Against all my expectations, the Seattle Sounders may turn out to have a debt of gratitude to pay to Bruce Arena. As much as anyone, I’ve decried the former LA Galaxy coach’s decisions on how to use various Sounders.
I was OK with calling up Cristian Roldan, who had never before gone into a United States national team camp. But Jordan Morris? He was having an awful season and could have surely used that month to repair his game away from the national team spotlight. And Clint Dempsey? If this was a B-team tournament, he didn’t need a 34-year-old who has proven everything he possibly could.