One commonality between the losses to Toronto, Chivas, LAFC, Dallas and Montreal is that Osvaldo Alonso, the captain, merely sat on the sidelines. His long-term injury may have been replaced on the field — Cristian Roldan and Gustav Svensson adequately control the midfield, usually — but Alonso is not just the team’s only ‘09er left on the roster, nor just one of the league’s best defensive midfielders. He is the captain. He is the heart of the Sounders.
“I’m very happy to be back, ready to go and ready to play for the team again,” Alonso said earlier this week as he finally practiced in full and was made available to the media.