Sounders implored to better ‘protect’ teammates after recent manhandlings by opponents

SEATTLE – As the Sounders were putting the finishing touches on the greatest comeback win in their history, a somewhat sobering reminder popped up of what they’d spent most of the game lacking.

Sounders playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro was red-carded in the 89th minute of last Wednesday’s victory over D.C. United for kicking midfielder Marcelo Sarvas in the groin area. Lodeiro had been getting his own shins dented by similar kicks all game long before apparently lashing out in anger and thus, due to the ejection, is automatically suspended Sunday when the San Jose Earthquakes visit CenturyLink Field.

For Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, the game-long beatdown on Lodeiro was yet another sign opposing teams are taking too many liberties with his players. He’d seen the Colorado Rapids put on a display of thuggery the prior game and feels it’s time for the Sounders to do a better job of standing up for their teammates.

“What we have to understand is that Sarvas and those guys were chasing him around the field and kicking him every time they could,” Schmetzer said of Lodeiro. “And so, sometimes it’s human nature that you get frustrated and you do things that you shouldn’t.”

Schmetzer has addressed the situation with Lodeiro. And with the rest of the team as well.

“I don’t feel like he was protected enough,” Schmetzer said. “I don’t. And so, it’s something that I can’t accept because he shouldn’t have done it. But I do have some sympathy for him.”

As to what the Sounders can do about it, Schmetzer added: “I would like players to protect their teammates. I will do whatever I can to protect the team…but the overall tenor of the last two games has been, I think, a little too physical for my liking.”

The Sounders won’t have physical midfielder Osvaldo Alonso back until at least mid-August. Besides serving as a valuable deterrent against the best offensive players opposing teams have, the veteran Alonso is also an “enforcer” type unafraid of mixing it up when situations call for it.

His injury early in the Colorado game and subsequent absence for the 4-3 win over United last Wednesday – a game the Sounders trailed 3-0 in the second half – was followed by his teammates getting physically abused without retribution. If that’s to change, the Sounders will likely have to count on both center back Roman Torres and midfielder Gustav Svensson to start dishing out some punishment.

Both are highly physical players and the types that can keep opponents honest if they try to manhandle the Sounders into submission.

Svensson, arguably the team’s most versatile and valuable defensive player this season, scored his first Sounders goal in the 74th minute of the United contest to tie the match 3-3. Minutes later, Cristian Roldan put the Sounders ahead to stay with a brilliant second-effort to chase down a loose ball and drive it home between the keeper’s legs.

“I am normally not the guy who scores a lot – normally I help in defense and do that hard work – but it’s always nice when you score and help the offense as well,” Svensson said.

But Svensson knows his teammates will need to do a better defensive job against the Earthquakes and Sounders-killer Chris Wondolowski. In their prior meeting at San Jose in April, the Sounders had a late lead before Wondolowski scored the equalizer in the 90th minute.

Svensson said the Sounders need to find their timing a lot earlier on than in the United game.

“It felt like we didn’t connect the passes we wanted to,” he said. “It felt like we weren’t in the positions we wanted to be.”

Roldan said the Sounders can’t afford to fall behind 3-0 at home again – something they’ve done twice this season while managing to escape with a draw and a win. Looking ahead to the San Jose game, he hopes for a much quicker start against a team the Sounders are just a point up on in the Western Conference standings.

“It’s going to be a difficult game, but we have to be ready for what’s going to be thrown at us,” Roldan said.

Including the possibility of extra shoves and kicks that seem to be factoring into opponents’ game plans of late.