TUKWILA, Wash. — Looking around Seattle Sounders training on Monday, there seemed to be almost as many players sitting as participating.
Djimi Traoré and Shalrie Joseph were among those who stayed inside to receive treatment, Michael Gspurning and Brad Evans could do little more than exercise on stationary bikes and Andy Rose was off to the side while rehabbing his injured hamstring. In all, no fewer than 11 Sounders were dealing with injuries that at least kept them from being full participants in the training session.
"In five years in Seattle, it's probably the worst injury run we've had cumulatitively," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said. "It seems to have all hit at the same time."
It's not just the raw numbers of ailing players that is making life difficult, it's that the injuries seem to be concentrated in a few positions. The most glaring area of concern is at goalkeeper, where Gspurning was effectively ruled out for Saturday's game against the Colorado Rapids. Gspurning, who was wearing a brace and apparently not feeling much better than he did immediately after the injury, is scheduled to see a specialist on Tuesday to get a better diagnosis of what is currently being called a left forearm injury.
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"This weekend does not look good for him for sure and we'll have a better idea after he sees the specialist," said Schmid, adding that x-rays revealed there were no broken bones.
Combined with backup Marcus Hahnemann's hamstring injury suffered last week and Josh Ford's longterm injury, the Sounders are now down to their fourth goalkeeper.
Andrew Weber was signed on loan from USL PRO side Phoenix FC last week and ended up playing in his first game, replacing Gspurning in the second half of Saturday's game, a 1-0 loss to San Jose.
"It's unfortunate what happened to Mike," Weber said. "But you have to be ready to go and here I am."
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Weber is now likely to make his first start since June 30, 2012, which was the last of three straight starts he received with the Sounders last season. Curiously enough, he had to come out at halftime of that game after sustaining an injury.
The Sounders are also looking precariously thin in the midfield, where Joseph, Rose, Evans, Alex Caskey and Steve Zakuani are all in various states of recovery and Osvaldo Alonso is looking at a suspension for his red card. Servando Carrasco and Mauro Rosales could end up being the only true midfielders with starting experience this season available for this week's game.
"I would really like to see what this team looks like if we could get our best players on the field for three to four games in a row," Schmid said. "I'd like to see what we look like at that point."
