Ljungberg joins Seattle training session

SEATTLE -- Freddie Ljungberg, who has spent the last three months rehabbing from offseason hip surgery, joined his Seattle Sounders FC teammates in training Monday. Although his participation was limited, his teammates still managed to make a positive impression from the outset.

"They were very concentrated, I must say that. In the warmup I joined in and at the beginning it was the most concentrated warmup I'd ever been in," Ljungberg said. "In Europe they'd go have a laugh. They seem focused and that's a very good thing."

While the club is happy have its designated player in camp, the Swede is not game-fit and will likely miss the season opener. In 2-3 weeks, coach Sigi Schmid expects Ljungberg to be at full speed in training. Nevertheless, that timeframe would rule him out of action for the season opener, March 19 against the New York Red Bulls at Qwest Field.

Neither the club nor Ljungberg put a timetable on his competitive debut.

"We don't want to put pressure on exactly what date it is, but it feels great. There's nothing I can't do, so it's all good," Ljungberg said. "I'm so much ahead of schedule that it looks too good to be true. They're a bit scared that if I do too much I'll have a setback.

"There is no pain in anything that I do, which is great, so that's why they want me to take it step-by-step. ... In the next two weeks I want to train really hard, then I can start to ease off and just do the technical stuff on the pitch."

Schmid reiterated that message, while pointing out that his star midfielder has been fit enough to practice with a second division club in Sweden.

"We're going to look at it day-to-day," Schmid said. "We're not pushing too much of a timetable on it. We want to see how he gets through today, how he gets through tomorrow."

Ljungberg underwent hip surgery on Dec. 19. The surgery, which according to the club was meant to rectify recurring injuries, involved repairing a slightly torn labrum and shaving a small amount of bone away from his hip. The initial diagnosis called for 10-12 weeks of recovery time.

During the training session, Ljungberg participated in the warmups and team drills but sat out the 11 vs. 11 session. He also granted some insight into his anticipated role with the team.

"I'm probably going to play central to get a lot of the ball either as a dropping-off striker or as a central midfielder," Ljungberg said. "That's what I played at Arsenal when we were 1-nil down. I went up one position when we were trying to get a goal, so I had a lot of experience there when I was young."

Midfielder Peter Vagenas, who is recovering from knee surgery, also joined the team upon their return from Argentina.