This past weekend, the Seattle Sounders went to Frisco, TX to play FC Dallas. They were only able to dress 17 players due to international call ups and injuries. The club was missing Marco Pappa, Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Chad Marshall and Osvaldo Alonso. All but Pappa were out due to injuries.
Head Coach Sigi Schmid had a bit of good new regarding the injury situation today after practice, "Everybody trained today. We kept Clint and Oba as neutrals. We'll see how they feel and push forward. Chad is just a matter of a protocol with his heading and Ozzie is full in training this week."
Yup, Ozzie is finally back training in full. The honey badger has not been the same since he injured his groin during the Western Conference semifinals last year against Dallas. He ended up needing surgery this past February, just a month prior to the start of the 2015 MLS season. The Sounders could use Alonso back in the midfield sooner than later.
Alonso wreaks havoc in the midfield and the Sounders have been missing that in their first three league games. Nobody in the league controls the midfield better than Ozzie. He essentially sits in the other team’s best midfielder or forward's back pocket and disturbs that player all game long. It will be a nice addition if Alonso is able to go this coming weekend against the Houston Dynamo. Let’s not rush him though and let’s make sure that he is 100% before he gets back on the pitch doing honey badger things.
The Sounders most recent match saw a bench full of Seattle Sounders 2 players and even featured 2015 MLS SuperDraft first round draft pick Cristian Roldan getting his first MLS start. All three subs that were used by Schmid were S2 players and they showed some promise, but it will be great once all the veterans and starters return to the pitch.
Does anyone know where Kenny Cooper is? If so, let yours truly know because he would have been a welcomed addition on Saturday in Dallas.