SEATTLE — Injury loves company.
And as the Seattle Sounders’ season winds down, their health woes continue to rise. Their numbers on the flank in particular are dwindling and forcing interim head coach Brian Schmetzer to tinker with his lineup in ways he never imagined he’d have to do.
Andreas Ivanschitz was a late scratch against Vancouver on Oct. 2 with a neck strain. He returned to the Starting XI in the Sounders’ scoreless home draw against the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night only to exit in the 16th minute with a right knee sprain. He hobbled off the pitch and slowly walked to the locker room, head down and sullen, more distraught that he had to leave the match than anything.
“It was a little upsetting with the flow because Andreas does such a good job out there,” Schmetzer said. “It changes things, but the team is capable of dealing with those changes…He is upset because he was on a really good run of form.”
Schmetzer brought on Erik Friberg, but he slid in the middle with Nicolas Lodeiro cheating a little farther out wide, so Seattle had no true winger. Its backup outside midfielder Herculez Gomez was already starting in place of the injured Alvaro Fernandez, who himself exited early against the Whitecaps with a left hamstring strain. The only player left capable of filling in that gap was Brad Evans, but he was unavailable because of a red card suspension.
“Soldiers are going down right now, it’s not a fun thing to see,” Gomez said. “You’re here day in and day out with these guys, you know how much they put in.
“We’re going to be there for Andreas, but now somebody has to step up…It’s not going to be easy to replace a guy like Andreas, you lose his quality.”
The Sounders have been used to stepping up when they’ve needed to recently, most notably with rookie Tony Alfaro starting at left back on Wednesday. It was Alfaro’s first career MLS start, and he is not a left back by trade. He’s a center back who had just two or three days at training to prepare for his impromptu role and spot start.
Normal starter Joevin Jones was away with Trinidad and Tobago on international duty, and his backup Oniel Fisher was with Jamaica. Fullback Dylan Remick would have filled in, but he, too, has been out with a concussion.
“[Alfaro] went through a spell where he obviously didn’t get any playing time, but I thought the way he came in today and started the game was fantastic,” said goalkeeper Stefan Frei. “He was calm, composed, didn’t look like a rookie by any means.’”
Alfaro put in 74 quality minutes, be he also left the match with a bad cramp. He’s expected to be fine, but with no other viable defending options, Schmetzer had to improvise and get creative. He brought on forward Oalex Anderson, pushed Nelson Valdez centrally and dropped defensive midfielder Cristian Roldan to left back for the final 16 minutes.
“With the players that we have, everyone is capable of playing more than one position,” Alfaro said. “That’s the good thing about it. If you have someone hurt, you have someone backing him up even it’s not his natural position.”
Seattle has little time to recover either. After squandering a chance to clinch a playoff berth on Wednesday, the Sounders have a massive road fixture Sunday against FC Dallas, a team competing for the Supporters’ Shield. Jones is expected to be back, but there are still certain holes that Schmetzer and the coaching staff will need to fill on a quick turnaround. And whoever he calls upon needs to be ready.
“It’s important that guys who don’t see the pitch regularly are ready because every moment is vital now,” Frei said. “If you think that you’re just going to sit on the bench and just observe a game and not prepare properly, you could cost the team a playoff spot because you didn’t prepare well.”
