When the Seattle Sounders take on Columbus Crew SC this Saturday, they could be without the services of midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz in the starting lineup for the first time this season.
Ivanschitz picked up a thigh strain that forced him to exit Seattle’s 3-1 defeat to the Colorado Rapids after 50 minutes last weekend, an injury that Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said could keep the 32-year-old sidelined for Saturday’s afternoon tilt with Columbus at CenturyLink Field.
“Right now, it probably doesn’t look good for the weekend [for Ivanschitz],” Schmid told reporters following Seattle’s Wednesday morning practice. “We’ll see how he feels after today. He was able to run today, which is a little bit earlier than we thought. So we’ll see.”
Without Ivanschitz, the Sounders would have to adapt to the loss of a key cog of their midfield. Ivanschitz has a goal and three assists in Seattle’s first seven games of the season and offers the added dimension of his lethal proficiency on set-piece delivery.
Schmid also said that attackers Clint Dempsey and Nelson Valdez both trained on Wednesday after each sat out last weekend’s match against Colorado as a precautionary measure, with the status of Valdez seemingly the bigger question mark of the two.
“Nelson’s the kind of guy where he wants to be 100 percent healthy,” Schmid said. “He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to go out on the field at 70 percent and say ‘Ok, I’ll try and give you 70 percent and see where that leads.’ He’s either all in or he’s not in. So we have to wait for him to be 100 percent.”
Rookie forward Jordan Morris also spoke with reporters following Wednesday’s practice coming off a match against Colorado that saw him score Seattle’s only goal, insisting he’s felt increasingly comfortable with his ongoing adaptation to playing in the professional ranks.
“It’s an adjustment, obviously, coming into a different level of play,” Morris said. “Just gaining that confidence to be able to take people on and do what I think I can do in the game is important. It took a few games but I think it’s coming along.”
The goal against the Rapids was the second in as many weeks for the 21-year-old after he didn’t manage to find the score sheet in Seattle’s first five games of the season. It’s a trend that Schmid and the Sounders hope to see continue as Morris and his teammates continue to learn each other’s tendencies.
“The guys have a better idea of what he’s going to do and where he’s going to go without the ball [now],” Schmid said. “He has a better idea of making those runs as well. Both his goals have really come from the right and just his understanding of when to cut inside is getting better.”
