TUKWILA, Wash. – Things are finally slowing down for Jordan Morris.
The Seattle Sounders rookie forward – who also happens to be one of the most hyped Homegrown signings in MLS history – said as much after scoringtwice in his team’s 4-2 victory over the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center last Sunday. The goals bumped his total on the season up to 12, an MLS rookie record for an American-born player.
But to hear Sounders captain Brad Evans tell it, any early-season handwringing about his young teammate’s sometimes-erratic finishing or criticisms over not using his left foot were simply overblown narratives to begin with.
“The story’s always the same,” Evans said after Seattle’s training session at Starfire Soccer Complex on Friday. “We build somebody up so much and then when he doesn’t score a hat trick in the first five games, we ask ‘Why is he not producing?’ He missed a couple chances. He’s a young forward coming straight out [of] college. This was his first experience in MLS. It’s difficult.”
“He’s become the focal point for our team and how we attack, along with [Nicolas] Lodeiro. I’m happy for him but I’m more impressed with how he’s carried himself.”
Ask any of his Sounders teammates or interim head coach Brian Schmetzer about Morris’ strongest attributes and his easy-going personality and demeanor almost always seem to be at the top of the list.
While he may not outwardly appear as ruthlessly competitive as, say, teammate Clint Dempsey, Evans says his uncanny level-headedness has been perfect to offset the noise that seems to constantly surround him.
“He’s stayed away from reading too much into it,” Evans said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he knows he has a team and coaching staff that supports him.”
Added Schmetzer: “We can’t change individuals. You can push the needle a little bit, you can steer him in the right direction, but he is who he is. … Dempsey gets angry. You see it in his face. He’s so into the game. Jordan is just a different person.”
Either way, the 21-year-old seems to be hitting his stride at exactly the time when the Sounders need him the most.
Now above the red line in the Western Conference after a 6-12-2 start to the season, Seattle will look to Morris to shoulder as much of the team’s attacking burden as he has all year with the recent news that Dempsey will miss the rest of the season with an irregular heartbeat and with Lodeiro suspended for Sunday’s match at Vancouver (5 p.m. PT; FS1; KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360am).
It’s a proposition that didn’t seem to worry Evans in the slightest.
“At the right time, he’s matured to the point where he’s extremely dangerous for us,” Evans said. “He is the focal point up top for us in scoring goals. In saying that, he’s welcomed the responsibility.
“He’s comfortable, he’s fit. He’s flying right now.”
