Seattle has efficiently built depth in most positions; center back was perhaps the only position where manager Sigi Schmid could scarcely afford a key injury.
So, wouldn’t you know it!
Seattle Sounders center back Patrick Ianni left Seattle’s practice Monday on crutches, wearing a protective boot over his left foot. And wait for the real kick in the head here:
The veteran defender was injured during a jump test, performed routinely as part of a fitness assessment in most professional sports.
Said manager Sigi Schmid:
Meanwhile, we’ll tell you in two words what this means to Seattle’s plans going about month out of its 2013 MLS opener: not good.
Ianni and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado are the team’s only experienced center backs on Seattle’s roster. There was Jeff Parke, of course, but he went to Philadelphia in a December trade, leaving utility defender Zach Scott as “next man up,” in the central defensive rotation.
Clearly, Seattle management and supporters will keep fingers crossed that this isn’t a long-term injury.
Funny thing is (not funny “ha-ha,” clearly), this is the second consecutive year a player in the MLS Pacific Northwest was undone by a freak preseason injury. Remember last year that Darren Mattocks’ preseason for Vancouver was shortened by burns suffered in a kitchen fire.
