Seattle Sounders: 5 takeaways from first week of training camp
By Paul Taylor
4. Schmetzer discusses gaps in roster
As recently covered at MLS Multiplex, general manager and president Garth Lagerway has admitted to being conservative in his moves to bolster the Seattle Sounders roster. The main reason for this stems from the uncertainty surrounding a new MLS collective bargaining agreement, with the current one set to expire at the end of January.
In this respect, one of the biggest takeaways from the first day of training camp was Brian Schmetzer’s comments about having to practice with an incomplete squad. Again as per the Sounder’s in-house media team, he said:
"“Look, it’s challenging to open training camp without a full roster; I can’t hide from that fact, but it’s part of life. I mean Garth, Chris (Henderson) and Adrian (Hanauer) have all been working super hard to fill the holes and I think one of the strengths of my staff has been whatever players end up coming on the roster, we always try and figure out ways how to get them to gel at the right moments. “We’ve had some pretty big mid-season signings over the years, and we always kind of get them incorporated within the group. So it’s a little concerning, but at the end of the day I know Garth and those guys will take care of it.”"
The roster is not yet complete and Schmetzer knows it, but do not think that the Sounders’ hard work stops here.