At some point soon the conversation will need to be broached, and it’s not necessarily one Craig Waibel and the rest of the Sounders FC staff are looking forward to.
Trying to get Cristian Roldan to take it slow returning from his FIFA Men’s World Cup duty with the United States is not going to be easy.
“It’ll be impossible. An unforgettable bashing of skulls,” Waibel, the Sounders’ GM, joked on Thursday.
To which he quickly followed, “There is going to have to be some rest somewhere.”
The status of Roldan is one of the big questions that remains for the Sounders as they return to MLS action next Thursday, hosting Portland at Seattle St — er, Lumen Field.
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Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer provided some clarity later Thursday. During an appearance on 93.3 KJR, Schmetzer said that Roldan wouldn’t play against the Timbers and that he’s likely to return sometime later this month when the team has road matches at Austin and at Philadelphia.
“We’re going to give Cristian a little bit of time off,” Schmetzer said.
Giving Roldan a break is part of the balance the Sounders are hoping to find with their starting midfielder. While he never saw the field in any of the five U.S. matches in the World Cup, Roldan picked up a quadriceps injury during training that essentially ended his hopes of receiving some playing time. Roldan was hurt the day after the U.S. beat Australia on June 19 and likely would have played significant minutes in the last group-stage match against Turkey if not for the injury.
Roldan was just getting back to the point of rejoining training when the U.S. lost to Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday. The feeling was that he might have been available off the bench had the U.S. reached the quarterfinals.
So there’s the physical, injury aspect of Roldan’s return. Earlier Thursday, Waibel said he was still awaiting the full report from the team’s medical staff on the quad injury.
There’s also the overall wear-and-tear part to the equation. The Sounders are on the books for, at minimum, 24 matches between next week’s return and early November. That doesn’t include if the team advances in Leagues Cup or the MLS Cup playoffs. And nearly all of Roldan’s teammates received a significant break during the World Cup.
“It’s not just the muscle injury, which I think anyone who was at the game saw Cristian warming up before the game, so I don’t think there’s any secret about where he stands. He’s obviously moving and pretty dynamic, but we’re also trying to measure what the right reintroduction (is) to him, so he can get the right mental rest as well,” Waibel said.
Waibel acknowledged that if the returning match was anyone other than Portland, then getting Roldan a break right away probably would be an easier conversation. Even with the Timbers being the Timbers and it being a Cascadia match, it seems the Sounders were able to persuade Roldan to take a rest before returning.
“Portland is Portland, and that game, whether we like it or not, means a lot to us. Maybe a little bit more than some others. And so there will have to be a lot of conversation as to what the right plan is,” Waibel said. “But to your point and the underlying point you’re making, we have to be really careful how we say it, because Cristian will always deny rest. He will never accept it as his choice, that’s for sure.”
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