to return from this latest hiatus on Wednesday as Seattle prepares to meet Real Salt Lake.
Kickoff for Friday’s match is at 7:30 p.m. with a national broadcast on NBC Sports Network.
