It does not come as a surprise to any Seattle Sounders fan that the loss of Obafemi Martins only ten days before the season begins has hit the Northwest hard. Some are saying that there is neither recovery for the team nor any hope for this season with Martins leaving on the heels of so many Sounder veterans. Some fans are calling Martins irreplaceable while others are miffed, believing that he sought greener pastures when he asked for a raise and was denied. Others say that he simply refused to follow the orders of Head Coach Sigi Schmid, with whom fans harbor strong ambivalent feelings. Martins, one of the best Designated Players in MLS history, will certainly leave a hole in the team for the time being. Although they make a good case, and Martins was certainly a top member of the team, it may not be as bleak as it looks.

The presence of Jordan Morris may pick up some of the slack on the team, but Morris is not only a rookie; he is also entering the Olympic qualifiers, so he won’t be able to make every match as it is. And as Will Parchman noted earlier today, although Nelson Valdez could potentially pick up a striking spot on the team, he simply lacks the speed and ferocity that we expected from Martins. Parchman also pointed out that we still have Andy Craven—and that homegrown player Darwin Jones shows a lot of promise. Indeed, our roster is still pretty golden without Martins.

Does Martins even seem happy about the move? He did tell his fans that he was excited about the new challenges awaiting him—and after playing for three different countries, there is no doubt that he will do well in a fourth. However, in his goodbye message on Instagram, he also shared a photo of himself looking rather sad. It’s obvious that he feels a lot of emotion about leaving Seattle behind; perhaps he, too, is experiencing ambivalent emotions about his move to Shanghai, which will include adopting a whole new lifestyle with new friends and teammates to become acquainted with.

As far as Seattle goes, the team has quite a bit of money as well as a blank space to fill now that Oba is off the roster. Perhaps they will use it wisely in taking their time to replace Martins as best as they can.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia