Seattle Sounders FC v RSL 8/14 7pm P/I/P

I don't think so.  Both guys are long-shots to go to Qatar as depth options, so if anything you'd expect them to be trying too hard.

Cristian Roldan is a very good, but not great, MLS level player.  The reality is guys like that will go through bad periods and will regress to the mean when their team isn't playing well.

Morris isn't that far removed from a second serious injury in his career, so it's probably natural to expect him to be timid. I don't have access to his sprint times across the years but it's reasonable to assume age and injuries have robbed him of some of his primary asset: pace. 

The other obviously problem is that so much of Morris' success in making those runs (which he may not be able to do as well anyway) was based on Lodeiro's ability to find him.  Here's something really interesting I found.  In 2016, Lodeiro averaged 0.62 assists per 90.  In 2017 - the season where Morris was hurt - it dropped to 0.36 assist/90.  In 2018, with Morris back, it was back up to 0.59a/90.  In 2019 it was 0.43a/90.  2020, 0.51a/90.  But in 2021 - again, Morris out for the season - it plunged to 0.2a/90.  This year it's 0.39a/90 - better than the years where Morris was out, but below the peak years.  If Nico is fading, that's going to have a big effect on Morris.

I also think we need to consider the possibility that every Football Manager player has experienced, where you have a wonderkid coming through your academy, a guy you expect to build a dynasty around, and he just . . . doesn't hit those heights.  Morris' two serious injuries are part of that, but his entrance into professional soccer (age 21) was late by global standards, and if our academy is crap now after years of alleged emphasis, one wonders what it was like a decade ago.  I doubt he's been helped by playing the majority of his games on a God-awful playing surface with a medical staff of questionable competence.  So maybe he's just not going to be the superstar we hoped for.