Nico Lodeiro will be sidelined for another month, with Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer targeting the June 19 showdown against the LA Galaxy as the possible date for the Uruguayan’s return.
The influential midfielder has been dealing with a knee injury since preseason and has only played 24 minutes as a substitute during the 2021 regular season.
“It’s not looking great. We’re probably going to shut him down until after the break,” Schmetzer said on the “Softy and Dick Show” on Sports Radio KJR Monday. “We’ve got that [FIFA] break in June for three weeks. We want to be careful, long-term Nico’s a valuable asset. We’re looking to shut him down for the next two home games for sure and then we have that break and we’ll try and ramp him up for that game against the Galaxy.”
Schmetzer said the team has been trying to keep Lodeiro involved, albeit limited, at training, but the decision was made to just let the knee rest.
“He’s on a bunch of anti-inflammatories, we’re tying to calm the knee down, there’s one surgical procedure that we can try and we’ll do that and then we’ll see if that works,” Schmetzer said. “He’s still young, he should be fine at some point, but that inflammation is just a tricky thing.”
The Sounders are 5-0-1 without Lodeiro in the starting XI this season and currently sit atop the Western Conference standings — and the Supporters’ Shield race — with 16 points from those six matches ahead of Sunday’s showdown (4:30 pm ET | FOX, FOX Deportes) against Atlanta United at Lumen Field.
