2019 Sounders will look different even with Jordan Morris returning
On Tuesday, the Seattle Sounders officially began their 2019 campaign and, as notable as who was practicing at the team’s StarFire complex, was who wasn’t.
Clint Dempsey’s mid-season retirement in the summer of 2018 and the offseason move that brought Ozzie Alonso to Minnesota United FC in free agency shows the realities of the new MLS season. That duo combined for 82 career-MLS goals, over 430 career starts and a total of eight MLS All-Star game appearances between them.
And they’re not here any more.
“Ozzie had a great career here,” Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey said. “He’s been amazing; one of the original Sounders. This free agency, this is the new MLS and when you’re a free agent you get to pick where you want to play. Ozzie picked to go to Minnesota and so we respect that. ...
“Players fought hard for free agency; we saw Brad (Evans) go to Kansas City a year earlier. It happens, guys play for you and they do a great job for you then they go somewhere else.”
The Sounders did welcome back forward Jordan Morris, who is a full-go now that he’s recovered from knee surgery that sidelined him for the 2018 MLS season and a hamstring injury that cut short his 2017 season.
“It feels amazing,” said Morris, who signed a long-term contract with the Sounders in the offseason. “It’s been a really long year and every day I would wish that I could come out here so stepping out here for my first training session feels great.”
“We’ve been in this process over the course of time,” Schmetzer said. “We’re going to miss Ozzie; I’m going to miss him personally. He was a great player for the club, we’re going to have to find a way to replace him. It won’t be easy but the club does move forward. So whatever personal feeling that I have, we’ll have to move on but it feels a little different.”
The transition in eras have also given the franchise an opportunity to work within their youth system and like most MLS teams, rely on true homegrown talent.
“We’ve had a couple of iconic players depart,” Lagerwey said. “Hadn’t thought about it in those terms but we’re focused on building our platform and building with our guys. Just systematically growing without guys and building up players in the window. We feel like we’ve made progress with some of the players development. We’ve transformed how the Sounders look and I think we’re in good position to succeed in the new MLS and in the world market.
“We hope those are all good things and we’re hoping that’s the sign of the evolution in even as we lose marvelous players that were with our club forever, we’re prepared to move with this team going forward.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 6:47 PM with the headline "2019 Sounders will look different even with Jordan Morris returning."