Chad Marshall and Roman Torres look as big as the most fearsome tag team in professional wrestling.
Marshall is listed as 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds. Torres is listed as 6-2 and 195 pounds. The scale seems off.
Call them the Seattle Slammers.
The key for Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez, Kenwyne Jones or Brandon Vazquez — whoever starts up top in Friday’s MLS game — will be to keep things simple, according to Vazquez.
Vazquez wrestled with Marshall and Torres in the last minutes of the Five Stripes’ 4-2 win over the Sounders in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston during the preseason. Marshall and Torres entered in the second half when Atlanta United was ahead 4-0.
“Usually I’m bigger than the centerbacks,” said Vazquez, who is 6-3, 175 pounds. “On this occasion, we were about the same. I know I can’t beat them body-wise. You have to play with your head.”
It’s not that they are just big. They are experienced and very skilled.
Torres, 31, has made almost 100 appearances for Panama. There’s a chance he may not play Friday if he plays in Panama’s World Cup qualifying game against the U.S. Tuesday night.
Marshall, 32, is among the best defenders in MLS history. He has thrice been named the defender of the year in a career that started with Columbus in 2004.
This season, Seattle has allowed five goals in four games. While not great, it’s a similar pace as the 43 allowed in 34 regular-season games last season, in which Marshall started 30 games and Torres eight. He was activated from the disabled list in August after sustaining an ACL tear in his left knee in September 2015.
With Torres and Marshall in the middle, Seattle went on to win the MLS Cup.
"I think we play the game similarly and see the game similarly," Marshall told the Seattle Times last year . "It hasn't been too much of an adjustment. We've picked it up quickly and have a pretty good understanding of each other. … I'm sure no opposing forward is pumped to see him on the other side of the field. He gives bite and physicality to our team."
How Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino chooses to attack the Slammers will be fascinating. Though unlikely, he could break from his 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 formation and counter with his own tag team up top of Vazquez and Kenwyne Jones, who is 6-4, 187 pounds, to metaphorically wrestle with Torres and Marshall.
Call them the Atlanta Attackers.
Or, Martino could choose to use speed. The team has yet to announce if Martinez will be able to play after he sustained an injury while with Venezuela during World Cup qualifying last week. His prognosis is supposed to be announced by the team Tuesday. If Martinez can play, his combination of strength and speed could pose problems for Torres and Marshall.
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