TUKWILA, Wash. – It would be an understatement to say that the Seattle Sounders have some big shoes to fill following Tuesday’s announcement that star forward Clint Dempseywill miss the rest of the 2016 season with an irregular heartbeat.
The Sounders now have to finish their season without the services of one of the league’s top attackers, a longtime US national team standout that Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer on Tuesday called ‘‘arguably the best American field player this country has ever produced.”
“He’s creative, he’s deadly in front of goal, that’s just my personal opinion,” Schmetzer said. “How do you replace him? Tough.”
But given Dempsey’s medical situation, Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey told reporters Tuesday that the team felt the move had to be made in the player’s best interest, with an eye toward him making a return next season.
“We simply haven’t been able to get to a point where we felt there was a realistic chance [of a return],” Lagerwey said. “We’re not comfortable putting any pressure on this. His return to play is not important relative to his health, both short-term and long-term.
“We feel that by ruling him out today, that puts us in the best position to eventually get him back, hopefully for the 2017 season.”
Dempsey’s absence leaves an undeniable void in Seattle’s attack just when the 33-year-old had struck up an effective chemistry with newcomer Nicolas Lodeiro and rookie forward Jordan Morris.
But teammate Herculez Gomez echoed the widespread sentiment around Starfire Soccer Complex: these are extenuating circumstances that transcend any concerns over the on-field impact of the loss.
“I’m hoping he’s good and he’s healthy,” Gomez said. “Then comes the sporting side of this. If he can come back and help us, that’d be great because he’s such an important player, not only to this team, but to this country.
“But this isn’t about Clint Dempsey the soccer player. It’s about Clint Dempsey the person. I wish him the best and we’ll be excited to get him back whenever we get him back.”
The Sounders had initially said they were “cautiously optimistic” that Dempsey would be able to return this season following the initial announcement of his condition on Aug. 28.
Now that his status for the rest of the season has been settled, however, Schmetzer says he feels confident that the players he does have at his disposal can continue the recent run of form that has seen a revival of the team’s playoff hopes, starting with Wednesday's home matchup against the Chicago Fire (10:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
“[Dempsey’s] a big part of the group,” Schmetzer said. “But I think we have a lot of big personalities here. There’s enough [veteran] guys here that I think can pick up the slack.”
