Just when we thought the Seattle Sounders backline was working out all of its kinks, the injury and illness bug hit hard. Chad Marshall, who had been putting in solid outings for the last few months, came down with an undisclosed illness, one that was bad enough to lead him to lose five pounds. Dijimi Traore suffered an injury on Saturday against Vancouver and was replaced mid-game by Brad Evans. Traore is now being diagnosed with a torn abductor, something that may keep him out of the starting line up for “a while”, said head coach Sigi Schmid.
So who are your starting center backs? Is it Jalil Anibaba, who has been excelling at rightback with DeAndre “Wrecking Ball” Yedlin away with the US team? Or how about Zach Scott, Mr. Sounder himself? And there is always Brad Evans, who apparently spent the entire 9 days with Klinsmann training in that position. With Damion Lowe out injured for at least a few more months and Jimmy Ockford and Eriq Zavaleta out on loan, those are really the only options left.
If I were a betting man, I’d say Anibaba and Scott will be the centerbacks on Saturday when the Sounders host Real Salt Lake. Real is missing a few players due to international duties, so it won’t be as challenging of a game as it will be later in the season, but it will still be tough. Anibaba was a standout centerback at North Carolina and only started playing right back in Chicago. Scott is always ready to contribute wherever they need him, so he’ll hold down the middle. And I would expect to see Leo Gonzalez and Brad Evans out wide.
But they need to start thinking more long-term, and that will probably mean an Anibaba and Marshall pairing for the immediate future. I’ve always been high on Jalil, not just because of the fact that he’s from my hometown, but because he’s been very solid the last few games. The rest of the team knows how important he will be. Traore himself even said back in April that “it’s like he’s the future of this club.” Let’s hope so, because someone is going to have to step up into that roll.
But what if one more defender goes down? If the Sounders were wise, they’d start shopping around for another centerback this summer. If this team wants to win the MLS Cup they have to know by now that they can’t just hope to outscore the opponent. The Sounders defense has been looking very good the last couple of games, minus Stefan Frei who had quite a blunder last Saturday. I don’t expect him to continue to cough up goals, he did make quite a few spectacular saves in that game against a very good Vancouver team.
A makeshift back line isn’t something to ignore, but I have a feeling the Sounders will be able to rally and pick up 3 points at home. But watch the defense closely, that will really be the telling factor of if this team is built for speed or built to last.
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