Sigi Schmid’s roster wizardy leads Seattle to Tijuana tie

By Steven Agen

Nicely played, Mr. Schmid.

The Seattle Sounders did absolutely everything right in their friendly with Tijuana on Tuesday, barring converting their late pressure into a winning goal. Still, when the match ended at 2-2 the Sounders coaching staff had completed a bit of roster wizardry.

It was a delicate situation; with Marco Pappa and Clint Dempsey out for the weekend, Osvaldo Alonso and Tyrone Mears not quite healthy yet, and Brad Evans still trying to find his form at center back, Seattle needed to show tremendous pragmatism to successfully navigate the early season friendly.

No one who fits into Schmid’s starting eleven at Dallas could play more than 60 minutes, and ideally only 45. Half a dozen youngsters who should be figuring into the eighteen for league games soon needed minutes and experience. And they had to do it all without watering down the chance to scout the style of their opposition in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League they’ll be in this fall.

Sounders v Tijuana Photo Gallery

They accomplished all three.

Brad Evans, Michael Azira, Gonzalo Pineda, Lamar Neagle, Obafemi Martins and presumably Chad Barrett are all certain starters on Saturday. Outside of Brad Evans, who went 64 minutes, none of them played more than a half. There are no rest concerns for these men anymore.

Instead, the match was more of an extended training session and probably helped them build more of the fitness everyone is trying to develop in the first month of the season. It’s only natural that Evans went longer than everyone else, even that has an explanation.

In the quest to get him comfortable at center back, the chance to pair him with Zach Scott and watch him try to contain the best side in Mexico was valuable. He looked nothing like he did in a disastrous home loss to San Jose two weeks ago.

Gonzalo Pineda got the chance to show off against his countrymen, even if his turnover led to a goal. Azira and Martins had their first look at Central American opposition, and Lamar Neagle got minutes at forward- he’ll likely end up there for the duration of Dempsey’s time away due to injury. There’s one requirement down.

Troy Perkins, Oniel Fisher, Jimmy Ockford, Damian Lowe, Cristian Roldan, Andres Correa and Victor Mansaray all got their first extended run out for the club. Barring Perkins, that’s a list of six developing players that all got minutes in front of 40,000 people against a top side.

Andy Rose got his minutes, too, and scored a beautiful goal to level the match at 2.

Most impressively, sophomore Aaron Kovar started on the left wing and recorded two assists on his way to earning man of the match honors. The youth got their minutes. They also had more of an impact than anyone would have guessed, with each showing real potential to contribute in real games this year. Schmid struck a balance between experienced starters and youth, and everyone who needed playing time got it. No one got injured. And, somehow, they still drew 2-2 and outplayed a really useful outfit, an outfit that currently tops Liga Mx.

Tijuana displayed their style, all the while, focusing on quick counters while otherwise maintaining possession. For the young guys, it will have seemed like they passed the ball along their back four for an eternity. Important to see, then, that they’ll prey on any lull in the defense and switch the tempo almost instantly. The end result is frequently a goal, in the blink of an eye.

Tijuana’s second goal came on a counter that started with their goalkeeper and ended with a tap-in goal ten seconds later. The visitors played a side mixed with starters and reserves; Seattle benefited from Tijuana’s bye in Liga MX this weekend, probably facing more starters than they would’ve otherwise. The overarching point is that Seattle saw the style they needed to see. All the roster juggling didn’t dilute Lagerwey’s real goal in the friendly- scout the opposition for CCL.

And there was no morale-crushing thumping as of friendlies in the past.

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Seattle came away with an A grade in all three sections of the rubric we set up for them. The starters played, but not for too long. The youth got their time, and shined with it. Everyone got a look at soccer south of the US border. And, to reiterate again, they were the better side in a match with the best team in Mexico. 2-2?

Don’t call this a draw. Mark it up as a big win for Sigi Schmid, and his roster wizardry.