TUKWILA, Wash. — Osvaldo Alonso will likely miss at least one match, but the Seattle Sounders are at least hopeful that it won’t be much more than that.
“It's something that we don't know exactly how long it will take,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told reporters following Tuesday’s training session. “It's an injury that he's had before. He feels it isn't as bad as when he had it once before, so he was able to work out inside. He was already on the bike today, so we'll see.
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“This weekend, probably not very likely (that he's available). There's a chance against Chivas, and then we have to go day-by-day as we get through and move forward this week. The MRI showed there's no extreme pull or strain, but it is what we thought it was.”
Alonso was forced to come out of Saturday’s game around the 30th minute with what the team is calling an adductor strain.
Throughout Alonso’s five-year MLS career, he’s been one of the Sounders’ most reliably healthy players. He’s missed significant time with injury once, during the 2010 season. His current injury is the first in the last two years that has forced him out of the lineup.
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Though the Sounders certainly feel his absence on the rare occasion it happens, the dropoff in performance has been less pronounced. Having a fully fit Shalrie Joseph will serve to help mitigate Alonso’s absence, but it’s the emergence of Servando Carrasco as a capable defensive midfielder that represents a potentially bigger change from past years. Carrasco got his career-high fourth consecutive start in Saturday’s game and has consistently earned praise from Schmid.
“His passing decisions have been pretty good,” Schmid said about Carrasco. “He’s always been a guy who doesn’t avoid many tackles, he tries to get in and win the ball back for your team. He’s done that really well and he’s done a good job of reading the other midfielder, whether it’s Ozzie or Shalrie.”
