This is the kind of problem the Sounders had been hoping to have.
Riding an eight-game unbeaten streak, the first-place team is now attempting to work in some of the newer players they’ve acquired the past month. Some, like right back Kelvin Leerdam, have already become a fixture in the starting lineup. Others, like midfielders Victor Rodriguez and Calum Mallace, have yet to play a minute for their new squad.
And riding that fine line between breaking in the newcomers without messing with what’s worked so far is one of the bigger tasks second-year coach Brian Schmetzer faces with the stretch run approaching.