Seattle Sounders: 4 takeaways from first week back at training

2. Schmetzer discusses online training

Head coach Brian Schmetzer was understandably happy to be back at Starfire Sports after so much time away from the players and other coaches. As far as he was concerned, it was a case of so far so good in terms of face-to-face interactions, relatively speaking, of course.

In this respect, while Schmetzer appreciates the benefit of virtual training programs, it still pales in comparison to the real thing. As he told the media, there is only so much you can do in an online capacity.

Of course, the extended absence from training at Starfire Sports meant one of the first things the Sounders had to do, was check the players’ conditioning. As per the Sounders’ YouTube channel, Schmetzer said:

"“They’re all wearing a heart rate and GPS. We’re doing a little bit of testing to see where their fitness levels are at and then try and re-establish that base of fitness.”"