The Sounders opened training camp Wednesday for the 2023 season. After two days of physicals and testing, the players had their first on-field session Friday at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.
An already upbeat mood was amplified by the return of midfielders Joao Paulo (ACL) and Obed Vargas (back) from injury. Both are fully healthy, leaving reserve keeper Andrew Thomas (back) as the only player on the injured list.
Midfielder Reed Baker-Whiting was also unavailable. He is currently training in Florida with the U.S. Under-19 men’s youth national team through next week. But the remainder of the Sounders squad has reported, including internationals Nouhou (Cameroon), Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador), Cristian Roldan (U.S.) and Jordan Morris (U.S.), who were called up for the recent FIFA men’s World Cup in Qatar.
“There’s a buzz in the group because JP trained and Obed trained,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said afterward. The club will open its doors to media on Saturday.
“(Performance coaches Sean Muldoon and Adam Centofanti) sent all the players specific, individualized offseason plans. Nouhou, Jordan, Cristian and Xavi were in the World Cup, so they didn’t have that, but the rest of the guys all had a specific program to follow and, judging on their testing scores, they did a great job of adhering to that offseason workout schedule. They knew it’s a short runway until our first competitive match, so in that sense we coaches were very pleased.”
Seattle begins its campaign in Morocco for the FIFA Club World Cup from Feb. 1-11. The official draw is Friday (Jan. 13), but the Sounders, who advanced as the CONCACAF Champions League winners, will play their opening match Feb. 4.
The team’s MLS opener is Feb. 26 against Colorado at Lumen Field.
Here are three questions that need to be answered before the season begins:
Still got it?
Eyes will be on Joao Paulo and Vargas to see if their return is the difference in the middle for the Sounders. The former suffered his injury in the opening half of the CCL title match in May 2022 while Vargas, who filled in nicely for Joao Paulo, went out in June.
In addition to a leaky defense — conceding 46 goals — midfielder Albert Rusnak played out of position to compensate. Schmetzer’s lineups were also impacted by injuries to striker Raul Ruidiaz (hamstring/ankle) and Roldan (sports hernia).
Joao Paulo was a league MVP candidate before his injury and Vargas, a first-generation American from Alaska, has the U.S. and Mexico national teams courting him. If they can click again at an elite level in controlling the ball in the middle, the Sounders could be fearsome again.
Offensive upgrade?
The Sounders struggled offensively last year and didn’t resign veteran forward Will Bruin. Instead, the club exchanged $400,000 in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) for Heber, who joined MLS in 2019 and scored 30 goals in 88 appearances for New York City FC.
But Heber (pronounced EH-ber) suffered an ACL injury in 2020. He had a promising 2022 season with eight goals, now he’ll have to learn a new system and build chemistry with new teammates. A positive is Heber is the third Brazilian on the Sounders roster, joining Joao Paulo and winger Leo Chu.
Heber is expected to back up Ruidiaz and possibly pair with Morris. The Sounders veterans underwhelmed last season, combining for 16 goals and six assists. Ruidiaz tied a franchise record with 17 goals in 2021.
Too many runs were left unfinished last season. Ruidiaz and Morris need to regain their league-best form, while Heber and Fredy Montero need to produce as backups.
Manageable schedule?
The Sounders will move training camp to Spain later this month for the final prep headed into the Club World Cup. While travel will be extensive to open the season, the team does have some relief schedule-wise in not playing any two-match weeks until May. Last year’s schedule was congested due to eight CCL matches.
Schmetzer said it doesn’t make a difference considering the revamped Leagues Cup tournament looming this summer. Mexico’s Liga MX and MLS plan to shut down for a monthlong competition from July 21-Aug. 19. The winner receives an automatic CCL berth.
“These first two weeks, we really have to hit them hard,” Schmetzer said of preseason training. “We really have to get some fitness in them and then the next two weeks we’ll work on tactics, of course … Our schedule is friendly in the beginning because we have a lot of home games. It would be nice if we could register some wins and put ourselves in a good position for the long haul.”
NOTE: Schmetzer is expected to travel to Morocco with a full roster. Morris and Roldan are questionable due to the U.S. men’s national team playing a pair of friendlies Jan. 25 and 28 in California. Neither played a significant role during matches in Qatar but are USMNT constants. The national team is under new leadership, which could also impact whether Roldan and/or Morris is called up.
“It’s pretty well known that we’re going to the Club World Cup and that might take precedent,” Schmetzer said. “There’s a lot of things that are just out of my control, but I fully expect them to be available for us for the Club World Cup.”