TUKWILA, Wash. – The Brad Evans experiment at center back endured some notable growing pains Saturday in the Seattle Sounders’ 3-2 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes. But the Sounders don’t appear ready to give up on it just yet.
Evans, who has played mostly in the midfield in his time with Seattle, was asked by the Sounders to attempt to fill the team’s void at center back for this season based on his reputation for versatility. But after looking good in Seattle’s 3-0 blowout of the New England Revolution to open the season, Evans had a rough go against San Jose, misplaying two headers that led to goals by Quakes forward Chris Wondolowski. Innocent Emeghara also juked him on his second-half dagger, putting the Sounders in a 3-1 hole that they were ultimately unable to dig themselves out of.
The rough game led to some speculation surrounding the timeframe previously laid out by Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid, who has said that he wanted to give Evans around six or seven games before assessing if he was the long-term choice at the position.
However, speaking with reporters after Seattle’s training session Tuesday at Starfire Soccer Complex, Schmid indicated that he has no plans to shrink that timeframe – at least not yet. Schmid compared the situation to the one with goalkeeper Stefan Frei last year, who faced similar questions surrounding his status following some early season errors.
“It doesn’t change anything,” Schmid said of Evans’ performance. “If you look back at last year we were pretty consistent with how we approached Stefan Frei, and there were some goals that were allowed where a lot of people would have said, ‘Oof, maybe you need a change.’ We didn’t, and it worked out pretty well for us at the end of the day.”
Evans addressed the media for the first time since the San Jose game following his return to Seattle’s practice on Wednesday. He had missed Tuesday’s training session while attending a memorial for his grandmother, who passed away before the game against San Jose.
“When you make mistakes at center back, that’s it. It’s pretty much game over,” Evans said. “Mistakes will be made, but we’ll continue to forge on. … I guess it’s good that it’s out of the system early in the season. But obviously, if I’m a coach and those are consistent mistakes that are happening, you have to remove the player. So I know that as well [anyone].”
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Regardless of how much leeway Evans has in adapting to center back going forward, the Sounders may end up having to switch him back to right back – at least temporarily. Starting right back Tyrone Mears suffered a hamstring tear against San Jose and figures to miss at least one game because of it. That means the Sounders could slot in veteran Zach Scott, who started for much of last season, at center back and move Evans back to right back while Mears is out.
“Maybe there’s a better position for me after all,” Evans said. “But time will tell.”
