SEATTLE -- The Seattle Sounders are returning the majority of the cast of characters who made up one of the league’s most dynamic and productive scoring attacks a season ago.
But as they gear up to kick off their 2015 campaign, hosting the New England Revolution on Sunday at CenturyLink Field (9:30 pm ET, Fox Sports 1), perhaps the biggest storyline facing the Sounders is their new-look backline.
- PREVIEW:Seattle-New England, 9:30 pm ET
FOX Sports 1, FOX Dep., FOX Sports GO (USA); TSN2 (CAN)
Sunday’s opener figures to see the debut at center back for Brad Evans, who played primarily as a midfielder last season but who has experience at a right back for the US national team.
Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid plugged Evans in at center back throughout the preseason, in the hopes that the switch will give him a consistent starting option alongside All-Star Chad Marshall, last season’s MLS Defender of the Year.
For Marshall, it's not necessarily Evans’ physical tools that will make the pairing successful.
“Brad communicates a lot on the field -- probably the most [on the team],” Marshall said on Friday at the Sounders’ media day. “It’s easy to see what he’s doing and just go off that…He fits in anywhere on the field.”
Defensive concerns are not a new theme for the Sounders. They did, after all, give up 50 goals last season, the most of any Western Conference playoff team.
But Evans isn't letting on if he feels any concerns about the switch to center back heading into the New England game.
“I’m not nervous by any means,” he said. “I’ll probably make a few mistakes throughout the season, just like if I play any other position. But nothing changes in my preparation, nothing changes throughout the week. I go into it confident as usual – not nervous.”
- Get the latest on the Sounders atSoundersFC.com
The move of Evans to center back isn’t the only new variable to be integrated into Seattle’s backline. Sounders fans will also get their first look at Tyrone Mears, the English Premier League veteran acquired in the offseason to replace right back DeAndre Yedlin, who moved to North London club Tottenham Hotspur in January.
“[We’ve been working on] just getting that understanding with each other,” Marshall said of the defense. “Any time you put new guys in the backline, you have to get used to their tendencies and what they like to do in certain situations. Just a lot of communication. But it’s been good, so we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”
Ari Liljenwall covers the Seattle Sounders for MLSsoccer.com.
