RENTON — Sounders defender Alex Roldan said he didn’t have any “malice” or intention to hurt Ali Ahmed when he made a play during last week’s loss to Vancouver.
Ahmed didn’t have full control of the ball when the midfielder received a pass from a teammate in the 74th minute. Roldan attempted to gain possession, but with his cleat spikes up. Ahmed immediately grabbed his left leg as he went to ground in pain but wasn’t subbed off until the 81st minute.
Roldan was shown a red card in the 75th minute. Seattle played down two players for the final 15 minutes of the 2-0 loss to Vancouver. Sounders defender Jackson Ragen was shown a red card after a VAR review in the opening half.
“I saw the ball pop up and I thought I could make a challenge,” Roldan said. “He beat me to the ball. I definitely didn’t go into that challenge in a professional manner. I take accountability for that. That was a bad moment.”
Roldan and Ragen will be suspended for the team’s road match against D.C. United on Saturday.
There’s concern within the Sounders organization that Roldan’s suspension could be extended because of the harm it could’ve caused. The MLS Disciplinary Committee did issue two judgments Tuesday from Matchday 10 incidents involving the LA Galaxy, but no word was given regarding the Sounders match.
Saturday’s red card was a first since Roldan joined the Sounders in 2018. He was sent off in a road win against Houston in 2022, but it was for being shown two yellow cards in the span of four minutes.
“I hardly ever get into challenges like that,” Roldan said of the Ahmed incident. “I’m not the most athletic or strongest player, so I tend to avoid challenges where I’m forced to outcompete someone. I read it wrong and that was the outcome. Learning from that experience, knowing to not ever go into a challenge with my leg high.”
Shake it up
The Sounders worked on different formations with some different lineups Wednesday in continued preparation of a two-match road trip against United (2-3-4) and the Philadelphia Union (3-0-4) on April 30.
Due to Roldan and Ragen’s suspensions, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer will likely fill the back-line void with Cody Baker and Nathan against D.C. Sounders center back Xavier Arreaga was traded to New England on Tuesday.
For the unbeaten Union, the Sounders must utilize the same starting lineup from when the teams originally played each other in March. The match was delayed due to a waterlogged field amid a torrential downpour.
That would include Ragen and Roldan, but Schmetzer could replace Arreaga with Yeimar Gomez Andrade, who was on the bench for the March match because of his late arrival to training camp. The Colombian was in the final stage of obtaining his U.S. green card.
No time to waste
Changes are also needed to get the Sounders (1-4-3) out of their current funk. This is the first time in the club’s MLS history that it has only won once in its opening eight matches.
The Sounders are headed into a stretch during which they’ll play five matches in 16 days, one being a U.S. Open Cup game on May 8.
“We know we have to turn the results around or the season is going to slip away quickly,” said Sounders forward Jordan Morris, whose team is currently 12th in the Western Conference.
The players had a team meeting Tuesday to discuss the state of the season. Sounders keeper and captain Stefan Frei said he intentionally wanted to hear from everyone, no matter their seniority. He also insisted there aren’t any locker-room issues.
“We need to be together as a group,” Morris said. “We don’t see that on the field right now. We’re maybe playing more as individuals than a collective. We’re at our best when we’re a collective group. A lot of messaging was just being more united … that’s the only way we’re going to pull ourselves out of this.”
De la Vega update
Sounders midfielder Pedro de la Vega will be out a minimum of four weeks, according to Schmetzer. The young designated player was close to returning from a hamstring injury he suffered in March but injured a different part of the hamstring during training last week.
Reed Baker-Whiting hasn’t participated in full training since injuring his hamstring last fall, but Schmetzer said the midfielder might travel with the team this weekend.
“He’s better,” Schmetzer said.
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