TUKWILA, Wash. — Seattle Sounders captain Brad Evans was back training on Thursday after missing the last two matches recovering from an injured back and calf.
Evans had started at center back for much of the season alongside Chad Marshall while Roman Torres recovered from an ACL injury, but now that Torres is healthy, he has slotted into that tandem with Marshall. Evans’ new role is still undetermined — he mentioned after the Sounders’ loss to the Timbers nearly a month ago that he would need to find a new position — as the pairing of Marshall and Torres continues to forge.
“You can look at both of them and say they’re both pretty darn good soccer players, that’s No. 1,” Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said of Torres and Marshall. “How they’re meshing together is certainly a work in progress…So far in the baby steps, it’s been really good.
“I love having two big strong aggressive center backs, that puts a smile on my face.”
Seattle travels to Los Angeles this weekend for a pivotal tilt against the Galaxy on Sunday (1 p.m. PT; ESPN/107.7 The End/El Rey 1360AM), a team in second place in the Western Conference standings and unbeaten at StubHub Center. The Sounders are five points out of the final playoff spot in the West with six matches remaining and can’t afford to drop any more points this late in the season.
“I think we’ve played them well both times we’ve played them this year,” said Sounders forward Jordan Morris, who ranked third on Thursday in Major League Soccer’s “24 Under 24” list. “It’s definitely going to be tough to play them at their place, but I think we’re ready.”
That assignment becomes even tougher with the addition of Landon Donovan, who has two games under his belt after unretiring and rejoining the Galaxy a few weeks ago. He scored a late equalizer for LA last week, salvaging a point vs. Sporting Kansas City, and still looking every bit as dangerous as he was before walking away 18 months ago.
“It’ll be exciting,” said Morris. “I’ve never gotten to play against him so that’ll be cool to be on the same field as him. His goal helped us last week. Hopefully he doesn’t do that to us.”
Schmetzer knows how dangerous LA’s offensive prowess can be even without Donovan, with the likes of Robbie Keane and Giovani dos Santos patrolling the attacking third, but he’s confident his team and the growing partnership of Torres and Marshall will be prepared for the challenge.
“I believe that this team will go down there and give me the effort that we need,” Schmetzer said. “Can we combine the effort with the soccer? That will dictate the outcome of the game.”
