The Starting XI
The Sounders open their MLS season Sunday. But Jordan Morris' ACL injury leaves them already a man down. Coach Brian Schmetzer will go with either four attacking midfielders in a 4-4-2 formation or three of them in a standard 4-2-3-1 setup, resulting in 12 starters below. Meet the Starting XI.
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24 | Stefan Frei | GK
Hometown: Altstaetten, Switzerland
Age: 31
Height/Weight: 6-3, 195
Followed his 2016 MLS Cup MVP performance with another outstanding effort in a 2017 championship loss at Toronto. Led the league with a career-high 13 shutouts, made the MLS All-Star team against Real Madrid and was a finalist for Goalkeeper of the Year. Holds most Sounders career goalkeeping records, including wins (61), shutouts (40), starts (131) and saves (385).
18 | Kelvin Leerdam | D
Hometown: Paramaribo, Suriname
Age: 27
Height/Weight: 5-10, 154
An ankle injury slowed him in preseason training, but the Sounders expect big things at right back from the Targeted Allocation Money signing of last summer. The former Dutch first-leaguer locked down the right flank and helped lead the Sounders on a record shutout streak entering and during the 2017 playoffs.
14 | Chad Marshall | D
Hometown: Riverside, Calif.
Age: 32
Height/Weight: 6-4, 190
Was rock-solid again in 2017, being named the team’s defensive player of the year for the third time in the past four seasons. Enters 2018 sixth all-time in MLS games (371), fifth in starts (366) and in minutes (32,539) and can’t let up a bit as center back partner Roman Torres is banged up to start the year.
20 | Kim Kee-hee | D
Hometown: Busan, South Korea
Age: 28
Height/Weight: 6-2, 172
A late Chinese Super League discard due to roster rules, Kim signed this past week and won’t start right away due to a lack of minutes. But the Korean national-team member will see plenty of action ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup as concerns grow about a hamstring problem that plagued Roman Torres throughout the preseason and could sideline him to start 2018.
5 | Nouhou | D
Hometown: Douala, Cameroon
Age: 20
Height/Weight: 5-10, 175
Enters his second season filling the enormous shoes of the departed Joevin Jones. Dazzled down the stretch and throughout the playoffs last season with a breakneck physical style that enabled Jones to move up to a winger’s role.
4 | Gustav Svensson | MF
Hometown: Gothenburg, Sweden
Age: 31
Height/Weight: 6-0,155
Filled a valuable role in the defensive midfield and back line in 2017, and he scored a key playoff goal in Houston in the opener of the Western Conference finals. Needs to build minutes after sparing use in preseason but likely will start often in the defensive midfield the first half of 2018 with the health of Alonso and Roman Torres a lingering question mark.
7 | Cristian Roldan | MF
Hometown: Pico Rivera, Calif.
Age: 22
Height/Weight: 5-8, 165
Voted by peers as the team’s Most Valuable Player last season, anchoring the defensive midfield in the absence of Osvaldo Alonso. The fourth-year Washington Huskies alum scored a career-high six goals and made his U.S. men’s national-team debut in 2017 and again will be called upon early to pick up slack in the absence of the oft-injured Alonso early this season.
10 | Nicolas Lodeiro | MF
Hometown: Paysandu, Uruguay
Age: 28
Height/Weight: 5-7, 150
Overcame a disappointing start to his sophomore MLS season and went on to record seven goals and 12 assists. The Designated Player pickup from Boca Juniors in Argentina in 2016 also filled in well in a defensive midfielder’s role when needed and could be called on to do that again early on with the Sounders rocked by injuries.
2 | Clint Dempsey | F
Hometown: Nacodoches, Texas
Age: 33
Height/Weight: 6-1, 170
One of the most decorated U.S. soccer players of all time, he enters 2018 just one goal behind Fredy Montero for the Sounders’ franchise lead. Coming off a season in which he led the team with 12 goals and won MLS Comeback Player of the Year honors.
17 | Will Bruin | F
Hometown: St. Louis
Age: 28
Height/Weight: 6-2, 194
A career 61-goal scorer, he finished second on the team with 11 goals last season after coming over in a trade from Houston. The physical Bruin will share the bulk of the striker workload in Jordan Morris’ absence until the team trades for somebody.
8 | Victor Rodriguez | MF
Hometown: Barcelona, Spain
Age: 28
Height/Weight: 5-7, 154
A midsummer Targeted Allocation Money pickup from Spain’s La Liga last year that showed flashes of excellence despite being plagued by injuries. The inventive playmaker had a huge goal in the Western Conference finals clincher against Houston but was again hampered by injury in preseason.
22 | Magnus Wolff Eikrem | MF
Hometown: Molde, Norway
Age: 27
Height/Weight: 5-11, 155
The latest MLS acquisition from the powerhouse Malmo team in Sweden was the biggest offseason addition by the Sounders. The Targeted Allocation Money signing has experience all over the midfield, which could come in handy as the Sounders deal with the Morris injury and the assorted aches throughout the lineup.