Will Bruin approached his 12th MLS preseason with a different plan, instead of setting scoring and assist markers, the veteran’s goal this year is to simply be available.
“I’m at a point where I need to prove to everybody that look, I can stay healthy and durable like I used to be,” the Sounders forward said Thursday. “Maybe last year was just life, a little bump in the road. I’m looking forward to turning that around and being healthy and dependable and scoring goals.”
Bruin, 32, was in a contract year when his season dissolved in a painful 37 minutes during a loss against Los Angeles FC at Banc of California Stadium in October. He had swelling in his right knee, ultimately getting arthroscopy surgery but not returning to the rotation.
But despite Bruin’s injury to close the 2021 campaign, the Sounders are confident in a healthy season out of the forward, and announced Thursday a one-year deal for Bruin to return for a sixth season with an option for 2023.
Bruin, who made $458,333 in guaranteed money last year, was an unrestricted free agent. There was interest from other teams, but Bruin knew he was going to return to Seattle.
“I feel like I’ve got some unfinished business,” said Bruin, a married father of two sons born in Seattle. “I had a few too many little injuries here and there last year and I didn’t want to leave on that note. I personally feel I could’ve helped the team at the end of the year, and I didn’t like that feeling of not being able to do that. I want to have a chance to have a rebound season.”
Bruin, a former MAC Hermann Trophy finalist, suffered an ACL tear in 2019 and tibia injury in 2020. His most productive season in Seattle was 2017 when he scored 11 goals.
Last year, Bruin started 16 of his 24 appearances, adapting to a new formation that featured two forwards up top. He finished with three goals and four assists in MLS competitions.
“Going into a contract year, I was trying to push, push, push,” said Bruin, who underwent the procedure in November with hopes of making a playoff appearance. The Sounders lost in the opening round to Real Salt Lake.
“The older you get sometimes the more time you’ve got to take,” Bruin continued. “I learned that. I tried to play through the swelling and stuff, and it wasn’t working out the way I wanted it to, so I made the decision to go see a cartilage specialist in Chicago. He cleared it out and hopefully it’s a brand-new knee now.”
Roldan signed
The Sounders also announced a longterm extension for defender Alex Roldan on Thursday, signing the defender to a three-year contract with a team option for 2025.
Roldan, 25, had a breakout 2021 where he started 26 of his 29 matches. He also made his first international appearance with the El Salvador national team, earning the role of captain for World Cup qualifying matches. Roldan is currently training with “La Selecta.”
The former Seattle University star was a trialist in 2020, quickly learning the right fullback position to earn a contract. He solidified his position last year, scoring his first goal, closing out a shutout as replacement keeper for Stefan Frei and getting named to the MLS All-Star team.
“We are excited to bring Alex back after such a successful 2021 season,” said Garth Lagerwey, the Sounders general manager and president of soccer. “Being named an MLS All-Star and captaining the El Salvador team shows his prominence on both the national and international stage. We look forward to having him as a Sounder for years to come.”
Scrimmage take-aways
The Sounders played their first intra-team scrimmage Thursday. The game was a continuous 45-minute stint at Lumen Field with a mostly veteran lineup playing with Frei as their keeper against a mix of the newcomers and Tacoma Defiance players with Stefan Cleveland as their keeper.
The younger players shined, scoring twice on Frei. Forward Sam Adeniran, who signed a one-year deal with the Sounders in December, bagged one in the box off an assist from Joe Hafferty. The latter, a defender from Renton who played for the Defiance last season, followed with his own score off service from midfielder Reed Baker-Whiting.
“That whole orange team was pretty good,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said of Cleveland’s squad. “The fitness component was good, we’ll double-check the data, the numbers and all of that. From the eye test, the guys worked hard. They’re probably in the right spot based on experiences in preseasons, it looked like it was a first go-round.”
A goal for Schmetzer this season is to get midfielder Leo Chu on the pitch more. The Brazilian was signed in August and showed promise although often playing out of position, recording one goal and one assist in 146 MLS minutes.
“He was in his ‘natural’ formation,” Schmetzer said of the Chu lining up as a left winger Thursday. “We will take a look at the tape and assess that and try to coach him up. That’s probably a better formation for him than what we played last year.”
Sounders striker Raul Ruidiaz and midfielder Jimmy Medranda did not participate. Ruidiaz is gradually joining full training while Medranda was doing individual workouts.
Road trip
Seattle leaves Sunday for a 10-day camp in Tucson. Schmetzer is hopeful more of the key players can join the team there to begin work on formations and rotations for the season. But due to the multiple internationals currently vying for spots on World Cup qualifying rosters, “fitness, assessment and individual development” will be the focus in Arizona.
“We’re missing too many guys,” Schmetzer said. “It’s not the actual numbers, but who it is.”
The Sounders open preseason play against the Portland Timbers on Jan. 26 and the Colorado Rapids on Feb. 1. The matches are part of the Desert Showcase hosted by FC Tucson.
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